I say: Abu Zur'ah narrates only from a trustworthy narrator, as stated in al-Lisan (2/416). Ibn Abi Hatim cited the hadith of Ruwayfi' in al-‘Ilal (2/282), through Idris ibn Yahya, from Abdullah ibn Ayyash al-Qitbani, from his father, from Shuyaym ibn Baytan, from Shayban ibn Umayyah, from Ruwayfi' ibn Thabit, to the same effect. He said: “My father said: ‘This is a rejected hadith.’”
I say: This Shayban is unknown, as stated in al-Taqrib. Perhaps, then, al-Bazzar narrated it by a route other than through him. And Allah knows best. I subsequently came across al-Bazzar’s chain in his Zawa'id, compiled by al-Hafiz al-Haythami and later by Ibn Hajar. Al-Bazzar said (pp. 167–168): “Ibrahim—namely, Ibn al-Junayd—narrated to us; Sa'id ibn Asad ibn Musa narrated to us; Idris ibn Yahya al-Khawlani narrated to us; Abdullah ibn Ayyash ibn Abbas al-Qitbani narrated to us, from his father, from Shuyaym ibn [Qitban, from Shayban ibn] Umayyah, from Ruwayfi' ibn Thabit, to the same effect.” Al-Bazzar said: “We know of no one other than Ruwayfi' who narrated it with this wording, and it is narrated only with this wording.” Al-Haythami—or Ibn Hajar—then remarked: “I say: It is a good chain of transmission!”
That is what he said, though it contains the unknown Shayban, as you have learned. His name was omitted by the copyist, just as other material that we have placed within square brackets was omitted. Ibrahim ibn al-Junayd apparently refers to al-Khuttali al-Baghdadi, the trustworthy narrator. See Ibn Hajar’s Lisan al-Mizan.
- “Present your incantations to me. There is no harm in incantations so long as they contain no associationism.”
Ibn Wahb recorded it in al-Jami' (119), and Muslim recorded it from him in his Sahih (7/19). Abu Dawud likewise recorded it (3886), through Mu'awiyah ibn Salih, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Jubayr, from his father, from Awf ibn Malik al-Ashja'i, who said: