Al-Bayhaqi also recorded the hadith with a continuous chain of transmission, through Abu Bakr al-Isma'ili: Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Muslim—from the original manuscript of his book—narrated to us: Ahmad ibn Abi Raja al-Masisi, a venerable shaykh, narrated to us: Waki' narrated to us: al-A'mash narrated from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, from Ibn Umar, who attributed it to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the wording: “When he wished to relieve himself, he would go aside and would not raise his garments until he was close to the ground.”

This al-Masisi was Ahmad ibn Ubaydullah ibn Abi Raja. Al-Nasa'i said: “There is no harm in him,” and on another occasion: “Trustworthy.” Ibn Hibban listed him among the trustworthy narrators. As for Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Muslim, he was Abu Bakr al-Isfarayini, the hadith master and authoritative scholar. He has an entry in Tadhkirat al-Huffaz and died in 318 AH. Abu Bakr al-Isma'ili was the author of the Mustakhraj on the Sahih and is too well known to require mention. His name was Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Isma'il ibn Abbas ibn Mirdas. He too has an entry in al-Tadhkirah (3/149–151) and in al-Ansab by al-Sam'ani. Thus, the hadith has been established with a continuous chain of transmission through an authentic chain, for al-Qasim ibn Muhammad was the son of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and was a trustworthy, authoritative narrator. This is a valuable finding.

Ibn Umar has another hadith: “He would go to al-Mughammas to relieve himself.” Nafi' said: “Al-Mughammas is two or three miles from Mecca.”

1072 — “He would go to al-Mughammas to relieve himself.” Nafi' said: “Al-Mughammas is two or three miles from Mecca.”

Authentic. Al-Sarraj recorded it in “the second” of “the first” of his Musnad (20/2): Muhammad ibn Sahl ibn Askar narrated to us: Ibn Abi Maryam narrated to us: Nafi' ibn Umar narrated to us, from Amr ibn Dinar, from Ibn Umar, who attributed it to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

I say: This is an authentic chain meeting the conditions of Muslim. Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbili cited it in Kitab al-Tahajjud (3/1) and said: “It is an authentic hadith mentioned by Abu Ja'far al-Tabari.” He made no comment on it in al-Ahkam al-Kubra (no. 159). Ibn al-Sakan also recorded it in his Sunan.