Ibn ʿAdi also narrated it through al-Furat, who said: “Some associates of ours narrated it to us from al-Qasim,” with the same report.

He said: “As for this al-Furat, I have not seen any of the earlier scholars explicitly declare him weak. I hope that there is no problem with him, for I have not seen any rejected hadith among his narrations.”

I say: Ibn Abi Hatim said (3 / 2 / 80): “I asked my father about him, and he replied: ‘There is no problem with him. He is regarded as truthful, and his hadith is acceptable.’”

Ahmad said: “Trustworthy,” as cited in al-Mīzān and al-Lisān.

I say: Thus, the chain of transmission is sound, and the fact that al-Furat’s associates are unknown does not undermine it, since they are a group whose number compensates for their being unknown. Perhaps Abu Wahb al-Kilāʿī was among them, since he narrated it from al-Qasim, as in the first chain. Thus, the hadith is authentic.

Al-Dhahabi’s statement in al-Furat’s biographical entry—“A rejected hadith”—is itself an objectionable statement. Perhaps he had not come across the first chain; indeed, that seems most likely.

Allah knows best.

This hadith was among those overlooked by al-Suyuti, who therefore did not include it in al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr, neither under inna (“indeed”) nor under awwal (“first”). Rather, he included in it a report that might serve as a supporting narration for this one. He said (1 / 274 / 2):

“The first thing to turn my ummah away from Islam, just as a vessel is overturned, is wine. Ibn ʿAsakir, from Ibn ʿAmr.”

I then found it in his History (18 / 76 / 1), through Zayd ibn Yahya ibn ʿUbayd: Ibn Thabit ibn Thawban told me, from Ismaʿil ibn ʿAbd Allah, who said: I heard Ibn Muhayriz say: I heard ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr say—then he mentioned the hadith, adding at its end: “He said: ‘And I said—perhaps the wording is: “O Messenger of Allah”’”—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.