As for Suwayd ibn Saʿid, who was al-Anbari, al-Hafiz said: “He was truthful in himself, but when he became blind, he began to accept prompting concerning reports that were not his; and Ibn Maʿin spoke of him in the harshest terms.”

I say: What may indicate that he, or his shaykh, erred is that this incident occurred with Abu Hurayrah and ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both, as Muslim narrated (1/44–45) through ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmar, who said: Abu Hurayrah related to me: “We were seated around the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, with Abu Bakr and ʿUmar among us . . . Then he said, ‘O Abu Hurayrah’—and he gave me his sandals—‘Go with these two sandals of mine, and whoever you meet beyond this wall who testifies that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, with his heart certain of it, give him glad tidings of Paradise.’ The first person I met was ʿUmar, and he said . . .” The hadith is similar in meaning.

This supports the authenticity of the hadith under this heading. Yet although Muslim narrated from ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmar, there has been much criticism of him. Al-Hafiz said: “He was truthful but made mistakes. His narrations from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir contain inconsistency, and he did not have a book.”

Al-Suyuti also cited a corroborating report for it in al-Jamiʿ al-Kabir (1/27/2), from the hadith of Abu al-Dardaʾ, narrated by al-Tabarani in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir. Its basis is found in Muslim (1/66), in the hadith of Abu Dharr.

I then found that this incident also occurred with Jabir and ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both. In it, Jabir said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sent me and said: ‘Proclaim among the people: Whoever says, “There is no deity worthy of worship but Allah,” shall enter Paradise.’ So I went out, and ʿUmar met him on the road . . .” The hadith is similar in meaning. Ibn Hibban narrated it in al-Zawaʾid (7) with an authentic chain of transmission.

Perhaps the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed a number of the Companions to make this proclamation, and ʿUmar met them, whereupon what occurred between him and them took place. Allah knows best.

As for what Abu Yaʿla and al-Bazzar narrated from ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him—that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed him to proclaim among the people that whoever testifies sincerely that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah alone, without partner, shall enter Paradise—ʿUmar said: “O Messenger of Allah, then they will rely upon it.” He replied: “Leave them.” Al-Haythami said in al-Majmaʿ (1/17):