“Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Kabir, and one of its two chains consists of narrators of the Sahih.”

(See Addendum no. 158/2.)

I have found another chain for it from Abu ‘Uthman, attributed to the Prophet, with the wording: “Whoever performs minor ablution in his home and does it well, then visits Me in one of My houses, has indeed visited Me; and the one visited is duty-bound to honor his visitor.” Ibn Bishran recorded it in al-Amali (153/1), through Sa‘id ibn Zurbi, from Thabit, from Abu ‘Uthman, from Salman, attributed to the Prophet.

I say: This Sa‘id’s hadiths are rejected, as stated in al-Taqrib. Al-Silafi also recorded it through his chain in A Part of His Hadiths (17/1) and said: “This is a singular hadith, attributed to the Prophet. I know of no one other than Sa‘id ibn Zurbi who narrated it from al-Bunani. The reliably preserved version of the hadith of Abu ‘Uthman is attributed to Salman.”

I say: Al-Bayhaqi narrated something similar, attributed to the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, with an authentic chain of transmission, as al-Mundhiri stated following his previous remarks. Al-Hafiz al-‘Iraqi concurred with him in Takhrij al-Ihya’ (1/136 and 4/317).

The final sentence also has a corroborating report from the hadith of Ibn Mas‘ud, attributed to the Prophet, with the wording: “Indeed, the houses of Allah on earth are the mosques, and Allah has undertaken to honor whoever visits Him therein.” Al-Tabarani recorded it (3/73/1) through ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Ya‘qub al-Kirmani: ‘Abd Allah ibn Zayd al-Muqri’ informed us; al-Mas‘udi informed us, from Abu Ishaq, from ‘Amr ibn Maymun, from ‘Abd Allah, attributed to the Prophet.

I say: This chain of transmission is weak. Abu Ishaq—who is al-Sabi‘i—and al-Mas‘udi—who is ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Utbah ibn Mas‘ud al-Kufi—had both become confused. As for this al-Kirmani, al-Dhahabi said in al-Mizan: “Weak.” Al-Haythami also declared it defective on his account in al-Majma‘ (2/22). Ibn Hibban, however, mentioned him in al-Thiqat; thus, deeming it defective on account of those above him—as we have done—is more appropriate.