In a narration recorded by al-Bukhari through Yahya ibn Abi Zakariyya al-Ghassani, from Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, from Zaynab, from Umm Salamah, the Prophet’s wife: the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said—while he was in Mecca and intending to depart, and Umm Salamah had not circumambulated the House though she wished to leave—“When the prayer for dawn is commenced, circumambulate on your camel while the people are praying.” She did so, but did not pray until she had departed.

1260 — “When one of you applies kohl, let him apply it an odd number of times; and when he cleanses himself with stones, let him do so an odd number of times.”

Ahmad (2/351/356) narrated it through Ibn Lahiʿah, who said: Abu Yunus narrated to us, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said it.

I say: This is a weak chain of transmission. Its narrators are reliable narrators of Muslim, apart from Ibn Lahiʿah, for he had poor retention.

Al-Haythami said in al-Majmaʿ (5/96): “Ahmad narrated it, and its chain includes Ibn Lahiʿah, whose hadith is good; the rest of its narrators are reliable.” That is what he said; but Ibn Lahiʿah is weak in hadith, except in corroborating reports or supporting chains. I have found another route from Abu Hurayrah, traced back to the Prophet, with similar wording. Its chain contains a weakness which I explained in the other book (1028). Thus, taken together, the two routes render the hadith good, if Allah wills. As for al-Suyuti’s marking it as authentic, which al-Manawi endorsed, there is no basis for it. And Allah knows best.

Then I found that Imam Ahmad also narrated it (4/156), through Ibn Lahiʿah, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Hubayrah, from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Jubayr, from ʿUqbah ibn ʿAmir al-Juhani, traced back to the Prophet, with the same wording. In another version of his through this chain—except that he named al-Harith ibn Yazid in place of ʿAbd Allah ibn Hubayrah—it reads: “Whenever he applied kohl, he applied it an odd number of times; and whenever he cleansed himself with stones, he did so an odd number of times.” A detailed corroborating report for it has already appeared under no. (633), containing clarification that applying an odd number is specific to the right eye; so refer to it. (See the addendum no. 258/25.)