Then Abu Umayr came and said to Abdullah, “Did you not go in to visit your brother’s household?” He replied, “I did, but she sent the maidservant on an errand, and when she was delayed, she cursed her. I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say...” He then mentioned it. “I disliked to be a means by which the curse might reach its target.”

I say: The narrators in this chain of transmission are reliable, except Abu Umayr, who is unknown. The apparent meaning is that al-Hadrami received the hadith from him. This is supported by Ahmad’s version: from al-Ayzar ... from one of them known by the kunyah Abu Umayr.... However, another route recorded by Ahmad (1/425), from Umar ibn Dharr, from al-Ayzar of Tan'ah, states that Ibn Mas'ud said it, attributing it to the Prophet. This al-Ayzar was a contemporary of Ibn Mas'ud. Ibn Abi Hatim (3/2/37) said: “He narrated from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, and Alqamah ibn Marthad narrated from him.” He then related Ibn Ma'in’s declaration that he was trustworthy. Thus, it is possible that he heard it from him. Perhaps this is why al-Mundhiri said in al-Targhib (3/287): “Its chain of transmission is good.”

In any case, the hadith is good at the very least, since it has a corroborating report from Abu al-Darda, attributed to the Prophet, with similar wording. It was narrated by Abu Dawud (4905) and Ibn Abi al-Dunya in al-Samt (2/14/1). Its chain includes Imran ibn Utbah, whose identity is unknown!

1270 — “Two men boasted of their lineage in the time of Moses, peace be upon him. One of them said: ‘I am so-and-so, son of so-and-so,’ until he had counted nine. ‘Who are you—may you have no mother?!’ The other said: ‘I am so-and-so, son of so-and-so, the son of Islam.’ Allah then revealed to Moses, peace be upon him: ‘Tell these two men who boast of their lineage: As for you who trace your lineage to nine who are in Hell, you are the tenth of them. And as for you who trace your lineage to two who are in Paradise, you are the third of them in Paradise.’”

Ahmad (5/128) narrated it, as did al-Diya from him in al-Mukhtarah (1/406–407), and al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman (2/88/1), through Yazid ibn Ziyad ibn Abi al-Ja'd, from Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from Ubayy ibn Ka'b, who said: