and some of those we mentioned: “Al-Dāraquṭnī cited it in al-ʿIlal, mentioned the disagreement concerning it, and affirmed that Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muzanī had heard from al-Mughīra.”

I say: Perhaps this is why al-Būṣīrī said in al-Zawāʾid (p. 118): “Its chain of transmission is authentic, and its narrators are trustworthy.”

I say: Even assuming that he did not hear from him, perhaps the intermediary between them was Anas ibn Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him. Bakr al-Muzanī heard from Anas and narrated extensively from him, while Anas in turn narrated it from al-Mughīra, may Allah be pleased with them both.

ʿAbd al-Razzāq recorded it in al-Amālī (2/46/1–2), as did Ibn Mājah (1865), Abū Yaʿlā in his Musnad (fol. 170/1), Ibn Ḥibbān (1236), Ibn al-Jārūd, al-Dāraquṭnī, al-Ḥākim (2/165), al-Ḍiyāʾ in al-Mukhtārah (fol. 88/2), and al-Bayhaqī—all through ʿAbd al-Razzāq, who said: “Maʿmar informed us, from Thābit, from Anas, who said:

‘Al-Mughīra wanted to marry, so he mentioned this to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said …’”—and he narrated the rest of the hadith.

He added: “He did so, married her, and mentioned how well she suited him.”

Al-Ḥākim said: “It is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhārī and Muslim.” Al-Dhahabī concurred with him, and al-Būṣīrī said in al-Zawāʾid (118/1):

“This is an authentic chain, and its narrators are trustworthy. Ibn Ḥibbān recorded it in his Ṣaḥīḥ, and ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd recorded it in his Musnad, through ʿAbd al-Razzāq with the same chain.”