— whom Ahmad and a number of others declared weak. Abu Hatim said: “His standing is one of truthfulness,” while al-Bukhari said: “His hadith is close to acceptable.” The basis for this corroboration is that Yazid ibn Sinan does not occur in al-Tabarani’s chain in al-Awsat; rather, he occurs in the chain of his al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. It follows that its chain differs from that of al-Awsat, and that al-Shadhakuni was not alone in narrating it. And Allah knows best.

In any event, the hadith is authentic, for it has numerous supporting reports: from Abu Hurayrah, recorded by Muslim, Abu Awanah, and others; and from the blind Ibn Umm Maktum—the man involved in this incident—through several routes, recorded by Abu Dawud and others. It is cited in Sahih Abi Dawud (561).

1355 — “When you hear of an army being swallowed up by the earth nearby, then the Hour has drawn near.”

Ahmad (6/378) and al-Humaydi (351) narrated it—the wording being al-Humaydi’s—from Sufyan, who said: Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated to us that he heard Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi relate from Buqayrah, the wife of Qa'qa' ibn Abi Hadrad al-Aslami, who said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, saying from the pulpit: ‘O people! When you hear…’”

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators of the two Sahihs, apart from Ibn Ishaq. His hadith is good provided that we are safe from his concealment in transmission; as is the case here, for he explicitly stated that he heard it. This is one of the details preserved by al-Humaydi, may Allah have mercy on him, but not by Ahmad. For this reason, al-Haythami considered it defective on account of the ambiguous transmission formula. Al-Manawi said in his commentary on al-Suyuti’s Jami': “He marked it as good, and it is as he said, since the utmost that can be said against it is that it contains Ibn Ishaq. He is trustworthy, but practised concealment in transmission.” Al-Haythami said: “The remaining narrators in Ahmad’s chain are narrators of the Sahih.”

I say: It is strange that he should say, “and it is as he said…,” for the ambiguous transmission of one known to practise concealment in transmission is a defect in a hadith which prevents it from being judged good, as is well known to those versed in this noble field of knowledge. Sufyan here is Ibn Uyaynah, and he was corroborated by Salamah ibn al-Fadl, as narrated by Ahmad.