I say: This chain of transmission is good, as al-Hafiz stated in al-Fath (1/250), and its narrators are trustworthy, as al-Busiri said in al-Zawa'id (2/37). However, Musa ibn Ya‘qub—al-Zam‘i—has been criticized with regard to his retention. It is supported by a corroborating report narrated by ‘Abd al-Muhaymin ibn ‘Abbas ibn Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sa‘idi, from his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Rinse your mouths after drinking milk, for it contains fat.” Ibn Majah recorded it, and al-Busiri said: “This chain of transmission is weak. Regarding ‘Abd al-Muhaymin, al-Bukhari said: ‘His hadith is rejected.’”

I say: Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib: “Weak.” Thus, his statement in the cited place in al-Fath—“Ibn Majah recorded it from Umm Salamah and Sahl ibn Sa‘d with similar wording, and the chain of transmission of each is good”—is incorrect with respect to the latter chain, given the condition of ‘Abd al-Muhaymin.

Ibn Majah has another corroborating report through al-Walid ibn Muslim, who said: Al-Awza‘i narrated to us from al-Zuhri, from ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Utbah, from Ibn ‘Abbas, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said it, with wording like the hadith of Sahl.

This chain of transmission is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim, provided that it is free of al-Walid’s concealment in transmission. Yet, in my view, this wording is anomalous. Al-Bukhari (1/250 and 10/59–60), Muslim (1/188–189), al-Nasa’i (1/40), al-Tirmidhi (1/149), al-Bayhaqi (1/160), and Ahmad (1/223, 227, 329, 337, and 373) all recorded it through routes from al-Awza‘i and others, from al-Zuhri, with the wording: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, drank milk, then rinsed his mouth and said: ‘It contains fat.’”

Al-Tirmidhi said: “A good, authentic hadith.”