I say: His hadith are good. Al-Nasa’i said: “He is not strong.” Musa ibn Ishaq said: “Trustworthy.” Ibn Hibban included him among the trustworthy narrators. In his book (1/1/148), Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned only Musa’s declaration that he was trustworthy. Al-Hafiz said: “Truthful, with some weakness.”

Al-Suyuti cited the hadith from Ibn Umar with the wording: “When two people are conversing privately, do not join them.” He said: “Ibn Asakir narrated it.” Al-Manawi made no comment on its chain of transmission, apart from indicating that it is strengthened by corroborating reports when he said: “It has supporting evidences.”

1396 — “The best mosques for women are their homes.”

It was narrated by Ahmad (6/301), Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasr al-Dimashqi in al-Fawa’id (1/221/2), Ibn Khuzaymah, no. 1684, al-Hakim (1/209), and al-Quda‘i (102/1), through Amr ibn al-Harith, from Darraj Abu al-Samh, from Abu al-Sa’ib, the client of Banu Zuhrah, from Umm Salamah, attributed to the Prophet.

I say: This chain of transmission is weak because of Darraj Abu al-Samh, for he is weak due to the large number of objectionable reports he narrates. Abu al-Sa’ib, the client of Banu Zuhrah, is said to have been named Abdullah ibn al-Sa’ib. He was trustworthy and one of Muslim’s narrators. The hadith is supported by the forthcoming hadith of Ibn Umar.

Note: In al-Targhib (1/125), al-Mundhiri mentioned that al-Hakim said regarding this hadith: “Its chain of transmission is authentic.” I did not find this in my printed copy of al-Mustadrak. Rather, he explicitly stated that he cited it as supporting evidence for the hadith of Ibn Umar with the wording: “Do not prevent your women from the mosques, though their homes are better for them.” It is recorded in Sahih Abi Dawud (576).