“The well-known reports concerning the spreading of greetings of peace are transmitted through chains other than this one.”

I say: Qinnan’s hadith is good. Ibn Ma‘in declared him trustworthy, while al-Nasa’i said, “He is not strong,” and Ibn Hibban included him in al-Thiqat (The Trustworthy Narrators) (2/249). The remaining narrators in the chain are trustworthy, so it is a good chain of transmission.

Note: Al-Bukhari, Ahmad, Abu Ya‘la, and Abu Nu‘aym added: “And frivolity is evil.” Al-Bukhari further added: Abu Mu‘awiyah said, “Frivolity means idle play.”

1494 — “Among the best deeds is to bring joy to your believing brother, settle a debt on his behalf, or feed him bread.”

It was transmitted by Ibn Abi al-Dunya in Qada’ al-Hawa’ij (Fulfilling Needs) (p. 98), and by al-Daylami (1/1/123), through Ibn Lal in a report from ‘Ammar, the nephew of Sufyan al-Thawri, from Muhammad ibn ‘Amr, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, tracing it back to the Prophet.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission, and its narrators are trustworthy. There is some criticism concerning Muhammad ibn ‘Amr and ‘Ammar—who was Muhammad’s son and al-Thawri’s nephew—but it does not lower either of their hadiths beneath the rank of good. The hadith has a supporting report from Ibn ‘Abbas, traced back to the Prophet, with similar wording. Al-Hakim transmitted it (4/269–270) with a very weak chain of transmission.

It has another supporting report. ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak said in al-Zuhd (Asceticism) (684): “Hisham ibn al-Ghazi informed us, from a man, from Abu Sharik, that the Messenger of Allah said”—then he cited similar wording.

I say: I have not identified this Abu Sharik, though I do not consider it unlikely that he was a Companion. In the third section of al-Isabah (The Accurate Determination), it states: “Abu Sharik: al-Mustaghfiri mentioned him among al-Sahabah (The Companions), and transmitted through Ibn Ishaq that ‘Umar gave him a plot of land.”

It has a third supporting report from Ibn ‘Umar, but its chain of transmission is very weak. I have documented it in al-Rawd al-Nadir (The Lush Garden) (481).