the sky is withheld from them, and were it not for the livestock they would receive no rain. They never violate Allah’s covenant and the covenant of His Messenger but that Allah unleashes against them an enemy from beyond their own ranks who takes away some of what they possess; and whenever their leaders fail to judge by the Book of Allah, choosing (instead) from what He has revealed, Allah causes them to turn their force upon one another.”

Ibn Mājah narrated it (4019), as did Abū Nuʿaym in Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ (8/333–334), through Ibn Abī Mālik, from his father, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came toward us and said”—then he mentioned the foregoing words.

I say: This chain of transmission (isnād) is weak because of Ibn Abī Mālik. His name is Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Mālik, and he is weak, despite being a jurist; Ibn Maʿīn even accused him, as stated in al-Taqrīb.

Al-Būṣayrī said in al-Zawāʾid: “This ḥadīth is acceptable to act upon, although there is disagreement regarding Ibn Abī Mālik and his father.”

I say: The father is unobjectionable; the defect lies with the son. Hence al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar hinted at the weakness of the ḥadīth in Badhl al-Maʿūn, saying (fol. 55/2): “If the report is authentic….”

I say: It is in fact firmly established, for it has come through other routes from ʿAṭāʾ and others. Ibn Abī al-Dunyā narrated it in Kitāb al-ʿUqūbāt (fol. 62/2) through Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Furwah ibn Qays al-Makkī, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ with this wording.

I say: This chain is weak, for Nāfiʿ and Furwah are unknown, as al-Mīzān states. Al-Ḥākim also narrated it (4/540) through Abū Maʿbad Ḥafṣ ibn Ghīlān from ʿAṭāʾ