—through a route other than that of Musa ibn ʿUbaydah. It may therefore be that al-Bayhaqi also transmitted it in The Branches of Faith through a route other than his. Yet this is far-fetched. Allah knows best.

Nevertheless, the hadith under discussion is authentic. Shuʿbah narrated: “I heard al-ʿAlaʾ relate from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘The sun neither rises upon nor sets upon any day better or greater than Friday. There is no creature except that it dreads Friday....’” To the end of the hadith.

Ahmad recorded it (2/457) with an authentic chain of transmission meeting Muslim’s criteria. Muslim also recorded something similar in his Sahih (3/6), through another route from Abu Hurayrah. Ahmad likewise narrated it (2/401 and 418). Al-Hakim recorded it (2/544), in abridged form, through a third route from Abu Hurayrah, and said: “It is authentic according to Muslim’s criteria. Both of them transmitted it through al-Zuhri, though not with this wording.” I have not found it in al-Bukhari, however. Allah knows best.

I then found a corroborating report for the complete hadith of Musa ibn ʿUbaydah, from Abu Malik al-Ashʿari, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The appointed day is the Day of Resurrection; the witnessing day is Friday; the witnessed day is the Day of ʿArafah; Allah has reserved Friday for us; and the middle prayer is the ʿAsr prayer.”

Al-Tabarani recorded it (3458) through Hashim ibn Marthad, and Ibn Jarir in Tafsir through Muhammad ibn ʿAwf. Both said: Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash narrated to us; he said: My father related to me; he said: Damdam ibn Zurʿah related to me, from Shurayh ibn ʿUbayd, from Abu Malik al-Ashʿari, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said it.

I say: This chain of transmission consists of trustworthy narrators, except for Ibn Ismaʿil; moreover, it is interrupted between Shurayh ibn ʿUbayd and Abu Malik al-Ashʿari. Al-Haythami said (7/135):