the route of Mus'ab ibn Abi Ayyub, who said: I heard 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, while on the pulpit, say this. Thus, it shows that he proclaimed it publicly from the pulpit. However, I have not been able to identify this Mus'ab.

The hadith also has a corroborating report attributed to the Prophet: Baqiyyah narrated from 'Ali ibn Abi Jumlah, from Nafi', from Ibn 'Umar, that the Prophet struck Abu Bakr on the shoulder and said: “Had Allah willed that He not be disobeyed, He would not have created Iblis.” Abu Nu'aym narrated it in al-Hilyah (6/92). Baqiyyah practised tadlis and transmitted it with an unqualified “from.” As for 'Ali ibn Abi Jumlah, I have found no biographical notice for him, except that Abu Nu'aym mentioned him in his book alongside Raja' ibn Abi Salamah and described them both as devout transmitters. He is therefore one of Baqiyyah's unknown teachers.

In sum, the hadith is authentic on account of its combined chains. And Allah knows best.

1643 — “Allah will not cause this community to fall short of half a day.”

Abu Dawud (4349) and al-Hakim (4/424) narrated it from 'Abd Allah ibn Wahb, who said: Mu'awiyah ibn Salih related to me, from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Jubayr, from his father, from Abu Tha'labah al-Khushani, who said: The Messenger of Allah said this. Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him.

I say: Al-Bukhari did not rely on Mu'awiyah ibn Salih; rather, he narrated from him only in his Treatise on Recitation. He was truthful but prone to errors, so he meets Muslim's criterion alone. Ahmad also narrated it (4/193) through Layth, from him, with the same report, except that it is not explicit in attributing it to the Prophet. It also has a corroborating report from the hadith of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, attributed to the Prophet, transmitted through two routes:

The first: from Shurah ibn 'Ubayd, from him, with the wording: