I say: A narrator such as he may be used in corroboration; thus, in my view, the hadith is good on the combined strength of the two reports. It also has a third corroborating route: Ibn ‘Adi mentioned, in the biographical entry of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah—or, it is said, ibn al-Hasan (307/2)—that he narrated it from Abu al-Zinad with the same report.
I say: This Muhammad was Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hasan ibn Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, known as al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah. He was trustworthy, as al-Nasa’i and others stated. Al-Bukhari’s remark concerning his hadith, “No one corroborates him in it,” does not harm him once his uprightness has been established by those who declared him trustworthy, as is evident to those versed in this noble field of knowledge. Thus, with this corroborating route, the hadith is authentic.
There is a fourth corroborating route, but it is not one to be pleased with: namely, the previously mentioned route of ‘Abbad ibn Kathir, coupled with Tariq in al-Bazzar’s narration. Al-Harith ibn Abi Usamah recorded it in his Musnad (p. 102 of its supplementary material), and al-Daylami (1/2/246–247), through Ibn Lāl, as a suspended report from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Waqid: Wahb ibn Wahb narrated to us; ‘Abbad ibn Kathir narrated to us, with the same report. ‘Abbad ibn Kathir—the Thaqafi of Basra—is abandoned, so he cannot be used in corroboration. Al-Daylami’s chain to him is utterly unsound, though al-Bazzar’s chain to him is strong.
The other route: Yazid ibn Salih informed us: Kharijah narrated from ‘Abbad ibn Kathir, from Abu al-Zinad, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah, with the same report. Ibn ‘Asakir recorded it (5/205/2). ‘Abbad ibn Kathir is abandoned, as stated above, and I do not presently know those who occur below the two of them in the chain.
- As for the hadith of Anas, Dawud ibn al-Muhabbir narrated it, saying: Al-‘Abbas ibn Razin al-Sulami informed us, from Khallās ibn Yahya al-Tamimi, from Thabit al-Bunani, from Anas, in a report attributed to the Prophet. Abu Ja‘far al-Bukhtari recorded it in Six Sessions from the Dictations (fol. 114/2).
I say: Dawud ibn al-Muhabbir was accused of fabricating hadiths, so he cannot be used in corroboration.