Both of them—the wording being that of Ibn Abi al-Dunya—said: “Suwayd ibn Saʿid narrated to us: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulayman narrated to us, from his father, who said: Abu ʿImran al-Jawni narrated to us, from Jundub, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, related ...” Then he cited it.

Ibn Abi al-Dunya then transmitted it through another route as a report attributed to the Companion: “Abu Hafs al-Saffar narrated to us: Jaʿfar ibn Sulayman narrated to us: Abu ʿImran al-Jawni narrated to us, from Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Bajali,” and then cited it as a report attributed to the Companion.

I say: The first chain of transmission is weak, for although Suwayd ibn Saʿid was one of Muslim’s shaykhs, he was nevertheless declared weak. Indeed, al-Tirmidhi related from al-Bukhari that he was very weak. Similar is what al-Junaydi narrated from him: “There is concern about him. He went blind and was prompted with reports that were not from his hadith.” Al-Dhahabi included him in The Weak Narrators and said: “Ahmad said: ‘His hadith is abandoned.’ Ibn Maʿin said: ‘A liar.’ Al-Nasaʾi said: ‘He is not trustworthy.’ Al-Bukhari ... Abu Hatim said: ‘Truthful, but practised concealment in transmission extensively.’ Al-Daraqutni said: ‘Trustworthy, except that he grew old; reports containing some objectionable material would sometimes be read to him, and he would approve them.’”

Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib: “Truthful in himself, except that he went blind and began to be prompted with reports that were not from his hadith; Ibn Maʿin was excessively harsh in his criticism of him.”

I say: A person such as him does not inspire confidence sufficient for relying upon his report as proof, especially since it is transmitted through the other route as a report attributed to the Companion. The narrators of that route are trustworthy, apart from Abu Hafs al-Saffar, whom I have not presently identified.

However, I found a corroborating narrator for Suwayd ibn Saʿid. Al-Bayhaqi transmitted it in Shuʿab al-Iman (2/96/2), through Suwayd ibn Saʿid and Abu Salamah Yahya ibn Khalaf al-Bahili, both of whom said: “Al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulayman narrated to us,” attributing it to the Prophet. This al-Bahili is trustworthy and was among Muslim’s shaykhs whose reports he relied upon in the Sahih.