and modesty is a branch of faith.” It was recorded by Muslim (1/46) and Ibn Majah (57).

Hammad ibn Salamah also corroborated it, saying: Suhayl ibn Abi Salih informed us of it with wording like that of Sufyan, except that he said, “the best of them” in place of “the highest of them,” and “a bone” instead of “something harmful,” adding: “And modesty is a branch of faith.” It was recorded by Ahmad (2/414) and Abu Dawud (2/268), with an authentic chain of transmission meeting Muslim’s criteria.

Ibn Ajlan also corroborated them, from Abdullah ibn Dinar, with the wording: “Faith has sixty or seventy, or one of the two numbers, ...” The remainder is like Hammad’s hadith, except that he said, “the highest of them.” It was recorded by Ibn Abi Shaybah in al-Iman (no. 67, in my critical edition), and from him by Ibn Majah (57). Ibn Ajlan’s hadith are good, except when he contradicts others; here, he contradicted them all by omitting the word “odd,” so his report cannot be used as proof.

Sulayman ibn Bilal also corroborated them in a shorter version, from Abdullah ibn Dinar, with the wording: “Faith has seventy-odd branches, and modesty is a branch of faith.” It was recorded by Muslim, and likewise by al-Bukhari (1/44—Fath), except that he said, “sixty.” Muslim recorded it through two routes, and al-Bukhari through a third; all of them from Abu Amir al-Aqadi, who said: Sulayman ibn Bilal narrated it to us.

Strangely, al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar overlooked this narration of Muslim, for he said in his commentary: “Regarding the wording ‘sixty’: the routes from Abu Amir, the author’s shaykh, do not differ on this point,”