I say: The concession was granted only because he had an engagement, as is stated in the hadith itself. Allah knows best.

Moreover, there is a discrepancy in the hadith’s chain of transmission, which I have discussed in Sahih Abi Dawud. There I clarified which view is the stronger, so there is no need to repeat it here.

1814 — “Allah has forbidden wine, and every intoxicant is forbidden.”

It was recorded by al-Nasa’i (2/333), al-Tabarani in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir (13225), and Ibn ʿAsakir (17/56/2), from Shabib ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, who said: Muqatil ibn Hayyan narrated to me from Salim ibn ʿAbd Allah, from his father, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators used by Muslim, apart from Shabib ibn ʿAbd Allah, who is trustworthy. A number of narrators also corroborated it from Nafiʿ, with similar wording, as recorded by Muslim (6/100) and others. It is also documented in al-Irwa’ (2431) and elsewhere.

This hadith is among the many decisive proofs that every intoxicant is forbidden, whether it is made from grapes, dates, maize, or other things, and whether the amount consumed is little or much. Thus, distinguishing between one type of wine and another, or between a small amount and a large amount, is invalid—contrary to the view held by some earlier scholars. Some contemporary writers in the Kuwaiti magazine al-ʿArabi were misled by this view years ago. Then some shaykhs of al-Sham responded to him, but he did not respond well, for his partisanship toward his legal school prevented him from doing so. May Allah pardon us and him through His grace and generosity. Only He is free from error.

1815 — “A beautiful voice is an adornment of the Quran.”

It was recorded by Abu Nuʿaym in al-Arbaʿin al-Sufiyyah (The Forty Sufi Hadiths) (62/1), by way of al-Tabarani, from ʿAbd al-Ghaffar ibn Dawud, who said: Abu ʿUbaydah Saʿid ibn Zarbi narrated to us; and by way of Ahmad ibn al-Qasim ibn Musawir, who said: ʿAli ibn al-Jaʿd narrated to us; Abu Muʿawiyah al-ʿAbbadani narrated to us. Both of them said: Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman narrated to us, from Ibrahim al-Nakhaʿi, from ʿAlqamah ibn Qays, who said: