Muslim ibn Mishkam—related to us from ‘Awf ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said it. I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission; its narrators are trustworthy. Al-Busiri likewise said so in al-Zawa’id (folio 236/1). The hadith also has a corroborating report from Abu Hurayrah, traced back to the Prophet, with similar wording. It has already appeared under no. 1341.

1871 — “Ribā has seventy-two branches, the least of which is like a man having intercourse with his mother; and the gravest form of ribā is a man’s encroaching upon his brother’s honor.”

Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Awsat (1/143/1) from Mu‘awiyah ibn Hisham, who said: ‘Umar ibn Rashid related to us, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Ishaq ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Talhah, from al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib, traced back to the Prophet. He said: “It is not narrated from al-Bara’ except through this chain of transmission.”

I say: It is weak. Al-Hafiz said of ‘Umar ibn Rashid in al-Taqrib: “Weak.” Mu‘awiyah ibn Hisham was truthful but prone to errors. Al-Firyabi contradicted him, narrating it from ‘Umar ibn Rashid, from Yahya ibn Ishaq ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Talhah, from al-Bara’, with the same wording. Ibn Abi Hatim cited it thus in al-‘Ilal (1/381) and said: “My father said: It is mursal. Yahya ibn Ishaq did not meet al-Bara’, nor did his father meet al-Bara’.”

I say: The wording “Yahya ibn Ishaq” may be a corruption of “Yahya, from Ishaq,” if Mu‘awiyah ibn Hisham preserved it accurately. And Allah knows best.