Nor have I identified Hamed ibn Abi Hamed al-Muqri’ either, except that it is possible that he was Hamed ibn Yahya ibn Hani al-Balkhi, Abu ‘Abd Allah, a resident of Tarsus and one of Abu Dawud’s shaykhs in his Sunan. For they mentioned in his biographical notice that he narrated from Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah. If he is indeed this man, then he is trustworthy.

The hadith is supported by the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet: “The wind is from Allah’s mercy: it brings mercy and it brings punishment ...” The hadith is cited in al-Mishkah (1516) and elsewhere.

1875 — “Raisins and dates are khamr (meaning, when they are steeped together).”

Al-Nasa’i related it (2/323) through al-A‘mash, from Muharib ibn Dithar, from Jabir, from the Prophet, who said it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission, as al-Hafiz stated in al-Fath, and al-Manawi quoted from him. All of its narrators are trustworthy and are among Muslim’s narrators. However, al-Nasa’i indicated that al-A‘mash was contradicted both in attributing it to the Prophet and in its wording. He therefore related it through Shu‘bah, from Muharib, with the same chain, attributed to the Companion, with the wording: “Unripe dates and dates are khamr.” Sufyan also followed him in narrating it from Muharib with the same chain. Perhaps Muharib narrated it at times with that wording and attributed it to the Prophet, and at other times with this wording and stopped at the Companion. And Allah knows best.

This is further supported by the fact that Qays ibn al-Rabi‘ related it from Muharib ibn Dithar, attributed to the Prophet, with Shu‘bah’s wording. Al-Tabarani related it in al-Kabir (1761). There are other hadiths of similar meaning that support it. Al-Hakim also related the hadith (4/141) through the first chain and added: