It was recorded by Aḥmad (2/483).
I say: This chain is acceptable for corroborating reports. Regarding this al-Khazraj, Ibn Maʿīn said: “Acceptable,” and Ibn Ḥibbān included him among the trustworthy narrators. However, al-Dāraquṭnī said: “He is a Basran narrator who is abandoned. There are several narrators named Abū Ayyūb who narrate from Abū Hurayrah, but this one is unknown.”
I say: This is an important observation from Imām al-Dāraquṭnī—may Allah have mercy on him—that there are several Abū Ayyūbs who narrate from Abū Hurayrah. Al-Ḥāfiẓ did not point this out in the biographical notice of this Abū Ayyūb, whom he named ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Sulaymān al-Umawī; he also said: “It is said that his name was Sulaymān.” Al-Dhahabī said in al-Mīzān: “Abū Ayyūb, the freedman of ʿUthmān, who narrated from Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, is unknown.”
I say: He is therefore the hidden defect in this chain of transmission.
- Fulayḥ narrated from Hilāl ibn ʿAlī, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī ʿAmrah, from Abū Hurayrah, in a report attributed to the Prophet: “A space in Paradise equal to a bow’s length or a whip’s length is better than all that the sun rises and sets upon.” It was recorded by Aḥmad (2/482).
I say: Its chain meets the criterion of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, despite the weakness of Fulayḥ—who is Fulayḥ ibn Sulaymān al-Khuzāʿī al-Madanī. Al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “Truthful, but makes many errors.”
- Hammām ibn Munabbih said: “This is what Abū Hurayrah narrated to us from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.” He then mentioned several hadiths, one of which reads: “The length of one of your whips in Paradise is better than all that lies between heaven and earth.” It was recorded by Aḥmad (2/315).
I say: Its chain is authentic according to the criterion of al-Bukhārī and Muslim.