“No one narrated it from Ayyub except ‘Amr, and Ibn Wahb alone transmitted it.”

I say: Ibn Wahb is trustworthy, as are those above him in the chain, with the exception of Yazid ibn ‘Abd al-Muzani, who is unknown in identity, not unknown in status, as al-Hafiz definitively stated in al-Taqrib. This is so despite Ibn Hibban’s listing him in al-Thiqat (1/261), which misled al-Haythami into saying in Majma‘ al-Zawa’id (4/28): “Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Kabir and al-Awsat, and its narrators are trustworthy!” Al-Manawi likewise endorsed this in Fayd al-Qadir. See also al-Irwa’ (1165).

Note: This is the wording of the hadith in al-Awsat, and al-Haythami likewise cited it in Majma‘ al-Zawa’id and Majma‘ al-Bahrayn (1/128/1). As for al-Suyuti, he included it in al-Jami‘ with the addition: “An ‘aqiqah sacrifice is offered for a boy, but his head is not to be smeared with blood,” attributing this addition solely to al-Tabarani’s narration in al-Kabir. Al-Haythami also mentioned it elsewhere (4/58). In al-Awsat, however, it appears as an independent hadith with this same chain, and it will follow. Al-Daylami also transmitted it in Musnad al-Firdaws (2/335) from Abu Nu‘aym in suspended form. He said: Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn ‘Ali narrated to us; Abu al-‘Abbas ibn Qutaybah narrated to us; Harmalah narrated to us; Ibn Wahb narrated to us in full, with the wording: “For camels there is a fara‘, and an ‘aqiqah sacrifice is offered for a boy, but his head is not to be smeared with blood.”

I have found a strong corroborating report in the hadith of Nubayshah al-Hudhali, traced back to the Prophet: “For every sā’imah (freely grazing animal) there is a fara‘, which your livestock nourishes until, when it becomes fit to bear a load, you slaughter it and give its meat in charity to the wayfarer; that is better.” Abu Dawud and others transmitted it with an authentic chain, as I explained in al-Irwa’ (1181). The offering of the ‘aqiqah sacrifice and the abandonment of blood-smearing are corroborated by a hadith of Buraydah and another hadith of ‘A’ishah. I have documented them both in the aforementioned source, under the hadith referred to above.

The fara‘ is the first offspring borne by a she-camel. The people used to slaughter it for their gods, but Islam abolished it,