Ibn Hibban’s al-Thiqat; indeed, al-‘Ijli included him in his own al-Thiqat and said: “A trustworthy Kufan.” As for Amr ibn Salamah, he is trustworthy. He is mentioned in al-Tahdhib, where Ibn Sa‘d and Ibn Hibban (5/172) declare him trustworthy. The compiler, however, overlooked al-‘Ijli’s statement in his al-Thiqat (364/1263): “A trustworthy Kufan Successor.”
In Refutation of Shaykh al-Habashi (p. 45), I had stated that the Successor in this account was ‘Umarah ibn Abi Hasan al-Mazini. This is an error whose reason need not be explained, so let it be corrected there.
The hadith also has another route from Ibn Masud in al-Musnad (1/404), which includes the additional wording, and its chain of transmission is sound. This wording also occurs in reports from a group of Companions recorded by Muslim in his Sahih (3/109–117). I cited it through this route only because of Ibn Masud’s account with the people of those circles, for it contains a lesson for followers of Sufi orders and circles of dhikr (remembrance) that depart from the sunnah. Whenever someone denounces what they are doing, they accuse him of rejecting dhikr itself! This is disbelief of which no Muslim on earth could be guilty. Rather, what is objectionable is the forms and gatherings attached to it, which were not prescribed in the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
For what, otherwise, did Ibn Masud, may Allah be pleased with him, disapprove of in the people of those circles? Nothing but this gathering on a specified day, and dhikr performed a number of times for which no textual basis has been reported—a number fixed by the shaykh leading the circle, who commands them to observe it on his own authority, as though he were legislating on behalf of Allah Most High! “Or do they have partners who have ordained for them a religion that Allah has not authorized?”
Moreover, the established sunnah from him, peace and blessings be upon him, in both deed and word, is to recite tasbih on one’s fingertips, as explained in Refutation of al-Habashi and elsewhere.
Among the benefits derived from the hadith and the account is that what matters is not the abundance of worship, but rather