He said: The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said to me: “O Thaʿlabah, eat …” the hadith. He added: “And whatever your trained dog and your hand bring down for you, eat it, whether you have slaughtered it or not.” It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd (2856).

I say: Its chain of transmission is authentic. Yūnus ibn Sayf was declared trustworthy by al-Dāraquṭnī and others, and a number of trustworthy narrators reported from him. Thus, al-Ḥāfiẓ’s designation of him as “acceptable”—that is, when corroborated—would mean that he is not acceptable otherwise. Rather, he is trustworthy and authoritative.

The second is through al-Ḥajjāj, from Makhūl, from him. Al-Ḥajjāj also narrated from al-Walīd ibn Abī Mālik, from ʿĀʾidh Allāh, who heard Abū Thaʿlabah al-Khushanī say it; and he related it as a hadith attributed to the Prophet, without the addition. Al-Tirmidhī recorded it (1/277) and said: “This hadith is good and authentic. ʿĀʾidh Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh is Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī.”

I say: This is a strong corroborating report from al-Walīd—who is al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Mālik—for Yūnus ibn Sayf in the first route. However, the narrator from him is al-Ḥajjāj ibn Arṭāh, who was practising tadlīs and narrated it with the ambiguous wording “from”; and he likewise narrated from Makhūl, from him, with the same ambiguous wording. Makhūl too was practising tadlīs. In view of his narration from him, this is the second route. Thus, al-Tirmidhī’s authentication of the hadith through the route of al-Ḥajjāj is plainly far from correct—unless he meant that it is authentic due to supporting evidence. In that case, it is authentic, but this is far removed from what his expression, “good and authentic,” would suggest. And Allah knows best.

The third is through Ḍamrah ibn Rabīʿah, from al-Awzāʿī, from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, from Abū Thaʿlabah, with the same hadith. This is an authentic chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, apart from Ḍamrah ibn Rabīʿah, who is trustworthy.