2131 — “He would call a female horse a faras.”

Al-Ḥākim (2/144) narrated it through the route of ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd al-Dārimī: Mūsā ibn Sahl narrated to us; Marwān ibn Muʿāwiyah al-Fazārī narrated to us, from Abū Ḥayyān al-Taymī, from Abū Zurʿah, from Abū Hurayrah, in a report attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said: “Authentic according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs,” and al-Dhahabī agreed with him!

I say: Not at all. For this Mūsā ibn Sahl was not narrated from by either of the two Shaykhs whatsoever. Moreover, there are four narrators of his generation, all named Mūsā ibn Sahl. The first is Mūsā ibn Sahl ibn Qādim al-Ramlī, originally from Nasa; he is trustworthy and was among the shaykhs of Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī.

The second is Mūsā ibn Sahl ibn Kathīr al-Washshāʾ al-Baghdādī, and he is weak. The third is Mūsā ibn Sahl ibn Hārūn al-Rāzī, who is very weak. The fourth is Mūsā ibn Sahl al-Rāzī, who is unknown. At present, I have not been able to determine which of them transmitted this hadith. Unless it becomes clear that he is the trustworthy one, the hadith remains weak. And Allah knows best.

Then I found a corroborating route for it. Abū Dāwūd (1/399) said: Mūsā ibn Hārūn al-Raqqī narrated to us; Marwān ibn Muʿāwiyah narrated to us with the same chain. Al-Raqqī was heard from by Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī and other imams, and Ibn Ḥibbān included him among the trustworthy narrators. Through this corroborating route, the hadith is saved from weakness and falls within the category of authentic, or at the very least good. And Allah, exalted is He, knows best.