“There is unanimous agreement on his weakness.” As for al-Tirmidhi, he said: “A good, singular hadith by this route.” This is what he said, though its flaw is evident. However, I found a strong corroborating report for the hadith. Ahmad (3/353) said: Muhammad ibn Yazid narrated to us, from Hajjaj ibn Abi Zaynab, from Abu Sufyan, from Jabir, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “What an excellent condiment vinegar is. A house containing vinegar is never destitute.”

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy narrators of Muslim, apart from Muhammad ibn Yazid, who is al-Wasiti and is trustworthy—although Hajjaj ibn Abi Zaynab had weak retention. Yazid ibn Harun also corroborated him, narrating to us from Hajjaj ibn Abi Zaynab a more complete version of it. It includes the account of Umm Hani’, though she is not named, but it does not contain the words: “A house containing vinegar is never destitute.” Muslim (6/126), al-Darimi (2/101), and Abu Ya‘la (2/593) transmitted it with the wording: “Bring it, for vinegar is an excellent condiment.”

Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, Abu Ya‘la (2/591), and Ahmad (3/301, 304, 353, 364, 389, 390, and 400) also transmitted it by another route from Abu Sufyan, in abbreviated form: “What an excellent condiment vinegar is.” Likewise, Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Darimi transmitted it from the hadith of Sulayman ibn Bilal, from Hisham ibn ‘Urwah, from his father, from Aishah, attributed to the Prophet. Ibn Hibban transmitted its second half in Trustworthy Successors (14/1), by way of Anas ibn Abd al-Hamid al-Dabbi, who narrated to us from Hisham with it.