“O my father, how does reverting to Bedouin life after the Hijrah fall under this?” He replied: “My son, what could be more serious than for a man to emigrate, then, once he has been assigned his share of the public revenues and military service has become obligatory upon him, to cast that obligation from his neck and return to being a Bedouin as he was?”

I say: This is a report attributed to the Companion, and it is plainly so. Ibn Kathīr therefore used it to find fault with al-Ṭabarānī’s report attributed to the Prophet. After citing it, he said: “Its chain requires scrutiny, and attributing it to the Prophet is a gross error. The correct version is that narrated by Ibn Jarīr...” He then cited this report. Yet it may be said that, although it is attributed to the Companion, it carries the ruling of a report attributed to the Prophet; thus, there is no conflict between them—especially since there are reports supporting it that are attributed to the Prophet. I shall mention those that are readily available to me:

1. On the authority of Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, said—and he mentioned it. Al-Bazzār narrated it in his Musnad (1/72/109), as did Ibn Abī Ḥātim in al-Tafsīr, through Abū ʿAwānah, from ʿUmar ibn Abī Salamah, from his father, from him. Al-Bukhārī also narrated it in abridged form in al-Adab al-Mufrad (578) as a report attributed to the Companion.

I say: This is a good chain for supporting and corroborating reports. Its narrators are trustworthy narrators of the two Ṣaḥīḥs, apart from ʿUmar ibn Abī Salamah, who was truthful but made mistakes, as stated in al-Taqrīb. There is no problem with him in supporting reports, as stated in al-Targhīb (3/49). It is also found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs through another route from Abū Hurayrah, with similar wording, except that it mentions sorcery in place of reverting to Bedouin life after the Hijrah. It is cited in Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl (5/24/1202).

2. On the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, said—and he mentioned it similarly—and said: “And returning to the Bedouins after the Hijrah.” Al-Ṭabarānī narrated it in al-Awsaṭ (2/49/2) through Abū Bilāl al-Ashʿarī, who said: