“Abū Hisham al-Rifāʿī narrated it to us; Ibn Fuḍayl narrated it from ʿĀṣim with the same wording.” Muslim replied, “Yahyā ibn Maʿīn only spoke against Abū Hisham because of this very report that he related from Ibn Fuḍayl.”

Al-Bayhaqī said, “ʿAbd al-Waḥid ibn Ziyād is one of the trustworthy narrators whose solitary reports are acceptable.”

I say: He is indeed reliable; the only discussion concerns his narrations from al-Aʿmash in particular. Both of the Two Shaykhs (al-Bukhārī and Muslim) used him as proof, and this report is not from his transmissions from al-Aʿmash, so it stands as evidence. The rest of the narrators in the chain are trustworthy, therefore the isnād is authentic.

Moreover, the corroborating route through Abū Hisham al-Rifāʿī—whose name is Muḥammad ibn Yazīd ibn Muḥammad al-Kūfī—is unobjectionable. Although some leading scholars judged Abū Hisham weak, that was not due to any charge against his integrity. Al-Tirmidhī recorded the ḥadīth from him (1/206) and remarked, “A ḥasan, ṣaḥīḥ, gharīb ḥadīth.”

A useful note:

Al-Manāwī said in Fayḍ al-Qadīr: “What is meant here by the tashahhud (the two testimonies of faith) is a case of referring to the whole by mentioning a part, just as in the taḥiyyāt.” Al-Qāḍī added: “The essence of the tashahhud is to utter the word of testimony; it was given that name because it contains both testimonies. The term was later broadened so that it came to include praising and glorifying Allah.”

I say: I am inclined to think that what is intended by the tashahhud in this ḥadīth is actually the Khutbat al-Ḥājah (the ‘sermon of need’) which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to teach his Companions:

“Indeed, all praise is for Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can mislead, and whomsoever He leads astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger.”

My evidence for this is the ḥadīth of Jābir which states:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would stand, deliver a sermon, praise Allah, extol Him as He deserves, and then say …”