“It was narrated by Ahmad; al-Tabarani in al-Awsat and al-Kabir; and al-Bazzar, who said: ‘Harun ibn Ishaq was not corroborated in this hadith.’”

I say: He is a well-known, trustworthy narrator, as Ibn Abi Hatim reported from Ibn Maʿin; thus, his solitary transmission of the hadith does not detract from it, as is established in hadith terminology. Ibn Hibban also declared him trustworthy (7/582).

It has a supporting narration from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet with the same wording. Ibn Abi Shaybah (2/204) transmitted it, and Ibn Majah (1/350) and al-Nasaʾi (1/257) transmitted it from him, through Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Isfahani, from Suhayl, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah. Al-Nasaʾi said: “This is an error, and Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Isfahani is weak.” Al-Hafiz said: “Truthful, but makes mistakes.”

I say: I have not been able to discern, nor have I seen anyone mention, the nature of Ibn al-Isfahani’s error in it. Perhaps it lies in attributing it to the Prophet, for Shuʿbah narrated from Mansur, from Abu ʿUthman—the client of al-Mughirah ibn Shuʿbah—from Abu Hurayrah, who mentioned it as a report attributed to the Companion, with similar wording. Al-Tayalisi (1/113) and Ahmad (2/498) transmitted it.

Its narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the two Shaykhs, except for this Abu ʿUthman, who is al-Tabban. Along with Mansur ibn al-Muʿtamir, his son Musa and Mughirah ibn Miqsam narrated from him. Al-Tirmidhi graded one of his hadiths as good, and Ibn Hibban mentioned him in al-Thiqat.

I say: Its chain of transmission is good, or at the very least capable of being graded good. It has the ruling of a report attributed to the Prophet, since such a matter cannot be stated merely on the basis of personal opinion. Accordingly, it is a good supporting narration for Ibn al-Isfahani’s report.

The hadith has another supporting narration from Umm Habibah, may Allah be pleased with her. Muslim and other compilers of the Sunan transmitted it, as did others, such as Ibn Khuzaymah (1185–