2357 — “If a person has a treaty with a people, he must neither loosen nor tighten any bond of it until its term has elapsed, or until he gives them notice of its termination on equal terms.”

Al-Tayalisi transmitted it (1/240/2075): Shuʿbah narrated to us from Abu al-Fayd al-Shami, who said: I heard Sulaym ibn ʿAmir say: “Muʿawiyah had a treaty with the Romans, and he would travel through their lands until, when the treaty expired, he would raid them. Then a man came riding a beast—or a horse—saying, ‘Allah is Greatest! Fidelity, not treachery!’ twice. It was ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah al-Sulami. Muʿawiyah said to him, ‘What are you saying?’ ʿAmr replied, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say’”—and he mentioned the hadith—“so Muʿawiyah returned with the people.”

Abu Dawud (1/434), al-Tirmidhi (1580), and Ahmad (4/358–386) also transmitted it through various routes from Shuʿbah with this same chain. Al-Tirmidhi said, “It is a good, authentic hadith.” I say: Its chain of transmission is authentic; its narrators are trustworthy.

2358 — “Whoever owns land and wishes to sell it should first offer it to his neighbour.”

Ibn Majah (2493) and al-Diyaʾ in al-Mukhtarah (65/55/1) transmitted it from Sharik, from Simmak, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbas, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said—and he then cited it.

This is a weak chain of transmission. Simmak—meaning Ibn Harb—was truthful, as al-Hafiz said, but his narrations specifically from ʿIkrimah are inconsistent. Moreover, he deteriorated in his later years and was sometimes susceptible to prompting.