so he set him free. He asked, “What did you do?” He replied, “You instructed me to treat him well, so I set him free.”
I say: This is a good chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators of Muslim, apart from this Abu Ghalib, who narrated from Abu Umamah and concerning whom there has been criticism. Nevertheless, his hadith does not fall below the rank of good. It has a supporting report from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet, with the wording: “I have been forbidden from killing those who pray.” Abu Ya‘la recorded it in his Musnad (4/1455), as did others; see Mishkat al-Masabih (4481).
It was also narrated mursal by ‘Umar ibn Abi Salamah, from his father. Al-Tahawi recorded it in Mushkil al-Athar (1/196), in the account of the hunger of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Abu Bakr, and ‘Umar; their coming to the home of Abu al-Haytham; and his being given a servant from among the captives. It contains the words: “Take this and treat him well, for I saw him praying, and I have been forbidden from harming those who pray.”
- “We were forbidden to speak during the prayer except with the Quran and remembrance of Allah.”
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Kabir (3/65/1), through Muhammad ibn Shu‘ayb: Ibn Jabir informed us; ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud informed me, from his father, from his grandfather, “that he used to greet the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, while he was praying, and he would return his greeting. Then he greeted him while he was praying, but he did not return his greeting. ‘Abd Allah thought that this was due to some displeasure on the part of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. When he had finished the prayer, he said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I used to greet you while you were praying, and you would return my greeting. Then I greeted you, but you did not return my greeting, so I thought that you were displeased with me.’ He said: ‘No; rather, we were forbidden …’”
I say: The narrators of this chain are trustworthy, apart from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud, for I have not found anyone who mentioned him. As for ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud, he is a well-known, trustworthy narrator relied upon by both al-Bukhari and Muslim. They mention in his biographical entry that his two sons, al-Qasim and Ma‘n, narrated from him. They likewise mention in the biographical entry for