“O young man, I shall teach you some words: Be mindful of Allah, and He will protect you ...” to the end of the hadith. I have traced its sources in al-Mishkat (5302) and in Takhrij al-Sunnah (316–318). This portion of it is found in Musnad Ahmad (1/307) and al-Ahadith al-Mukhtarah (59/199–200), through several chains from Qays ibn al-Hajjaj al-Zuraqi, from Hanash ibn ‘Abd Allah, from Ibn ‘Abbas. I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. There are other routes for this portion from Ibn ‘Abbas, recorded by Abu Nu‘aym in al-Hilyah (1/314), al-Hakim (3/541–542), and ‘Abd ibn Humayd in al-Muntakhab min al-Musnad (88/2–89/1—the Maktab facsimile).
2383 — “Marriage is from my sunnah. Whoever does not act in accordance with my sunnah is not of me. Marry, for I shall take pride in your great number before the nations. Whoever has the means should marry, and whoever cannot afford it must fast, for fasting restrains desire.”
Ibn Majah recorded it (1846) through ‘Isa ibn Maymun, from al-Qasim, from ‘A’ishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said this. I say: Its chain of transmission is weak. Its narrators are trustworthy, apart from ‘Isa ibn Maymun—the Medinan client of al-Qasim ibn Muhammad—who is weak, as stated in al-Taqrib.
I say: Yet the hadith is authentic, for its various parts occur in other hadiths:
- From ‘Ubayd ibn Sa‘id, in a mursal report attributed to the Prophet, with the wording: “... And marriage is from my sunnah.” Abu Ya‘la and others recorded it. I have previously traced its sources in the other work (2509).