“Do not cover the walls.” Abu Dawud also recorded it, except that he did not name the narrator from Muhammad ibn Ka‘b. I have discussed it in Da‘if Abi Dawud (262), and some identified him, as I explained in my commentary on al-Mishkat (2243). I say: In view of what has preceded, I am inclined to regard the hadith as strengthened. Allah, exalted is He, knows best.

2385 — “He forbade a man to sit between two men except with their permission.”

Abu al-Hasan al-Sukari al-Harbi narrated it in the second volume of al-Fawa’id (159/2), and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan (3/232), from ‘Amir al-Ahwal, from ‘Amr ibn Shu‘ayb, from his father, from his grandfather, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. It was likewise narrated by Abu ‘Abd Allah ibn Mandah in al-Amali (40/1), and Abu al-Qasim al-Halabi al-Siraj in Hadith Ibn al-Saqqa’ (7/82/1). I say: This is a good chain of transmission, despite the well-known disagreement concerning ‘Amr ibn Shu‘ayb, and likewise concerning ‘Amir, who is ‘Amir ibn ‘Abd al-Wahid al-Ahwal al-Basri. Muslim cited him as evidence, and al-Manawi graded the hadith good. He said: “Accordingly, sitting between them without their permission is mildly disliked, and this disapproval is more emphatic in cases such as a father and his son, a brother and his brother, or a friend and his friend.”

2386 — “He forbade a man to pray while his hair is tied up.”

Ibn Majah (1/323), Ahmad (6/8 and 391), and al-Darimi (1/320), with similar wording, narrated it from Makhul, who said: I heard Abu Sa‘d—a man from Medina—say: