Al-Tahawi, however, differed from the Hanafis on this issue. In his Sharh al-Ma‘ani (2/314–317), he devoted a separate chapter to it, citing the hadiths concerning both its permissibility and its disapproval—except that he did not cite this hadith. He then concluded the chapter by saying: “The authentication of these reports establishes that there is no objection to eating spiny-tailed lizard, and this is our position.” Whoever wishes to examine the matter in detail should consult it.

This hadith has a supporting report narrated by Yusuf ibn Muslim al-Masisi: Khalid ibn Yazid al-Qasri informed us; Muhammad ibn Suqah informed us, from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, from ‘A’ishah, traced back to the Prophet, to the same effect. Ibn ‘Asakir transmitted it in al-Tarikh (5/284/2).

I say: This is a weak chain of transmission. Khalid ibn Yazid al-Qasri—who was governor of Iraq—was described by Ibn ‘Adi as follows: “No one corroborates him in his hadiths, neither in chain nor in text … and, in my view, he is weak.” Abu Hatim said: “He is not strong.” As for Yusuf ibn Muslim al-Masisi, I did not recognize him. It then became clear that he had been identified by his grandfather’s name, and that he was Yusuf ibn Sa‘id ibn Muslim. Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Hibban (9/281) deemed him trustworthy; the latter mentioned that he died in 265 AH.

(Note): Al-Hafiz restricted himself to grading Abu Dawud’s chain of transmission as good, despite the trustworthiness of its narrators, because Dumdum ibn Zur‘ah, the shaykh of Isma‘il ibn ‘Ayyash, had slight weakness. Al-Hafiz alluded to this in his assessment of him in al-Taqrib: “Truthful, but makes mistakes.” And Allah knows best.