I say: This chain of transmission is authentic. Its narrators are reliable and are among the narrators of the two Shaykhs, al-Bukhari and Muslim, except for ‘Abd al-Ghaffar ibn Dawud, who is among al-Bukhari’s narrators.

2423 — “Do not revile Tubba‘, for he had embraced Islam.”

It has been narrated as a Prophetic report on the authority of Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sa‘idi, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas, and ‘A’ishah; and as a mursal report from Wahb ibn Munabbih.

1. As for the hadith of Sahl, Ibn Lahi‘ah narrated it: Abu Zur‘ah ‘Amr ibn Jabir narrated to us: I heard Sahl ibn Sa‘d relate it. Ahmad (5/340), al-Tabarani in al-Awsat (p. 368, Majma‘ al-Bahrayn) and (folio 8/2, selected excerpts), al-Ruyani in his Musnad (29/201/2), and Ibn ‘Asakir in al-Tarikh (3/251/2, manuscript 10/408) all transmitted it. Al-Tabarani said: “It is not narrated from Sahl ibn Sa‘d except through this chain of transmission; Ibn Lahi‘ah alone narrated it.”

I say: He is weak, as is his shaykh, ‘Amr ibn Jabir.

2. As for the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas, Ahmad ibn al-Qasim ibn Abi Bazzah narrated it: Mu’ammal ibn Isma‘il informed us from Sufyan al-Thawri, from Simak ibn Harb, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbas, as a Prophetic report. Abu Bakr ibn Khallad transmitted it in al-Fawa’id (1/217/1), from whom Ibn ‘Asakir narrated it; al-Tabarani also narrated it in al-Awsat as well as al-Kabir (3/135/2), and al-Khatib in al-Tarikh (3/205). Al-Tabarani said: “None narrated it from Sufyan except Mu’ammal, and Ibn Abi Bazzah alone narrated it.”

I say: He is Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Bazzah. He is weak in hadith, as Abu Hatim stated. Al-‘Uqayli said: “He would present disconnected hadiths as having continuous chains.”