I say: Aban’s corroborating report is found in Ahmad (3/27, 48, and 64) and al-Hakim. The corroborating report of ‘Imran—who was Ibn Dawar al-Qattan—is likewise found in Ahmad (3/28), as well as in Abu Ya‘la (1/289, Maktab facsimile).

Al-Hafiz said in al-Fath (3/455): “Sa‘id ibn Abi ‘Arubah also corroborated them, narrating from Qatadah. ‘Abd ibn Humayd transmitted it from Rawh ibn ‘Ubadah, from him, with the wording: ‘People will certainly perform pilgrimage and ‘umrah, and plant date palms, after the emergence of Gog and Magog.’” He then mentioned that al-Bukhari preferred the narration of al-Hajjaj only because those previously mentioned agreed on this wording, whereas Shu‘bah alone narrated what contradicted them. He said this because their apparent meanings seem to conflict: the first—meaning the hadith of al-Hajjaj—indicates that pilgrimage to the House will be performed after the signs of the Hour, while the second indicates that it will not be performed thereafter. Yet the two hadiths may be reconciled, for the fact that people will make pilgrimage after the emergence of Gog and Magog does not preclude pilgrimage from ceasing at some point as the Hour draws near.

2431 — “Do not mutilate animals.”

Al-Nasa’i (2/210) and Ibn ‘Asakir, in The History of Damascus (16/383/2), transmitted it from Muhammad ibn Zanbur: Ibn Abi Hazim informed us, from Yazid ibn al-Had, from Mu‘awiyah—meaning Ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Ja‘far—from his father, from the Prophet, who said: “The Prophet passed by some people who were shooting arrows at a ram. He disapproved of it and said: ‘Do not mutilate animals.’”

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy, though Ibn Zanbur has received slight criticism. The hadith has a supporting report from Ibn ‘Umar: