“I was unable to identify Isma‘il ibn Abi al-Hakam al-Thaqafi, while the rest of its narrators are trustworthy.” Shaykh Hamdi al-Salafi took al-Haythami to task, noting that he had said of this same al-Thaqafi in another hadith (4/80): “Abu Hatim declared him trustworthy, and no one criticized him.”

I say: Abu Hatim did not declare him trustworthy. Rather, his son said in al-Jarh (1/1/165): “Abu Zur‘ah narrated from him. My father was asked about him and replied: ‘He is a shaykh.’” This designation, “shaykh,” does not mean that he is trustworthy; rather, his reports may be cited in corroboration, as his son explicitly stated in his book (1/37). Nevertheless, Abu Zur‘ah’s narration from him constitutes a declaration of his reliability, as is well known. Thus, the chain of transmission is good, Allah willing.

The fourth is through two chains from Anas ibn Malik, in a report attributed to the Prophet, with the same wording. It was transmitted by Ibn ‘Asakir in al-Tarikh (2/60/2 and 11/38/1).

The fifth is from al-Walid ibn ‘Ubadah, from his father, ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit, in the hadith: “You will not believe in Allah until you believe in the divine decree, its good and its evil, and know that what befell you could not have missed you, and what missed you could not have befallen you. I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: ‘Divine decree is as I have described; whoever dies upon other than this will enter the Fire.’” It was transmitted by al-Ajurri, as well as Ahmad and Ibn Abi ‘Asim. It is an authentic hadith, as I established in Takhrij al-Sunnah by Ibn Abi ‘Asim (no. 111).

The sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth are from Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, and Zayd ibn Thabit, in reports attributed to the Prophet, in their hadith concerning the divine decree: “Were you to spend gold equal to Mount Uhud in the path of Allah, Allah would not accept it from you until you believe in the divine decree and know”