as well as Sa‘id ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Dimashqi and Yahya ibn Hamzah in this chain of transmission. All of these are trustworthy. Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar said: “He was one of the leading men and notables of Quraysh, and among the most dutiful of people toward his father. One of the governors of Madinah appointed him over the collection of alms, but he later relinquished it, adopted asceticism, and went to Manbij to serve on the frontier.” Ibn Hibban mentioned him in al-Thiqat.

The third is Ya‘qub ibn ‘Ubayd al-Nahartiri. Ibn Abi Hatim included his biography (4/2/210) and said: “I heard from him along with my father, and he was truthful.” Al-Khatib quoted this from him in al-Tarikh (14/280) and endorsed it.

Al-Mundhiri cited the hadith in al-Targhib (4/145–146), through Ibn Abi al-Dunya’s narration, and said: “I do not know Umm ‘Abdullah bint Abi Dhi’ab—thus it is written.”

I say: Despite this, he introduced the hadith with the expression “from,” thereby indicating that he regarded it as strong. Perhaps this was due to what I mentioned above: the likelihood that she was a female Companion, together with the Quran’s testimony to the hadith’s final clause and the abundance of corroborating evidence for the rest of it. Some of this has already preceded; see, for example, hadiths 2273 and 2274. And Allah knows best.