“It has been established in Sahih Muslim, in a report attributed to the Prophet, that Hatib will enter Paradise.” This puzzled some Moroccan students. It seems that one of them searched for it in Sahih Muslim but did not find it, so he asked me about it during my first journey to Morocco in 1396 AH. That it was a narration conveyed by meaning is quite evident, for the Prophet’s testimony that Hatib would not enter the Fire necessarily entails that he will enter Paradise, since there is no third abode between the two.

2520 — “At the time of every prayer, a caller calls out: ‘O children of Adam, rise and extinguish what you have kindled against yourselves.’ They rise, perform ablution, and their sins fall away from their eyes. Then they pray, and they are forgiven what lies between the two prayers. Thereafter, during the interval, you kindle anew. When the time for the noon prayer comes, he calls out: ‘O children of Adam, rise and extinguish what you have kindled against yourselves.’ They rise, perform ablution, and pray; then they are forgiven what lies between the two prayers. When the afternoon prayer comes, the same takes place; when the sunset prayer comes, the same takes place; and when the night prayer comes, the same takes place. They then sleep having been forgiven.” He then said: “Thus, one sets out by night toward goodness, and another sets out by night toward evil.”

Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Kabir (3/69/2), and Abu Nuaym in al-Hilyah (4/189), from him: Al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Ma'mari narrated to us; Muhammad ibn al-Khalil al-Khushani informed us; Ayyub ibn Hassan al-Jurashi informed us, from Hisham al-Ghar, from Aban—that is, al-Attar—from Asim ibn Bahdalah, from Zirr ibn Hubaysh, who related to him from Abdullah ibn Masud, from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, who said it. He then cited the hadith.

Al-Tabarani also narrated it through Abd Rabbih ibn Maymun al-Nahhas, from al-Rabi ibn Huzayyan, from Asim, through the same chain, with similar wording.