Thus, ‘Ikrimah is better than he is, despite the criticism levelled against him; it is sufficient in his favour that Muslim relied upon him. However, Mulāzim ibn ‘Amr corroborated him, reporting: ‘Abd Allah ibn Badr narrated to us that ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Ali informed him that his father, ‘Ali ibn Shayban, informed him that he came as part of a delegation to the Messenger of Allah. He said: We prayed behind the Prophet, and he caught sight, from the corner of his eye, of a man who was not keeping his back straight in bowing and prostration. When the Messenger of Allah finished, he said: “O assembly of Muslims, there is no prayer for one who does not keep his back straight in bowing and prostration.”’ It was related by Ahmad, Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzaymah (593), and Ibn Hibban (500).

This Mulāzim is unquestionably trustworthy, so his narration is more weighty than that of ‘Ikrimah ibn ‘Ammar, especially since Ahmad said: Yahya ibn Sa‘id used to prefer him to ‘Ikrimah ibn ‘Ammar and say, “He is more reliable than him in hadith transmission.” Yet it may be said that ‘Abd Allah ibn Badr may have had two chains for this hadith: one from Talq ibn ‘Ali, and the other from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Ali ibn Shayban, from his father. Thus, ‘Ikrimah narrated the first from him, while Mulāzim narrated the other. And Allah knows best.

‘Amir ibn Yasaf differed from all of them, reporting: Yahya ibn Abi Kathir narrated to us, from ‘Abd Allah ibn Badr al-Hanafi, from Abu Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet, with wording similar to the hadith under discussion. It was related by Ahmad (2/525). I say: Its narrators are trustworthy, apart from ‘Amir ibn Yasaf, who is weak. Ibn ‘Adi said: “He narrates rejected reports from trustworthy transmitters, yet despite his weakness, his hadith may be recorded.”