“the mosques.” “I asked, ‘What is grazing, O Messenger of Allah?’ He replied, ‘Glory be to Allah, all praise is due to Allah, there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest.’”

Al-Tirmidhi also recorded it and said: “A good, singular hadith.” I say: Humayd al-Makki is unknown, as al-Hafiz stated; thus, the chain of transmission is weak. Therefore, al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri’s statement (2/251), after mentioning that al-Tirmidhi narrated it and said, “A singular hadith,” and that al-Hafiz said, “Despite its singularity, its chain of transmission is good”—I say: this is an instance of al-Mundhiri’s leniency. How could it not be, when no one declared this Humayd trustworthy, no one other than Zayd ibn al-Hubab narrated from him, and al-Bukhari said concerning this report of his: “No one corroborates him in it.”

Moreover, there is a discrepancy between what I quoted from al-Tirmidhi and what al-Mundhiri quoted from him. What better accords with the state of the chain, and with giving al-Tirmidhi the benefit of the doubt—despite his leniency—is what al-Mundhiri quoted from him: “A singular hadith,” rather than his saying, “good.” And Allah knows best.

It has another supporting report from Jabir, attributed to the Prophet, with similar wording in one of his reports. Al-Hakim (1/494–495) and others recorded it through ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd Allah, the freedman of Ghifrah, who said: “I heard Ayyub ibn Khalid ibn Safwan al-Ansari narrate from him.” Al-Hakim said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic.” Al-Dhahabi rebutted him, saying: