the first: Afif ibn Salim; the second: al-Hadrami; and the third: Abu Nu'aym. I say: All of these are trustworthy. Then I found in al-Lisan: “Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Abi Hafs al-Ansari al-Attar, from whom Afif ibn Salim and Abu Ghassan narrated, was among those who made mistakes.” Ibn Hibban stated this in al-Thiqat.

Thus, a fourth narrator from him is Abu Ghassan, whose name was Malik ibn Isma'il al-Nahdi al-Kufi. Yet the phrase “ibn Abi Hafs,” if it is not an error, yields a further point: Abu Hafs was Muhammad ibn Umar’s grandfather, rather than being the kunyah of his father, as is plainly indicated by the earlier statement of Ibn Abi Hatim. And Allah knows best.

In sum, this Muhammad ibn Abi Hafs al-Ansari is known to have been narrated from by these four trustworthy men. A narrator of his standing may be cited in corroboration; indeed, it could have been said that he may be used as evidence at the level of one whose hadith is deemed good, were it not for Ibn Hibban’s statement concerning him: “He was among those who made mistakes.” Thus, in my view, the hadith is good on account of supporting evidence, since it has a supporting report from Abu Ayyub al-Ansari that conveys it more fully. Ahmad and others narrated it, and I traced it in Irwa al-Ghalil (1975). There, as I mentioned other sources for the hadith under discussion, the name of the Ansari narrator appeared in them as “Muhammad ibn Abi Ja'far.” I was therefore led to think that he was someone other than the man whose biography I have discussed here. This was an error on my part, stemming from the error of some narrators. What I have stated here, therefore, is to be relied upon; and, to the best of my knowledge, no one has preceded me in it. If I have been correct, it is from Allah, to whom belong all praise and grace; and if I have erred, it is from myself. I ask Allah to pardon me and forgive my sin.