2583 — “Seek the hoped-for hour on Friday, from after the ‘Asr prayer until sunset.”

Al-Tirmidhi narrated it (no. 489), as did al-Hasan ibn Shuqayq in al-Muntaqā min al-Amālī (42/2), Ibn ‘Adi (300/2 and 325/1), and Abu Nu‘aym in Akhbār Isfahān (1/176–177), from Muhammad ibn Humayd, from Musa ibn Wardan, from Anas ibn Malik, attributed to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him.

Ibn ‘Adi said: “Muhammad ibn Humayd—who is also said to be Hammad ibn Abi Humayd—his hadith is close to acceptable; despite his weakness, his hadith may be recorded.” Elsewhere he said: “No one narrated it from Musa besides Muhammad ibn Abi Humayd, and Muhammad is weak.”

I say: Yes, he is weak, but he has been corroborated. Perhaps al-Tirmidhi indicated this when he said after it: “It is a singular hadith through this route; yet it has been narrated from Anas, from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—by another route.” The corroborating narrator is Ibn Lahi‘ah. Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabīr (1/258/747) and al-Awsat (1/10/135—according to my numbering), through Yahya ibn Bukayr: Ibn Lahi‘ah narrated to us from Musa ibn Wardan, through the same chain. At its end he added: “And it is the size of this,” meaning his fist. Al-Tabarani said: