“We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on one of his journeys … .”

In one of his versions, Aḥmad – as already noted – pairs Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUbayd-Allāh with ʿUthmān ibn Ḥayyān, for Hishām ibn Saʿd transmitted the ḥadith to us from Umm al-Dardāʾ through both lines of transmission.

I say: These four routes together show that the phrase recorded by Muslim, “in the month of Ramaḍān,” is anomalous (shādh) and cannot be upheld as part of the ḥadith. Al-Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī, however, gave a mistaken impression in ʿUmdat al-Aḥkām when he cited the report (no. 183) with Muslim’s wording that contains this addition, as though it were agreed upon by the two Shaykhs. He did not even add the minimum clarification, “and the wording is Muslim’s,” which is required in such cases. I have found no one who pointed out the anomaly of this addition – not even al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar; rather, he quoted it from Muslim and then said:

“With this additional wording the intended proof is perfectly achieved (namely, the permissibility of breaking the fast while travelling in Ramaḍān), and by it Ibn Ḥazm can be refuted in his claim that the ḥadith of Abū al-Dardāʾ is not a valid proof, since the fast in question might have been voluntary.”

I reply: That refutation is unfounded, now that we have demonstrated beyond doubt the anomalous nature of Muslim’s version. Had al-Ḥāfiẓ – may Allah have mercy on him – been able to trace the various routes and wordings of this ḥadith, he would not have made that statement.

Al-Ṣanʿānī also slipped in al-ʿIddah with another error, saying (3/368): “This ḥadith appears in Muslim under Abū al-Dardāʾ’s name and in al-Bukhārī attributed to Umm al-Dardāʾ.”

The correct view is that, in al-Bukhārī just as in Muslim, the ḥadith is in the Musnad of Abū al-Dardāʾ; both Imams only transmitted it through Umm al-Dardāʾ on his authority.

Accordingly, the proper reply to Ibn Ḥazm relies on the other reports we have cited from a number of Companions, and he is likewise refuted by the following ḥadith:

“It is a concession” – meaning the permission to break the fast while travelling – “granted by Allah; whoever accepts it has done well, and whoever wishes to fast, there is no sin upon him.”