The hadith also has a corroborating report that strengthens it, narrated from Abu Hurayrah. It was deemed authentic by Ibn Hibban, al-Hakim, and others, and is documented in al-Mishkah (2881), al-Irwa’ (1334), and elsewhere.

2615 — “Yes, and you should give water.”

Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Awsat (1/95/1): Musa ibn Harun narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Abi Umar al-Adani narrated to us; Marwan ibn Mu‘awiyah narrated to us from Humayd al-Tawil, from Anas: Sa‘d came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, “O Messenger of Allah, my mother has died without leaving a will. Will it benefit her if I give charity on her behalf?” He replied with the words quoted above.

He said: “Musa said: Marwan erred in this report at Mecca. Rather, it is: ‘from Humayd, from al-Hasan’—that is, as a mursal report.”

I say: This Marwan was trustworthy by consensus. Indeed, Imam Ahmad marvelled at his precision and retention, saying, “How excellent was his memory!” Both authors of the two Sahih collections relied upon him; a narrator of his calibre cannot be judged mistaken merely on the basis of an unsupported claim. For this reason, the two hadith masters, al-Mundhiri in al-Targhib (2/53) and al-Haythami in al-Majma‘ (3/138), paid no attention to this alleged defect. They said: “Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Awsat, and its narrators are among those relied upon in the Sahih.”

I say: If we were permitted to attribute error on the basis of conjecture, then it would be more fitting to attribute it to al-Adani—namely, Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Abi Umar al-Adani—for some scholars criticized him. The hadith master said in al-Taqrib: “Truthful; he compiled a Musnad collection, but Abu Hatim said: ‘He was prone to heedlessness.’”