“An unknown shaykh, and Abdullah ibn Hakim is unknown; we know neither of them.” I say: Yet Ibn Abd al-Hakam praised al-Qurashi, saying: “He used to remain constantly in the mosque”—and he mentioned some of his virtues—as recorded in al-‘Uqayli’s al-Du‘afa’ (p. 149). Ibn Khuzaymah also included his hadith in his Sahih, as cited in al-Isabah. In sum, the hadith is authentic through these routes, and praise be to Allah for His enabling grace.

2618 — “The Black Stone descended from Paradise whiter than snow, but the sins of the children of Adam made it black.”

It was recorded by al-Tirmidhi (1/166), Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih (1/271/1), al-Tabarani in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir (3/155/1–2), Ahmad (1/307, 329, and 373), and al-Khatib in al-Tarikh (7/362), through several routes from ‘Ata’ ibn al-Sa’ib, from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ‘Abbas, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with this wording. Al-Tirmidhi said: “A good, authentic hadith.” He also reported “milk” in place of “snow,” which, in my view, is anomalous because it conflicts with the wording of the majority.

Al-Nasa’i also recorded its opening portion in al-Sughra (2/36) and al-Kubra (folio 87/2), through the route mentioned above. I say: The narrators in its chain of transmission are trustworthy and are among al-Bukhari’s narrators, except that ‘Ata’ ibn al-Sa’ib became confused in his later years. Nevertheless, there is no problem with him in corroborating reports and supporting evidence, for Ibn Khuzaymah recorded it through Abu al-Junayd: Hammad ibn Salamah narrated to us from Abdullah ibn ‘Uthman ibn Khuthaym, from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, with the wording: