I say: Ibn Majah (798) reported it with a connected chain: ‘Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Isma‘il ibn ‘Ayyash narrated to us through that chain, with the wording: “Whoever performs the prayer in congregation in a mosque for forty nights, without missing the first rak‘ah of the ‘Isha prayer, Allah will record for him thereby emancipation from the Fire.”

Ibn ‘Asakir also transmitted it in al-Tarikh (12/275) through another route from Isma‘il, with the wording: “Zuhr” in place of “‘Isha.” Sa‘id ibn Mansur likewise narrated it in his Sunan, as cited in al-Talkhis al-Habir (2/27), from Isma‘il. He is weak when narrating from non-Syrians, and this is among his narrations from a Medinan, as al-Hafiz stated. Al-Daraqutni mentioned the variations in its transmission in al-‘Ilal and declared it weak. He also mentioned that Qays ibn al-Rabi‘ and others narrated it from Abu al-‘Ala’, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, and said: “This is an error; rather, it is Habib al-Iskaf.”

Thirdly: Ya‘qub ibn Tahiyyah said: Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us from Humayd al-Tawil, from Anas, in a narration attributed to the Prophet: “Whoever performs the dawn prayer and the final evening prayer in congregation for forty days will be granted two certificates of immunity ...” the hadith.

Abu al-Muzaffar al-Jawhari transmitted it in al-‘Awali al-Hisan (fol. 161/1–2), as did al-Khatib in al-Tarikh (14/288) and Ibn ‘Asakir (15/127/2), through routes from Ya‘qub with this chain. Al-Khatib cited it in the biographical entry of this Ya‘qub, naming him Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq ibn Tahiyyah, Abu Yusuf al-Wasiti. He mentioned neither any criticism nor any favorable evaluation of him, though he cited some hadiths of his that indicate his standing. Al-Dhahabi said: