2667 — “It is enough that you mention your brother for what he actually possesses.”
Abū al-Shaykh narrated it in al-Tawbīkh (188), al-Aṣbahānī in al-Targhīb (580), al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān (2/304–2), and al-Baghawī in his Tafsīr (7/346), through al-Muthannā ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ, from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather [from Muʿādh ibn Jabal]:
They mentioned a man in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, “He does not eat unless he is fed, nor does he set out unless someone makes his preparations for him.” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “You have backbitten him.” They said, “O Messenger of Allah, we merely spoke of what he possesses.” He said, “That is precisely what you mentioned about him.”
The wording is that of al-Aṣbahānī, while the addition is from al-Bayhaqī. I say: This is a good chain of transmission, were it not for the fact that al-Muthannā ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ is weak. He became confused in his later years, though he was a devout worshipper, as stated in al-Taqrīb. Ibn Lahīʿah also followed him in narrating it from ʿAmr with similar wording. Abū al-Shaykh narrated it (189).
However, it is supported by what Abū Yaʿlā narrated in his Musnad (4/1460–1461), as did Abū al-Shaykh (182) and al-Bayhaqī, through Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥumayd, from Mūsā ibn Wardān, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: “We were with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when a man rose to leave. They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, how incapable So-and-so is!’—or, he said, ‘How weak So-and-so is!’ The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘You have backbitten your companion and eaten his flesh.’”
Al-Haythamī said (8/94): “It was narrated by Abū Yaʿlā and by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Awsaṭ, and its wording is ...” He then cited it in similar terms and said: “In both their chains is Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥumayd, who is also called Ḥammād, and he is very weak.”
I say: Al-Aṣbahānī also narrated it through his route in al-Targhīb (p. 577). Al-Haythamī then cited another supporting report for it, from Muʿādh ibn Jabal, who said: