And he gave him a biographical entry in al-Lisan under the name Khalid ibn Sharik, as a narrator from al-Irbad ibn Sariyah and narrated from by Sufyan ibn Husayn, in connection with the hadith: “If he gives [his wife] water to drink...” He said: “Al-Azdi said: ‘No one corroborates him in it.’”

In sum, this biographical entry is among the difficult cases in which it is not easy to arrive at the correct conclusion. However, the hadith is weak because of the break between this Khalid and al-Irbad, as well as the uncertainty concerning Khalid’s identity. And Allah knows best.

Then I found another connected route for the hadith by which it may be strengthened. Al-Tabarani said in Musnad al-Shamiyyin (p. 328): ‘Amr ibn Ishaq narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Isma'il ibn Ayyash narrated to us: My father related to me, from Damdam ibn Zur'ah, from Shurayh ibn Ubayd, from al-Irbad ibn Sariyah, who said: I heard the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, say it.’ He then cited it, along with al-Irbad’s words: “So I got up...” and so on.

I say: This is a good chain for purposes of corroboration and supporting reports. Its narrators have been deemed trustworthy, apart from Muhammad ibn Isma'il ibn Ayyash. Abu Dawud said: “He was not particularly strong.” Abu Hatim said: “He did not hear anything from his father.” Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib: “They criticized him for narrating from his father without having heard from him.” Al-Dhahabi said in al-Kashif: “There was a man between them.”

I say: In this chain, he explicitly states that he heard directly from his father, but the narrator from him, Amr ibn