Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and Muḥammad ibn Abī ʿUmar said: “Sufyān narrated it to us through the same chain.” They did not express any uncertainty, and this is an important point. They too are reliable narrators.
In sum, the agreement of these five reliable narrators in attributing the hadith to the Prophet, without any hesitation, is decisive proof that the hadith is indeed from the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr’s hesitation over attributing it to the Prophet does not affect its soundness, especially since the context of the account confirms this upon careful consideration. For Ḥudhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him, would not have censured Ibn Masʿūd, may Allah be pleased with him, merely on the basis of his own opinion, for remaining silent about those observing iʿtikāf in the mosques situated among the residential quarters, while knowing Ibn Masʿūd’s virtue and learning. Had the hadith not been attributed to the Prophet in his view, he would not have dared to censure him on grounds that could not establish proof against him.
Even ʿAbd al-Razzāq’s narration attributed to the Companion supports what I have stated. Its wording is: “People are observing iʿtikāf between your house and Abū Mūsā’s house, and you do not forbid them!” ʿAbd Allāh replied to him: “Perhaps they were right and I was wrong; perhaps they remembered and I forgot!” Ḥudhayfah then said: “There is no iʿtikāf except in these three mosques…”—and he named them.
Similar to it is the narration of Ibrāhīm, who said: “Ḥudhayfah came to ʿAbd Allāh and said: ‘Are you not astonished at your people, observing iʿtikāf in the mosque between your house and al-Ashʿarī’s house?’ ʿAbd Allāh said: ‘Perhaps they were right and I was wrong.’ Ḥudhayfah said: ‘Do you not know that there is no iʿtikāf except in three mosques?’”—and he named them—“‘and I do not care whether I observe iʿtikāf there or in this marketplace of yours.’ [Those who observed iʿtikāf—and whom Ḥudhayfah censured for it—were in the Great Mosque of Kūfah.]”
Ibn Abī Shaybah recorded it in al-Muṣannaf (3/91), and this is his wording. ʿAbd al-Razzāq likewise recorded it (4/347–348), with the addition being his; al-Ṭabarānī narrated it from him (9510). Its narrators are reliable and are among the narrators of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, except that Ibrāhīm—al-Nakhaʿī—did not live to meet Ḥudhayfah.