It then became clear to me that I had been mistaken in relying on al-Hafiz’s classification of him as “acceptable,” which means that he is not accepted when he narrates alone. For al-Hafiz himself stated in the biographical notice on Namla ibn Abi Namla in al-Tahdhib: “Besides al-Zuhri, he was narrated from by ‘Asim and Ya‘qub, the sons of ‘Umar ibn Qatadah, as well as Damrah ibn Sa‘id and Marwan ibn Abi Sa‘id. Ibn Hibban mentioned him in al-Thiqat and included his hadith in his Sahih.”

I say: These are a number of narrators, most of them trustworthy; moreover, he was a Successor narrating from his father. It has been my experience that al-Hafiz—and al-Dhahabi before him—would describe someone in such a case as “truthful,” and would deem his hadith sound or good, because it is most likely that he was truthful and that his report was free of error. And Allah, Exalted is He, knows best.

What further strengthens the hadith is that it has a corroborating report narrated by al-Harith ibn ‘Ubaydah: “Al-Zuhri narrated to us, from Salim, from his father, from ‘Amir ibn Rabi‘ah, who said: ‘We were with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when a funeral procession passed by. A Jewish man said, “O Muhammad, does this funeral bier speak?” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, remained silent. The Jew then said, “I bear witness that it speaks.” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then...’” He then cited it in similar but abbreviated wording, up to the words, “and His messengers,” but without the words, “so do not affirm them or deny them.”

Al-Hakim recorded it (3/358) and said: “This hadith is known through al-Harith ibn ‘Ubaydah al-Rahawi.” I say: He is weak, as al-Dhahabi himself said in al-Du‘afa’, following al-Daraqutni. Yet he may be used as a supporting narrator, since he is not severely weak. Abu Hatim said: