He then related from some of them something that gives the impression that all construction entails sin. Al-Ḥāfiẓ responded: “That is not so. Rather, the matter requires distinction: not everything built beyond one’s need necessarily entails sin. Indeed, some construction brings reward, such as that which benefits someone other than the builder, for the builder earns reward through it. Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, knows best.”

2832 — “The Children of Israel wrote a book, followed it, and abandoned the Torah.”

Al-Ṭabarānī recorded it in al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ (2/39/1/5876): Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us; Jandal ibn Wāliq narrated to us; ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAmr narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, from Abū Burdah, from his father, attributed to the Prophet. He said: “Jandal ibn Wāliq alone narrated it.”

I say: Scholars differed concerning him. Ibn Ḥibbān deemed him trustworthy (8/167), as did Abū Zurʿah by narrating from him, while Abū Ḥātim said: “Truthful.” Others judged him weak; consult al-Tahdhīb if you wish. Thus, he is of intermediate standing, and his hadith is good. Allah knows best.

Al-Haythamī (1/192) attributed this hadith to al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr, and al-Suyūṭī followed him—using an abbreviation, as was his custom in al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr and al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr (no. 6405). I do not know whether this attribution is correct, or whether it was a slip of the pen or an error by the copyist. For the volume containing the Musnad of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī—whose name was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qays, the father of Abū Burdah—has not yet been published, so that we may refer to it and verify whether or not it contains the report.