al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Ghada’iri narrated to us: Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Amr al-Razzaz narrated to us: Ahmad ibn Mula‘ib ibn Hayyan narrated to us. Thus, all three of these men are trustworthy:

1. Al-Ghada’iri. Al-Khatib said (8/34): “We wrote from him, and he was a distinguished and trustworthy man.” Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi included his biography in al-Siyar (17/327) and described him as “the righteous, trustworthy imam.”

2. Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Amr al-Razzaz. He has a fine biography in Tarikh al-Khatib (3/132), containing reports from a number of hadith masters who narrated from him. Al-Khatib said: “He was trustworthy and highly reliable. People wrote from him through the selections of ‘Umar al-Basri.” In his biography of al-Ardabili, al-Dhahabi described him as “the leading hadith transmitter of Baghdad.”

3. As for Ahmad ibn Mula‘ib ibn Hayyan, he was among the well-known hadith masters. Al-Khatib gave him an extensive biography (5/168–170), in which he reported declarations of his trustworthiness from a number of hadith masters, including ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad and al-Daraqutni. Al-Dhahabi described him in Tadhkirat al-Huffaz and elsewhere as “the trustworthy hadith master.”

In sum, this chain of transmission may at least be cited as supporting evidence, for it corroborates the one preceding it. Thus, whatever agrees with it may be accepted, while whatever contradicts it and is uniquely reported by it is to be rejected—such as its wording, “a fox,” in place of “a monkey.” And Allah knows best.

Al-Mundhiri cited the hadith in al-Targhib (3/23) and said: “Al-Tabarani narrated it in his al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir, and al-Bayhaqi narrated it as well. I do not know of any narrator in its chain who has been criticized. It was also narrated from al-Hasan as a mursal report.”