with a complete composite wording: its first half taken from Malik’s wording and its second half from al-Bukhari’s wording. Yet he attributed it to the two Shaykhs, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasaʾi! Nor was this all: in the first half he also said, “nor charity”! This has no basis in the reports of the aforementioned hadith compilers, nor in those of any of the others previously cited in our documentation of this hadith. Rather, the wording found in the two Shaykhs is: “...prayer or fasting.” Ibn Abi Shaybah alone has the wording cited by al-Suyuti! But it is anomalous, for the reasons already given and in light of other hadith on the subject, such as the hadith of Abu Saʿid al-Khudri: “Like the fasting person who stands in prayer and does not cease until he returns.” It was reported by Ibn Majah (2754) and Ibn Abi Shaybah (5/319) through ʿAtiyyah, from him.

There is also the abridged hadith of al-Nuʿman ibn Bashir, attributed to the Prophet: “Like one who fasts by day and stands in prayer at night, until he returns—whenever he returns.” It was reported by ʿAbd al-Razzaq (5/256/9537), attributed to the Companion, and by Ahmad (4/271), attributed to the Prophet; al-Bazzar likewise reported it (2/256/1645), with a good chain of transmission.

Then al-Bazzar (1648) reported: Muḥammad ibn Yaḥya Abu al-Sabah narrated to us: ʿAsim ibn ʿAli narrated to us, through his chain from al-Aʿraj, from Abu Hind, with a report attributed to the Prophet to the same effect as the hadith under this heading, except that he said, “nor charity,” in place of “until he returns.” And he said: