“It is a good, singular hadith through this route.” Perhaps he did not declare it authentic because Abu al-Zubayr narrated it with an ambiguous transmission formula, and he practised tadlis. Al-Bayhaqi was therefore mistaken when he said after it in al-Shu‘ab: “This is an authentic chain of transmission!” Likewise, the commentator on al-Ihsan (13/133—al-Mu’assasah edition) erred in saying: “It is an authentic hadith according to Muslim’s criteria.” For he overlooked the distinction made by the leading critical hadith scholars between what Muslim transmitted through al-Layth, from Abu al-Zubayr, from Jabir—which is authentic, since Muslim narrated from him only what he explicitly stated that he had heard from Jabir—and what others transmitted from him using an ambiguous transmission formula.

He also overlooked—or failed to notice—that Abu al-Zubayr had added, beyond Salim ibn Abi al-Ja‘d and others, that additional wording which contradicts the authentic hadiths: “…and if you use my name, do not use my kunyah.” Once this addition is rejected, the hadith under discussion—which forbids combining the name and the kunyah—is to be understood accordingly. This is further supported by the authentic additional wording: “I am Abu al-Qasim …,” for it indicates that this kunyah belongs exclusively to him, peace and blessings be upon him, without qualification, as is clear.

Furthermore, the hadith of Abu Hurayrah was affected, through some of its narrators known for poor retention, by the same rejected addition that affected the hadith of Jabir. Sharik narrated from Salim ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Nakha‘i, from Abu Zur‘ah, from Abu Hurayrah, in a report attributed to the Prophet, with the wording of Abu al-Zubayr’s report from Jabir. Ahmad recorded it (2/312 and 454–455, 457, and 461). Sharik was Ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nakha‘i, the judge: truthful, but prone to frequent errors. Shu‘bah contradicted him, narrating it from ‘Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Nakha‘i, who said: “I heard Abu Zur‘ah narrate from Abu Hurayrah,” in an abbreviated form: “Use my name, but do not use my kunyah.”