I mentioned earlier that Maysarah had been contradicted. I say: al-Masʿūdī contradicted him in the narration of ʿĀṣim ibn ʿAlī:

Al-Masʿūdī narrated to us, from al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, from Abū ʿUbaydah, from ʿAbd Allah, that he saw around the neck of a woman from his household a leather strap containing amulets … The hadith is similar to it, but more complete, and is entirely attributed to the Companion. He added:

“Indeed, Satan comes to one of you (1) and gets into her head. If she seeks ruqyah, he withdraws; but if she does not seek ruqyah, he pricks her. If one of you were to ask for some water, sprinkle it over her head and face, and then say, ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful,’ and recite, ‘Say: He is Allah, the One,’ ‘Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak,’ and ‘Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind,’ that would benefit her, if Allah wills.”

Al-Ṭabarānī recorded it in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (9/193–194). Al-Masʿūdī’s memory had deteriorated, so his contradiction of trustworthy Maysarah in its chain of transmission and text carries no weight.

Moreover, one of the weak narrators transmitted it from Maysarah, from al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, from Abū ʿUbaydah, in an abbreviated form like the hadith under discussion, but attributed it only to the Companion. Al-Ṭabarānī recorded it (8862) through Abū Isrāʾīl al-Malāʾī, from Maysarah, with this chain. I say: Abū Isrāʾīl’s name was Ismāʿīl ibn Khalīfah al-ʿAbsī, and he had a poor memory. Thus, a narration such as his cannot be set against the previously cited narration of Isrāʾīl, through its chain of transmission from Ibn Masʿūd, attributed to the Prophet. He is Isrāʾīl ibn Yūnus ibn Abī Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī, and he is trustworthy, as stated earlier.

It is also possible that Abū ʿUbaydah narrated this hadith—or something from the account of his father, Ibn Masʿūd. For in a narration recorded by al-Ṭabarānī (8861), through Maʿmar, from ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jazarī, from Ziyād ibn Abī Maryam or from Abū ʿUbaydah—Maʿmar was uncertain—he said: