I had mentioned something of this disagreement and preference in my authentication of this hadith in Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd (no. 124). I quoted Ibn al-Qayyim as saying: “All four imams of jurisprudence cited as evidence the written collection of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather. No imam known for issuing legal opinions was without need of it and did not cite it as evidence. Rather, it was criticized by those who did not bear the burdens of jurisprudence, such as Abū Ḥātim al-Bustī, Ibn Ḥazm, and others.”

Accordingly, I graded the hadith as sound there, and authenticated it on the basis of a corroborating report from Ibn ʿAbbās. By this, I gave preference to Sufyān’s narration of the hadith in question over Abū ʿAwānah’s narration, which includes the added wording: “Whoever adds or omits.” Thus, he added the words “or omits” to Sufyān’s version; and Sufyān—namely, al-Thawrī—had a stronger memory than Abū ʿAwānah.

Then, years later, I came across another narration from Sufyān which contains the aforementioned addition. This was among the reasons that prompted me to reconsider the preference just mentioned and examine the matter anew. Ibn Abī Shaybah said in al-Muṣannaf (1/8–9): “Abū Usāmah narrated to us from Sufyān with it.”

I say: This chain of transmission appears to be authentic, but it has a hidden defect: Abū Usāmah’s use of the ambiguous “from” formula. He is Ḥammād ibn Usāmah, and although he was trustworthy, al-Ḥāfiẓ said of him: “He would sometimes practise tadlīs (ambiguous transmission), and in his later years he would narrate from the books of others.”

If this is so, his narration cannot be preferred over Yaʿlā’s narration of the hadith in question, even though some scholars criticized Yaʿlā—namely, Yaʿlā ibn ʿUbayd al-Ṭanāfisī—specifically regarding his narrations from Sufyān. Nevertheless, he was corroborated by a narrator whose trustworthiness is undisputed. Ibn Khuzaymah stated in his Ṣaḥīḥ (1/89/174), as did Ibn al-Jārūd in al-Muntaqā (35/75): “Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī informed us: al-Ashjaʿī narrated to us from Sufyān with it.” This is an exceptionally authentic chain of transmission, for al-Dawraqī was a trustworthy hadith master.