Yunus, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Abu Umamah ibn Sahl ibn Hunayf informed me that some of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, from among the Ansar informed him that … Then he related the hadith in similar terms.

Abu Dawud (4472) and Ibn al-Jarud in al-Muntaqa (277/817) recorded it through two routes from him. I say: This chain would be authentic—its narrators are reliable and are among the narrators of the two Shaykhs—were it not for the contradiction. As for al-Hafiz’s statement in Bulugh al-Maram (4/16–17—Subul al-Salam): “Ahmad, al-Nasaʾi, and Ibn Majah reported it, and its chain of transmission is good; but they differed as to whether it is connected or mursal,” he means the first route. Thus, classifying it as good is open to question because of Ibn Ishaq’s ambiguous ‘from’ formula in the reports of the three whom he mentioned, as well as the other three whom I mentioned previously.

As for Abu Dawud’s chain of transmission, it is authentic, subject to the reservation mentioned above. The Companion’s name being unknown does not detract from it; moreover, he has been identified in three different ways. The first is Sahl ibn Hunayf: Abu al-Zinad narrated it from Abu Umamah ibn Sahl ibn Hunayf, from his father, who said: Then he related it. Al-Daraqutni (3/100, no. 67) and al-Tabarani (no. 5565) recorded it from him through two weak chains. Al-Zuhri corroborated him, narrating from Abu Umamah through the same chain. Al-Nasaʾi (no. 7308) (1) and al-Tabarani (5568 and 5587) recorded it through Ishaq ibn Rashid, from al-Zuhri. However, regarding this Ishaq, al-Daraqutni said: