“They disputed whether he had heard from al-Zuhri.”

The second identification is Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri. Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah narrated it, in abbreviated form, from Abu al-Zinad and Yahya ibn Sa‘id, from Abu Umamah ibn Sahl, from him. Al-Tabarani (5446) and al-Daraqutni (65/66) recorded it through two authentic chains from Sufyan; they are ‘Amr ibn ‘Awn al-Wasiti and Dawud ibn Mihran. However, al-Nasa’i (7302–7304), al-Bayhaqi, and al-Baghawi also narrated it through other routes—and through a number of trustworthy narrators—from Sufyan as a mursal report, omitting Abu Sa‘id. Hushaim and Ibn Abi Hilal also corroborated this, narrating from Yahya ibn Sa‘id alone, from Abu Umamah, as a mursal report. Al-Bayhaqi said after it: “This is the preserved version from Sufyan: mursal.” He then referred to the connected reports mentioned above.

The third identification is Sahl ibn Sa‘d. Fulayh narrated it from Abu Hazim, from him. Al-Mahamili recorded it in al-Amali (1/117/77), and al-Daraqutni, no. 64, and al-Bayhaqi recorded it through his route. They said: “This is what he said; but the correct version is: from Abu Hazim, from Abu Umamah ibn Sahl, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.” I say: Fulayh was Ibn Sulayman, Abu Yahya al-Madani. Although he was among the narrators of the two Shaykhs, there is criticism of his precision. Al-Hafiz said: “Truthful, but frequently makes mistakes.” Yet he was not alone in narrating it: Abu Bakr ibn Abi Sabrah corroborated him, saying: “Abu Hazim narrated it to me,” in abbreviated form.