It may be argued that he did not attribute it to al-Bayhaqi because he had not come across its chain of transmission, and because it differs from al-Tabarani’s chain. I say: That is possible; but if so, it is an excuse worse than the offense itself. For one who is sincere toward himself first, and then toward his readers, would not dare to declare weak a hadith transmitted by one of the imams when he has not examined its chain of transmission, since the ruling on the hadith may change—as it does in this case—even if he himself may not consider that so. Yet it is no surprise that he concealed this supporting report, for he has concealed evidence even stronger than it in dozens of hadiths, as has been explained on many occasions—especially in the work in which I am presently engaged, tracing his exceedingly numerous declarations of weakness regarding the authentic hadiths in al-Ighathah. Allah is the One Whose help is sought.
2988 — “O Jadd! Would you be willing to fight the Byzantines?”
Ibn Abi Hatim recorded it in al-Tafsir (4/51/1) through Muhammad ibn Ishaq, who said: Sa‘id ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Hassan ibn Thabit informed me, from Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say—and he then cited the above. Jadd said: “Will you give me leave, O Messenger of Allah? I am a man fond of women, and I fear that, if I see the women of the Byzantines, I will be tempted.” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, turned away from him and said: “I have given you leave.” At that point Allah revealed: “And among them is he who says, ‘Permit me to remain behind, and do not put me to trial.’ Surely, they have fallen into trial.”
I say: This is a good chain of transmission. Its transmitters, apart from this Sa‘id ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman, are reliable and well-known narrators included in al-Tahdhib. Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned him in al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dil (2/1/39), through the narration of this Ibn Ishaq, but left his entry blank. Ibn Hibban mentioned him in al-Thiqat (6/249) and said: