Al-Dhahabī said in al-Kāshif: “He is upright and virtuous, though they declared him weak.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “He is weak in hadith, despite his devotion and merit.” I say: Someone like him may be cited as corroborative evidence, Allah willing. Thus, the more likely view—and Allah knows best—is that the report attributed to the Prophet with a continuous chain is authentic, were it not for Abū al-Zubayr’s ambiguous ‘from’ transmission. Therefore, Ibn al-Turkumānī’s conclusion in al-Jawhar al-Naqī (6/7), that the hadith containing this exception is authentic, is not far-fetched. He said: “The exception is an addition to the hadiths prohibiting the price of a dog, so it must be accepted. And Allah knows best.”

I say: Reports have also come from Ibrāhīm, ʿAṭāʾ, and others that there is no harm in taking the price of a hunting dog; Ibn Abī Shaybah recorded them (6/246–248).

As for the hadith, “He forbade the price of a dog, even if it is trained for hunting,” it is rejected. Ibn Lahīʿah alone narrated it, which is why I had included it in al-Ḍaʿīfah (5790). In sum, after examining the hadith under discussion, some of its chains, and its corroborating reports, it is necessary for me to retract what I had mentioned under hadith 2971 insofar as it conflicts with the conclusions reached here. Allah is the Granter of success.

Note: It was stated at the beginning of this documentation that the narrator of the hadith, al-Walīd ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Abī Rabāḥ, was declared weak by al-Dāraquṭnī. Al-Dhahabī quoted this from him in al-Mīzān without comment, and al-Ḥāfiẓ supplemented it in al-Lisān, saying: