The response to him may be made from several angles.

First: it is not inferior to those two in authenticity; rather, it is superior to them in that regard. How could it not be, when it was narrated by seven Companions: Abu Hurayrah—whose report alone has ten routes from him, as previously explained—Ibn ʿAbbas, ʿA’ishah, Ibn Abī Awfā, Ibn ʿUmar, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mughaffal, and Abu Saʿīd al-Khudrī? The hadith of Abu Dharr, on the other hand, has only three routes from him, along with a corroborating report from Abu al-Dardāʾ, which al-Bukhārī declared weak, and another from Salamah ibn Nuʿaym recorded by Imam Aḥmad. Likewise, the hadith of ʿUbādah has three routes from him, and I have not found any corroborating report for it in the sources currently available to me.

Once you know this, dear reader, the falsity of al-Kawtharī’s claim that the hadith under discussion is inferior in authenticity to the two hadiths mentioned becomes plainly clear, without ambiguity. How could that be conceivable when you have learned that it has more routes and corroborating reports than either of them? In truth, this statement of his confirms that, despite his learning, the man’s assertions cannot be trusted, for he follows his whims, which drive him either to speak rashly about what he does not know or to depart from what he does know. Thus, he makes what is outweighed appear preponderant, and what is inferior appear superior—and vice versa. We ask Allah for safety and well-being.

Second: even if it were inferior to them in authenticity, this would not undermine it in the view of those knowledgeable in this noble field. Do you not see that a hadith that is good through external corroboration is less firmly established than one that is intrinsically good; that the latter is inferior in authenticity to a hadith that is authentic through external corroboration; and that this, in turn, is inferior to one that is intrinsically authentic? The same applies, as is evident, to the well-known and widely transmitted hadith in relation to the mass-transmitted hadith. Al-Kawtharī is not unaware of this; rather, it is obstinacy and the pursuit of whim that lead him to cast aspersions upon an authentic hadith because it conflicts with his school of thought—or rather, with his personal whim—as will be explained.