I say: This chain of transmission is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim. Sufyan is Ibn ʿUyaynah, and through his route it was transmitted by al-Tirmidhi in al-Shamaʾil (no. 205), Abu al-Shaykh in His Character, peace and blessings be upon him (pp. 227–228), and al-Hakim (4/137), who declared it authentic. Al-Tirmidhi also transmitted it in al-Sunan (no. 1896), but deemed it defective on account of its being mursal, saying:

“This is how more than one narrator reported it from Ibn ʿUyaynah, from Maʿmar, from al-Zuhri, from ʿUrwah, from Aishah. What is correct is that which was reported from al-Zuhri from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as a mursal report.”

He then cited it through the route of ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Mubarak: “Maʿmar and Yunus informed us, from al-Zuhri, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked, ‘Which drink is most pleasant?’ He replied, ‘The sweet and cold.’”

He said: “This is likewise how ʿAbd al-Razzaq reported it from Maʿmar, from al-Zuhri, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as a mursal report. This is more sound than the hadith of Ibn ʿUyaynah, may Allah have mercy on him.”

What he mentioned from ʿAbd al-Razzaq appears likewise in his Musannaf (10/426) as a mursal report, and this is the weightier of the two narrations from al-Zuhri. Al-Hakim cited, in support of the connected narration, a report through the route of ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr: “Hisham ibn ʿUrwah narrated to us, from his father, from Aishah,” with the same wording. Abu al-Shaykh likewise transmitted it.

I say: But it is not fit to serve as supporting evidence because of its extreme weakness. For this reason, al-Dhahabi followed it with the remark: “I say: ʿAbd Allah is utterly discredited.”

Ibn Hibban said in al-Majruhin (2/11):

“He narrated from Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, and Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir al-Hizami narrated from him. He was among those who narrated fabricated reports from trustworthy narrators and attributed to Hisham ibn ʿUrwah reports that Hisham never narrated at all. It is not lawful to write down his hadith or narrate from him.”