“It is a singular hadith, exclusively narrated by Abū Muḍar al-Nājī, who is also said to have been named Ḥammād; and no one other than ʿUbayd narrated it from him.”

Ibn ʿAsākir said:

“Someone other than al-Dāraquṭnī named him Shaybah. Al-Ḥākim Abū Aḥmad distinguished between Abū Muḍar al-Nājī and Abū Muḍar Ḥammād, yet he did not mention al-Nājī, but only gave his name.”

Ibn ʿAsākir then cited another chain from ʿUbayd ibn Wāqid, in which he said: “Abū Muḍar Shaybah al-Nājī.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Mizzī likewise mentioned him among the shaykhs of ʿUbayd ibn Wāqid. I have not found a biographical entry for this Shaybah. This differs from Ḥammād Abū Muḍar, for whom al-Bukhārī provided a brief biographical entry, followed by Ibn Abī Ḥātim and al-Dūlābī (2/116). All three cited only ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Khaffāf as narrating from him, and did not mention any narrator criticism or accreditation concerning him. The first two also included Abū Muḍar under the section on agnomens, without naming him, mentioning that he narrated from al-Ḥasan and Ibn Sīrīn and that Sulaymān al-Jarmī al-Qāfalānī narrated from him. Nor did they mention any narrator criticism or accreditation concerning him. Ibn Ḥibbān included him among the trustworthy narrators (7/665), so it is possible that he is this very al-Nājī. And Allah knows best.

In sum, I have not been able to determine the name of this Abū Muḍar, nor have I established his status. The apparent defect in the hadith is ʿUbayd, who narrated it from him. And Allah knows best.

However, the hadith has a corroborating report narrated by ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim. It was recorded by Aḥmad (4/258), Ibn Ḥibbān (45/68), and others. It has been referenced in connection with one of his hadiths in The Jilbāb of the Muslim Woman (p. 182). Thus, on account of it, the hadith is good—at the very least—if Allah Most High wills.