As for the annotator’s statement in Majma‘ al-Bahrayn (2/138), after citing al-Daraqutni’s remarks: “Ibn Hibban mentioned him in al-Thiqat and said, ‘He makes mistakes and is prone to error.’ He died in 318 AH. Al-Lisan (5/170) and al-Mizan (3/551)”—it is among the most astonishing errors. The explanation follows:
First: Muhammad ibn Zuhayr al-Abli is not mentioned at all in Ibn Hibban’s al-Thiqat. Indeed, there is no entry in it under the name Muhammad ibn Zuhayr except for one man whose lineage is not specified, and who was one of the Successors, as I established in Taysir al-Intifa‘. So I do not know how this came about for him!
Second: if you refer back to the two sources to which he directed the reader, you will find no mention in either of them of Ibn Hibban or of his statement.
Third: it is not the practice of scholars to place one who is later in rank before one who is earlier. Thus, the correct order is to cite al-Mizan before al-Lisan, as is obvious.
Moreover, there are other hadiths concerning the Prophet’s sprinkling water over the grave of his son and others, which I had traced in al-Irwa’ (3/205–206). All of them are defective, and at that time I found nothing in them to strengthen them. When I found this hadith in al-Tabarani’s al-Awsat, I hastened to trace its sources in order to strengthen them thereby. Allah alone grants success; there is no lord besides Him. *
- “The shepherd casts the pebbles at night and tends his flock by day.”
Al-Tahawi recorded it in Sharh al-Ma‘ani (1/415), Ibn ‘Adi in al-Kamil (5/8), and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan (5/151), through the route of Ibn Wahb: ‘Umar ibn Qays informed me, from ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah, who said: I heard Ibn ‘Abbas say: The Messenger of Allah said ... and he then cited it.