brought in his flock and gave her the ring. She asked, “Who gave you this?”

He replied, “A man.”

She asked, “Where did you leave him?”

He replied, “In such-and-such a place.”

She remained silent until nightfall, when she went out to him. When she came to him, he said to her, “Mount in front of me”—on his camel.

She said, “No; rather, you ride in front.” So he mounted, and she rode behind him until she arrived. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would then say ... and he mentioned it.

Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.”

Al-Dhahabi said: “I say: it is a rejected report, and Yahya is not strong.”

I say: He is Yahya al-Ghafiqi al-Misri, concerning whom there is disagreement. In al-Tahdhib and in the introduction to al-Fath, al-Hafiz cited the scholars’ statements regarding him, then said (13/451):

“I say: Al-Bukhari cited him as supporting evidence in several hadiths narrated by him from Humayd al-Tawil. He has no other hadiths from him except these, apart from his hadith from Yazid ibn Abi Habib concerning the manner of prayer, which is supported by the narration of al-Layth and others. The remaining compilers relied upon him.”

He said in al-Taqrib: “Truthful, though he sometimes erred.”

I say: Such a narrator’s hadith is at least good, unless his error becomes evident. In his narration of this story—despite its length—I have found nothing that warrants judging the hadith to be rejected, except perhaps his statement in the hadith under discussion: “Zaynab is the best of my daughters ...”; for, in its apparent meaning, it conflicts with the Prophet’s statement during his final illness: “O Fatimah, would you not be pleased to be the leader of the believing women?!”