“Did you withhold the zakat and intend to kill my envoy?!”

He said, “No, by Him Who sent you with the truth! I neither saw him nor did he come to me. I set out only when the envoy of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was delayed in coming to me, for I feared that it might be due to displeasure from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and His Messenger.” He said: Then the following was revealed from Surat al-Hujurat:

“O you who believe, if a wicked person brings you news, verify it, lest you harm a people in ignorance and then regret what you have done … as a bounty and grace from Allah. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.”

It was narrated by Ahmad (4/279), Ibn Abi Asim in al-Afrad (4/322/2353), and al-Tabarani in al-Kabir (3/310–311), through Muhammad ibn Sabiq, who said: Isa ibn Dinar narrated to us, with this chain of transmission.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission; all its narrators are trustworthy, and their biographies appear in al-Tahdhib. For this reason, al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said in his Exegesis:

“It is among the finest chains of transmission for this hadith.”

Al-Suyuti said in al-Durr al-Manthur (6/87):

“Its chain is sound.”

Al-Hafiz made no comment on it in the biographical entry for al-Harith in al-Isabah.

As for his biographical entry for al-Walid ibn Uqbah, after citing the account through several mursal chains, he said:

“Al-Tabarani narrated it at length, with a connected chain from al-Harith ibn Abi Dirar al-Mustaliqi, but the chain contains someone unknown!”

Thus he said—may Allah have mercy on him! For, besides falling short by limiting himself to al-Tabarani rather than Ahmad,