and others—among those to whom he attributed it in the first passage—for al-Tabarani narrated it through three chains from Muhammad ibn Sabiq. Is the unknown narrator to whom he alluded Muhammad ibn Sabiq and those above him? Such a statement could not conceivably have come from al-Hafiz—or even from anyone of lesser standing. Or did he mean the three chains? This is like the point before it: even if all of them contained unknown narrators, it would not be permissible to declare the hadith defective on their account, since they corroborate one another. How, then, when at least two of them are authentic? And how, when Ahmad narrated it directly from Muhammad ibn Sabiq? There is no doubt that this was an oversight and lapse on the part of al-Hafiz. Yet every one of us is liable to this: “Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake.” *
3089—“If allegiance is pledged to two caliphs, kill the latter of them.”
It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Sa'id, Abu Hurayrah, Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, Anas ibn Malik, and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud.
- As for the hadith of Abu Sa'id, it has two chains:
The first: al-Jurayri narrated from Abu Nadrah, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said … and he cited it.
It was narrated by Muslim (6/23), Abu Awanah (4/460), and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan (8/144).
The other: Bishr ibn Harb narrated that Ibn Umar came to Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and said, “O Abu Sa'id, have I not been told that you pledged allegiance to two leaders before the people had united under one leader?” He replied, “Yes, I pledged allegiance to Ibn al-Zubayr. Then the people of Syria came and drove me to Hubaysh ibn Duljah (1), and I pledged allegiance to him.” Ibn Umar said, “That is what I feared; that is what I feared!” Hammad drew out his voice as he said this.