the trustworthy narrators transmitted from him. Abu Zurʿah al-Dimashqi mentioned him among the highest tier immediately following the Companions.

Al-ʿIjli said: “A trustworthy Successor; in his time there was no one in Damascus superior to him.”

Ibn Hibban listed him in al-Thiqat. Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib: “It is said that his name was Akhdar, and it is also said to have been al-Nuʿman; trustworthy, of the third generation.”

I say: In light of this, Ibn Hazm’s statement concerning him (8/196)—“He is unknown”—cannot be accepted, nor can his declaring the hadith defective on that basis. He has no predecessor in this judgment, whereas these leading scholars declared him trustworthy.

For this reason, after citing it on the authority of Ahmad and Abu Yaʿla, al-Hafiz said in al-Fath (9/82): “Its chain is strong.”

261 — “This is my minor ablution and the minor ablution of the Prophets before me.”

Ibn Shahin narrated it in al-Targhib (262/1–2) through Muhammad ibn Musaffa, who said: Ibn Abi Fudayk informed us; Talhah ibn Yahya told me, from Anas ibn Malik, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, called for water to perform minor ablution. He washed his face once, his hands once, and his feet once each, and said: ‘This is an ablution without which Allah, Most High, does not accept the prayer.’ Then he called for water to perform minor ablution and washed each part twice, saying: ‘This is the ablution of one who performs it; Allah multiplies his reward twofold.’ Then he called for water to perform minor ablution and washed each part three times, saying: ‘This is how your Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and the Prophets before him performed minor ablution.’ Or, he said: ‘This is my minor ablution and the minor ablution of the Prophets before me.’”

I say: The narrators in this chain are trustworthy, although some of them are subject to disagreement. However, it is interrupted, for Talhah ibn Yahya—namely, Talhah ibn al-Nuʿman ibn Abi ʿAyyash al-Zuraqi—is not reported to have narrated from any of the Companions, nor even from the Successors.

Al-Hafiz mentioned this hadith in al-Talkhis (p. 30), from Ibn al-Sakan’s narration in