al-Ṭabarānī (17/136) also reported it through the route of Abū ʿĀṣim: Abū Maʿdān al-Minqārī—that is, ʿĀmir ibn Masʿūd—narrated to us; ʿAwn ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah narrated to us: My father narrated to me from my grandfather.

I do not know this ʿĀmir, nor have I found any biographical notice for him in the references available to me: neither among those named ʿĀmir, nor among those known by the kunyah Abū Maʿdān, nor among those bearing the attribution al-Minqārī.

2—It was also reported through another chain of transmission. Al-Jarrāḥ ibn Makhlad said: Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān al-Jazarī narrated to us; Saʿīd ibn ʿAnbasah al-Qaṭṭān narrated to us; Abū Maʿdān narrated to us, saying: I heard ʿAwn ibn Abī Juḥayfah narrate from his father, who said:

A woman came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, accompanied by a black slave-girl. The woman said, “O Messenger of Allah, I am required to emancipate a believing slave. Will this slave-girl suffice for me?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to her:

“Where is Allah?”

She said, “In heaven.” He said:

“Who am I?”

She said, “You are the Messenger of Allah.” He said:

“Do you testify that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and that I am the Messenger of Allah?”

She said, “Yes.” He said:

“Do you believe in what has come from Allah?”

She said, “Yes.” He then said:

“Emancipate her, for she is a believer.”

Al-Ṭabarānī reported it in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (22/116–117).

I say: This chain of transmission is extremely weak and is beset by successive defects:

The first is this Abū Maʿdān, for he is unknown, as mentioned above. Al-Ṭabarānī named him in the section, “Abū Maʿdān: ʿĀmir ibn Murrah, from ʿAwn,” and then cited this hadith; but I have not found him either.