“Ubayy ibn Kaʿb also had a similar incident; thus, these are three occurrences.”

I say: Ibn Kathir’s concluding remark indicates that he regarded al-Nasa’i’s narration as stronger because its chain is uninterrupted. The principle behind this in hadith terminology is that, when two trustworthy narrators differ over the chain of a hadith, and one narrates it as mursal while the other narrates it with a connected chain, the latter narration is preponderant, because it contains additional information; and an addition made by a trustworthy narrator is accepted. This is precisely the case with al-Nasa’i’s hadith and Ibn Mardawayh’s narration: the former is narrated through Shuʿayb ibn Harb, and the latter through Muslim ibn Ibrahim. Both are trustworthy; however, al-Nasa’i’s book has been carefully served and its transmission diligently attended to, whereas we know of nothing comparable concerning Ibn Mardawayh’s book. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best.

Third: His statement, “Then I did not find ...,” and so on.

I say to him: What lies behind this claim?! Are you one of the hadith masters, when you are a novice in this field—as they say in some lands? Your many errors in your commentary on Riyad al-Salihin demonstrate this, and these are only some of them. The list goes on, as the saying has it. Some other examples have already preceded; see al-Sahihah, no. 944; the introduction to the second volume of the new edition; and no. 3007! *

3163—Whenever he left his home, he would say:

“In the name of Allah. I place my trust in Allah. O Allah, we seek refuge in You from slipping (in one version: causing another to slip, or being made to slip—the verbs are all singular in that version), from going astray, from wronging or being wronged, and from acting ignorantly or being treated ignorantly.”

It is from the hadith of Umm Salamah—may Allah be pleased with her. Al-Shaʿbi narrated it from her, and from him