I say: The reason for the doubt mentioned above is that a number of leading scholars narrated this hadith, through various chains from Abu Ma‘shar, but some of them did not mention the wording in question, while others narrated it as:

“Then he would pray in it.”

It was narrated by Muslim (1/164–165), Ibn al-Jarud in al-Muntaqa (55/136), and others. This is the preserved wording.

The difference between this and the first wording is evident. This one explicitly states that the rubbing did not take place during the prayer; rather, he would pray after it had been rubbed. As for the first wording, its apparent meaning indicates that the rubbing took place while he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was praying. This is why al-Hafiz cited it after the hadith under discussion as corroboration for it. It may, however, be interpreted such that the phrase, “while he was praying in it,” is coordinated with her words, “I recall”; that is, “and I recall that he prayed in it,” or some similar interpretation. Yet this is not without strain.

Moreover, I consider there to be another anomaly, though it is in the chain of transmission: namely, its mention of Hisham al-Dastuwa’i. There are two reasons for this:

First, al-Hafiz al-Mizzi and others did not list Hisham al-Dastuwa’i among the teachers of Hammad ibn Zayd; rather, they listed Hisham ibn Hassan.

Second, Muslim and al-Nasa’i (1/56) said: Qutaybah ibn Sa‘id narrated to us: Hammad ibn Zayd narrated to us from Hisham ibn Hassan, with the same chain.

There is no doubt that this is sounder than Ibn Hibban’s narration, because his shaykh Muhammad ibn Allan—also said to be Ibn Ali—al-Adhani, besides being unknown to us, was mentioned by al-Sam‘ani under this attribution only with reference to his narration from his shaykh Luwayn