See also some of the authentic hadiths that this Hassan declared weak out of profound ignorance, in corrections nos. 6, 11, and 13 at the end of the second volume of the new edition of Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah. Beneath correction no. 14 is another authentic hadith that the one called Adil declared weak out of profound ignorance, demonstrating that he has no understanding whatsoever.

Note: I subsequently came across the hadith of Khuffaf ibn Ima’ in Musnad Abi Ya‘la (2/207–208), through Yazid ibn ‘Iyad, from ‘Imran ibn Abi Anas, from Abu al-Qasim Miqsam, the freedman of Banu Rabi‘ah, from al-Harith, who said:

“I prayed in the mosque of Banu Ghifar, and when I sat down, I began to supplicate and point with one finger. While I was in that state, Khuffaf ibn Ima’ al-Ghifari came to me and said: ...” Then he mentioned the hadith.

The annotator, after declaring it weak because of Yazid ibn ‘Iyad and citing it as recorded by Ahmad and al-Bayhaqi, said:

“Its chain of transmission apparently appears to be interrupted. Yet perhaps the version we have here may help identify the unknown man as Ibn Khuffaf. If that is so, the chain of transmission is authentic!”

That is what he said—and it is remarkably strange for several reasons:

First: The chain does not explicitly state that al-Harith was Ibn Khuffaf; rather, it appears that he was someone else. Had he been so, he would have said, “My father Khuffaf came to me,” or something similar. Nor would it have been acceptable for him to say, “I prayed in the mosque of Banu Ghifar,” when he himself was a Ghifari.

Second: Even if it had explicitly stated that he was Ibn Khuffaf, the chain of transmission would still not have been authentic. How could it be, when it contains Yazid ibn ‘Iyad, whom he himself declared weak?!