his Musnad (1/99/175), through several routes from Muhammad ibn Bakr, from al-Salt ibn Bahram: al-Hasan narrated to us; Jundub al-Bajali narrated to us in this mosque that Hudhayfah told him, saying:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: … and he mentioned it.
Ibn Kathir said:
“This is a good chain of transmission. Al-Salt ibn Bahram was among the trustworthy narrators of Kufa and was not impugned for anything except irja'. Ahmad, Ibn Ma'in, and others declared him trustworthy.”
I say: There is no doubt that al-Salt ibn Bahram is trustworthy, but was he the one who narrated this hadith from al-Hasan—namely, al-Hasan al-Basri? This is open to question, even though Ibn Kathir stated it categorically. Ibn Hibban had preceded him in this, for he said in his Thiqāt (6/471), in the biography of al-Salt ibn Bahram:
“A Kufan whose hadith are scarce, he narrates from a group of the Successors, and the people of Kufa narrate from him. He is the one who narrates from al-Hasan. Muhammad ibn Bakr al-Muqri' al-Kufi—not al-Barsani—narrated from him. Whoever says that he is al-Salt ibn Mihran is mistaken; rather, he is al-Salt ibn Bahram.”
That is what he said! Al-Hafiz rebutted him in al-Tahdhib, saying:
“What he rejected was categorically affirmed by al-Bukhari on the authority of his teacher, Ali ibn al-Madini, who knew his own teacher better. Al-Bukhari said in al-Tarikh: ‘Ali told me: Muhammad ibn Bakr al-Barsani narrated to us from al-Salt ibn Mihran: al-Hasan al-Basri narrated to me …’ and he mentioned a hadith.”
I say: This is that hadith. What both al-Hafiz and Ibn Hibban have mentioned calls for attention:
First: The printed edition of al-Tarikh does not contain “al-Barsani,” “ibn Mihran,” or “al-Basri.” It therefore appears that al-Hafiz supplied these himself by way of clarification, rather than as part of the transmitted report.
Second: Ibn Hibban categorically states that Muhammad ibn Bakr, who narrated from al-Salt, was not al-Barsani. I do not know his basis for this! Indeed, it conflicts with the practice of the hadith authorities who mentioned in