However, the hadith is authentic, for it has been transmitted with a connected chain through Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, from al-Shaʿbī, from ʿAlqamah, from Ibn Masʿūd, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the wording:

“A caller from among the jinn came to me, so I went with him and recited the Quran to them.”

The report includes the account. It was recorded by Muslim, Abū ʿAwānah, Ibn Ḥibbān as well (2/350–351 and 8/77), and others. I have cited it in al-Ḍaʿīfah (1038) because of an anomalous addition found in the portion of the account attributed to the Prophet; part of it is also cited in al-Irwāʾ (1/85/46).

Al-Bayhaqī also recorded it in al-Sunan (1/9) through Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ, who said: Abū Fazārah al-ʿAbsī informed us, from Abū Zayd, from Ibn Masʿūd, with a similar narration. It includes the hadith under discussion.

This is a weak chain of transmission, and it contains a rejected addition with the wording:

“A wholesome date and purifying water.”

For that reason, I cited it in Ḍaʿīf Abī Dāwūd (no. 11).

The account has also been narrated in other wordings that do not contain the hadith under discussion, but do state that it took place at al-Ḥajūn. Among them is what Abū al-Jawzāʾ narrated from Ibn Masʿūd, who said:

“I set out with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, on the Night of the Jinn, until he came to al-Ḥajūn. He drew a line around me, then went forward to them ...”

Al-Bayhaqī recorded it in Evidences of Prophethood (2/231).

The narrators in its chain are trustworthy, so it would be authentic were it not for the statement that “Abū al-Jawzāʾ—whose name was Aws ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Rabaʿī—did not hear from Ibn Masʿūd.”