(1) Reported by Ahmad and others; it is documented in al-Ṣaḥīḥah (1674) and al-Irwāʾ (1208).

ibn Yaʿqūb al-Rukhamī: Zayd ibn Yaḥyā ibn ʿUbayd al-Dimashqī narrated to us: Saʿīd ibn Bashīr narrated to us, from Qatādah, from Anas, who said: The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ... and he cited it. He said:

“Singular among the narrations of Anas.”

I say: Its narrators are trustworthy, except for Saʿīd ibn Bashīr. Although he was a hadith memorizer, some scholars criticized him, while a number of hadith masters declared him trustworthy. This is contrary to the claim of one of the contemporary writers who are excessively strict toward women: he declared him very weak and gave readers the impression that no one had declared him trustworthy. The facts belie this, for among those who declared him trustworthy was the imam of imams, al-Bukhārī. Indeed, al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī, in al-Kāshif, said no more about him—after describing him as a hadith memorizer, and adding in al-Siyar that he was truthful—than:

“Al-Bukhārī said: ‘They speak critically of his memory, but he is tolerable.’ Duḥaym said: ‘Trustworthy; our shaykhs used to declare him trustworthy.’”

I have refuted the one who disregarded these declarations of trustworthiness, as well as others like him among the excessively strict, in my new book, The Decisive Refutation of Those Who Oppose the Scholars, Are Excessively Strict, and Show Partisanship ... May Allah facilitate for me the preparation of its final copy and its publication, through His grace and generosity.

For this reason, when al-Haythamī, in al-Majmaʿ (10/65), attributed this hadith to al-Bazzār and related his declaration that it was singular, he followed it by saying:

“I say: It contains Saʿīd ibn Bashīr, concerning whom there is disagreement: some declared him trustworthy, while others declared him weak; the rest of its narrators are trustworthy.”

I say: A narrator of his standing occupies a middle rank, and his hadith is good in itself, or at the very least good on account of corroborating evidence. On this basis, I had strengthened his hadith: “When a woman reaches menstrual age, it is not permissible for any part of her to be seen except her face and hands.” See my book under its new title, The Muslim Woman’s Outer Garment.