Note: Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim recorded Ibn ʿUmar’s hadith in his book al-Sunnah (no. 1264) through another route from him, with similar wording, adding at its end:

“Ibn ʿUmar said: By Allah, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did not mention Abū Jahl to us that day!”

This is an invalid addition, because it contradicts the corroborating reports mentioned above, quite apart from the weakness of its chain.*

A widow observing the waiting period after her husband’s death wears black in mourning for only three days

3226—“Wear black in mourning for three days, then do whatever you wish.” He said this to Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays when her husband, Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib, was killed.

It was recorded by Ibn Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ (745—Mawārid), al-Ṭaḥāwī in Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār (2/44), Aḥmad (6/438), Ibn Saʿd (8/282), Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī in his exegesis (2/318), al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (24/139/369), Abū Nuʿaym in Akhbār Iṣfahān (1/187), and al-Bayhaqī in al-Sunan (7/438) and Maʿrifat al-Āthār (6/61/4676), through numerous routes from Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah ibn Muṣarrif, from al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtaybah, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād ibn al-Hād, from Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays. She said: “When Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib was killed, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed me, saying: ...” and then he cited it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are among those cited by the two Shaykhs. Al-Bayhaqī, however, declared it defective on the grounds of a break between ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād and Asmāʾ, and on account of Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah.

As for the alleged break, it is an unfounded claim: ʿAbd Allāh was among the senior trustworthy Followers; he was born during the lifetime of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him; Asmāʾ was his maternal aunt; and he was never accused of concealment in transmission.

As for Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah, he is among the narrators cited by the two Shaykhs. There is some minor criticism of him, but it is not enough to discredit