and Ibn Maʿīn’s verdict concerning him:
“He is an authority.”
There are many similar statements.
Perhaps al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī’s remark in al-Siyar (3/124), following the hadith of al-ʿIrbāḍ:
“The hadith has a strong corroborating report.”
I say: Perhaps this statement of his is what I have mentioned. And Allah knows best.
- As for the hadith of Maslamah ibn Makhlad, Abū Hilāl Muḥammad ibn Sulaym narrated to us, saying: Jabalah ibn ʿAṭiyyah narrated from Maslamah ibn Makhlad—or from a man, from Maslamah ibn Makhlad—that he saw Muʿāwiyah eating. He said to ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, “Your cousin here is certainly a hearty eater. Yet I say this having heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say...” He then cited the hadith, but did not mention “calculation”; instead, he said:
“And grant him authority in the lands.”
It was reported by Aḥmad in al-Faḍāʾil (1750), and likewise by Ibn Saʿd, as cited in al-Bidāyah (8/121)—though it is not found in the printed volumes, nor in the volume recently printed as a supplement—as well as by Ibn al-Jawzī in al-ʿIlal (1/272) and Ibn ʿAsākir (16/684).
Ibn al-Jawzī declared it defective because of Abū Hilāl, who is truthful but has some weakness, as stated in al-Taqrīb.
Al-Haythamī declared it defective because of a break in its chain, saying (9/357):
“Al-Ṭabarānī reported it through Jabalah ibn ʿAṭiyyah, from Maslamah ibn Makhlad. Jabalah did not hear from Maslamah; thus it is mursal. Its narrators have been declared trustworthy, though there is disagreement concerning them.”