the man weak; he merely reported Ibn Ma‘in’s judgment, as al-Dhahabi did. Although this gives the impression that he considered him weak, it is not the same as categorically saying of him, “He is weak.”

My view is that the man is of moderate standing, or at the very least unclassified, for the criticism of him has not been established; nor has he been declared trustworthy by anyone whose accreditation is authoritative. Al-Khalili’s aforementioned statement supports this view. He did not narrate anything objectionable, and al-‘Uqayli mentioned only two hadiths of his.

One is this hadith. The other is his report, through an authentic chain from Abu Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet: “There is no contagion, no Ṣafar, and no hāmah.”

Al-‘Uqayli said of it: “Its chain is sound.”

As for this hadith, al-Balkhi was not alone in narrating it, for it has come through two other chains:

One is through Anas, to which al-‘Uqayli himself alluded.

The other was narrated by ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak in al-Zuhd (fol. 175/1 – Kawakib 575): Ma‘mar informed us, from Muhammad ibn Hamzah ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam, attributing it to the Prophet.

I say: This is an authentic mursal chain. Muhammad ibn Hamzah was the son of Yusuf ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam. He narrated from his father, from his grandfather ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam.

Abu Hatim said: “He is acceptable.” Ibn Hibban listed him in al-Thiqat (The Trustworthy Narrators).

Al-Quda‘i also narrated it in Musnad al-Shihab (fol. 24/2) through two other chains, from Ma‘mar, from Muhammad ibn Hamzah, from ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam, thus making it a report from his grandfather ‘Abd Allah. If this is correct, and there is no error in the transmission or corruption in the manuscript, then it is a musnad report; yet its chain is interrupted between Muhammad ibn Hamzah and his grandfather ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam.