One example of the injustice done to the Sunnah by the one called Hassan is his rejection of this hadith. I have refuted him in the present work, no. 141, and have mentioned there the hadith masters who authenticated it, among them al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. *
- “Yes, even if you are at a flowing river.”
Imam Ahmad narrated it (2/221): Qutaybah ibn Sa‘id narrated to us: Ibn Lahi‘ah narrated to us, from Hayy ibn ‘Abd Allah, from Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Hubuli, from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, passed by Sa‘d while he was performing minor ablution and said:
“What is this excess, Sa‘d?!”
He said, “Can there be excess in minor ablution?!” He replied: “…,” and then cited it.
Ibn Majah also narrated it (425): Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us: Qutaybah narrated to us through the same chain.
I say: This is a good chain of transmission. There is disagreement concerning Hayy ibn ‘Abd Allah, but in my view he is of middling standing, and his hadith is good. Al-Tirmidhi graded some of his hadith as good, while Ibn Hibban, al-Hakim, al-Dhahabi, and others authenticated some of them. I too have previously graded several of his hadith as good; see, for example, al-Mishkah (1593) and al-Sahihah (1003 and 1304), among others. Ibn ‘Adi said of him (2/251):
“I hope that there is no harm in him when a trustworthy narrator reports from him.”
I say: This condition is self-evident. At first glance, however, it appears not to be fulfilled here, because of Ibn Lahi‘ah’s poor retention, for which he was known, although he was truthful in himself. This was what had previously led me—following others—to declare the hadith weak on his account in Irwa’ al-Ghalil (1/171/140), long ago, and elsewhere by reference to it.