Ibn Qutaybah recorded it in Gharīb al-Ḥadīth (1/129/2): My father narrated to me; Yazīd narrated to him, from al-Muqriʾ, from Ḥaywah ibn Shurayḥ, from Abū Hānīʾ, that Abū ʿAlī al-Janbī told him that he heard Faḍālah ibn ʿUbayd narrate it.
I say: This is a good chain of transmission, were it not that I have not identified Yazīd, the narrator from al-Muqriʾ—whose name was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd al-Muqriʾ—nor have I found a biographical entry for Ibn Qutaybah’s father, whose name was Muslim ibn Qutaybah, apart from what al-Khaṭīb mentioned in Ibn Qutaybah’s biography (10/170):
“It was said that his father was from Marw, while he himself was born in Baghdad.”
- “The believers whose faith is most complete are those with the finest character; and the best of you are those who are best to their wives.”
It is a hadith of Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, and it has two chains from him:
The first: from Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, from Abū Salamah, from him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said it. He then cited the hadith.
Al-Tirmidhī recorded it (1/217–218), as did Aḥmad (2/250, 472).
Abū Dāwūd (4682), Ibn Abī Shaybah in al-Muṣannaf (12/185/1), Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilyah (9/248), and al-Ḥākim (1/3) recorded its first portion. Al-Ḥākim said: “Authentic according to the criteria of Muslim.” Al-Dhahabī agreed with him.
I say: Rather, it is only good, because Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr has slight weakness. Nor does it meet Muslim’s criteria, for Muslim only narrated from him as corroboration.
Al-Tirmidhī said: “A good, authentic hadith.”
I say: It is authentic by way of the following chain, namely: