the route of al-A'mash, from al-Minhal ibn Amr, from Ya'la, with the same report, but without the hadith under discussion. Al-Hakim said:

“Its chain of transmission is authentic,” and al-Dhahabi agreed with him! Yet there is a break in it, as will be explained.

Al-Manawi also considered the hadith defective because of Ali ibn Abd al-Aziz, saying:

“If he is al-Baghawi, he used to charge for narrating hadith; if he is Ibn al-Hajib, his religious commitment was not much to speak of; and if he is al-Jannab, he is not trustworthy!”

I say: This is mere noise without substance. He is undoubtedly the hadith master al-Baghawi, for he is al-Tabarani’s teacher in this chain. Charging for narrating hadith is a fault that does not discredit a narrator; hence, he was accepted as an authority by all hadith scholars, as is well known to those versed in knowledge. Moreover, he was corroborated in the reports of al-Bayhaqi and al-Hakim.

As for his objection to al-Suyuti’s declaring the hadith authentic, it has no bearing except on its chain. Furthermore, it rests on his assertion that al-Suyuti marked it as authentic, whereas the attribution of such symbols to al-Suyuti is itself doubtful, as I established in the introduction to Sahih al-Jami and Da'if al-Jami. Refer to either of them if you wish.

Nevertheless, the hadith is authentic through its various chains and through the corroborating report to which reference will be made below. Al-Uqayli had already alluded to its strengthening, as noted earlier.

Al-Tabarani also recorded it (679) through Yahya ibn Isa, from al-A'mash, from al-Minhal ibn Amr, who said: Ibn Ya'la ibn Murrah related to me from his father, who said:

“I was with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and I witnessed three astonishing things from him.” He said: ...

I say: He mentioned them, but omitted the hadith under discussion. The hadith master Ibn Kathir included it in “The Characteristics”