It also has another chain of transmission: al-Nadr ibn Muhammad al-Jurashi narrated to us: ‘Ikrimah ibn ‘Ammar narrated from Yahya ibn ‘Uthman, from Abu Hazim, from Sahl ibn Sa‘d, attributing it to the Prophet, with the wording:

“You will most certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, span by span and cubit by cubit, until, even if they entered a lizard’s hole, you would follow them.”

We said, “Messenger of Allah, the Jews and the Christians?” He said:

“Who else could they be but the Jews and the Christians?!”

Al-Tabarani recorded it (6/229/5943), as did al-Ruyani in his Musnad (fol. 182/2). Al-Haythami said—after citing Ahmad’s abbreviated wording:

“Ahmad and al-Tabarani narrated it with similar wording, adding ... Ahmad’s chain contains Ibn Lahi‘ah, who is weak; and al-Tabarani’s chain contains Yahya ibn ‘Uthman narrating from Abu Hazim, whom I do not know, while the rest of its narrators are trustworthy!”

I say: There are two observations concerning this:

First: he overlooked Ibn Lahi‘ah’s narration recorded by al-Tabarani with the first wording.

Second: Yahya ibn ‘Uthman is given an entry in the following three works: al-Bukhari’s History, al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dil (Narrator Criticism and Accreditation), and Ibn Hibban’s al-Thiqat (Reliable Narrators), as well as other works, such as al-‘Uqayli’s al-Du‘afa (The Weak Narrators). Al-‘Uqayli cited this hadith in his entry on him and said (4/419):

“This is narrated through a route other than this chain of transmission, one sounder than this.”

Al-Bukhari said:

“His hadith is not established.”