- “Do not accuse Allah concerning anything He has decreed for you.”
Ahmad recorded it (5/318–319): Hasan narrated to us; Ibn Lahiʿah narrated to us; al-Harith ibn Yazid narrated to us from ʿUlayy ibn Rabah, that he heard Junadah ibn Abi Umayyah say: I heard ʿUbadah ibn al-Samit say:
“A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, ‘O Prophet of Allah, which deed is best?’ He replied, ‘Faith in Allah, belief in Him, and striving in His cause.’
He said, ‘I want something easier than that, O Messenger of Allah.’ He replied, ‘Generosity and patience.’
He said, ‘I want something easier than that, O Messenger of Allah.’” Then he mentioned it.
I say: This is a good chain for corroborative reports. All of its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators of Muslim—Hasan being Ibn Musa al-Ashyab—except Ibn Lahiʿah. He had poor retention, except in reports transmitted from him by the ʿAbādilah, in which case his hadith is authentic, or when he is corroborated. Both conditions are present here, as I shall demonstrate.
As for the first: Ibn Abi al-Dunya recorded it in al-Riḍā ʿan Allāh (pp. 82–83) through Yaʿqub ibn Muhammad al-Zuhri: Abdullah ibn Wahb narrated to us from al-Harith ibn Yazid, but without the phrase, “Generosity and patience.”
This is how it appears there: “Abdullah ibn Wahb from al-Harith ...”; and it appears the same way in the manuscript of al-Riḍā (fol. 7/1, al-Zahiriyyah)! It therefore appears that Ibn Lahiʿah has been omitted from the chain of transmission. I think this omission came from Yaʿqub al-Zuhri, for he made many errors, as stated in al-Taqrib. They did not mention any narration by Ibn Wahb from al-Harith ibn Yazid, nor could he have heard from him, since the latter died in 130 AH, when Ibn Wahb was five years old.