“It was narrated by Aḥmad, and its chain includes Abū Maʿshar, who is weak, though he has been deemed trustworthy.”

It has also been corroborated, but the route to it includes one who used to steal hadiths: Ibrāhīm ibn Isḥāq al-Ghusaylī. He said: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn Ḥammād al-Narsī narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, with this chain, adding:

“…and Allah’s covenant of protection has been absolved of him.”

Al-Ḥākim narrated it (2/12), and al-Bayhaqī narrated it from him in al-Sunan (6/30). Al-Ḥākim indicated that it was weak, for he mentioned it among a group of hadiths prohibiting hoarding and said:

“They do not meet the conditions of this book.”

Al-Dhahabī explained its defect, saying:

“I say: Al-Ghusaylī used to steal hadiths.”

He said the same in al-Mīzān, and affirmed it in al-Lisān. He also cited Ibn Ḥibbān as saying (1/119–120):

“He used to steal hadiths and alter reports… The prudent approach regarding him is to rely on him only in reports in which he agrees with trustworthy narrators, and to leave aside what he alone narrates.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ then cited al-Ḥākim as saying that he was “one of the unknown narrators.”

Al-Mundhirī likewise indicated its weakness in al-Targhīb. After attributing it to al-Ḥākim (3/28), he said:

“…and there is criticism concerning it.”