Abu Hatim declared this hadith defective because it conflicted with another report and was attributed only to Aishah rather than to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. His son recorded in al-ʿIlal (2/353–354) that he asked his father about it, and about what Yahya ibn Maʿin narrated from al-Sakan ibn Ismaʿil al-Asamm, from Hisham ibn Hassan, from Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, from Yahya ibn Saʿid, from Aishah, who said:
“What harm would it do a woman living between two clans of the Ansar if she were not living with her parents?”
Abu Hatim replied:
“This report has undermined the narration of Ruh ibn ʿUbadah and exposed its hidden defect. This is the authentic version, and it cannot possibly be from his father, from Aishah, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him!”
I say: In my view, this is an unusual critique, contrary to the known and established principle in hadith scholarship of giving preference to the narrator with stronger retention and greater trustworthiness over one below him. Although al-Sakan is trustworthy, he is not comparable to Ruh ibn ʿUbadah. A quick look at their respective biographies shows the difference between them: the leading hadith scholars cited the former as proof, as mentioned above, whereas they did not include any narration from the latter at all—except for Abu Dawud, who narrated from him in “The Virtues of the Ansar.” How far apart are the Pleiades and the earth!
3435 — “I witnessed the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, supplicating for this tribe of Nakhaʿ—or, he said, praising them—until I wished that I were one of their men.”
Imam Ahmad narrated it (1/403): Talq ibn Ghanam ibn Talq narrated to us: Zakariyya ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Yazid narrated to us, from his father, who said: A shaykh from Banu Asad—either, he said, Shuqayq, or he said, Zirr—narrated to me from Abdullah; then he mentioned it.
I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are profiled in al-Tahdhib, except for Zakariyya ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Yazid—al-Suhbani al-Nakhaʿi—whom Ibn Abi Hatim profiled (1/2/598),