For this reason, he included him in Narrators Criticized in a Manner That Does Not Warrant Rejection (93/97).

Similar is al-Hafiz’s statement in al-Taqrib: “Truthful, though prone to error.”

Moreover, Muslim relied on him in his Sahih, narrating more than one hadith from him, including Abu Hurayrah’s hadith concerning following a funeral procession and praying over it. It is cited in Ahkam al-Jana’iz (p. 89). Ibn Hibban, al-Hakim, and others also authenticated his reports.

I say: The hadith of such a narrator cannot fall below the rank of good; so how could it, when the other chain supports it, as mentioned above? And all the more so since it has a third chain, narrated by Muhammad ibn Humayr from Usamah ibn Sahl, from his father, who heard Umm al-Darda say:

“I came out of the bathhouse, and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, met me ...” the hadith.

Al-Khatib recorded it in al-Muwaddih (1/395), but declared it defective, saying (p. 362): “Usamah ibn Sahl is unknown.”

I say: He is among those narrators whose entries may be gleaned and added to the well-known biographical works, for they omit him—even al-Jarh wa-al-Ta‘dil, Ibn Hibban’s al-Thiqat, Lisan al-Mizan, and others!

Nor is this contradicted by the hadith of Aishah, which Shaykh al-Naji and others have clung to—although Ibn al-Jawzi was also unduly rigid regarding it (1). Its wording is:

“Some women from Syria entered upon Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and she said: ‘Where are you from?’”