“I put them on while I was in a state of purity.”

This chain of transmission is weak, because Abu Hurayrah’s freedman is unidentified and there is disagreement over the reliability of the narrator from him, Aban ibn Abdullah—the al-Bajali of Kufah. Al-Hafiz said:

“Truthful, though there is some weakness in his retention.”

Thus, his hadith is good.

Al-Haythami deemed it defective on the first account, saying (1/254):

“Ahmad narrated it, and it contains an unnamed man.”

It has another, abbreviated route, narrated by Abd al-Hakam ibn Maysarah from Qays ibn al-Rabi, from Hisham ibn Hassan, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, from Abu Hurayrah, who said:

“I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, perform ablution, wipe over his turban, and wipe over his leather socks.”

Al-Tabarani transmitted it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat (3/32/2054), saying:

“No one narrated it from Hisham except Qays; Abd al-Hakam ibn Maysarah alone transmitted it.”

I say: Al-Haythami likewise deemed it defective on his account, saying:

“...and he is weak.”

I say: Qays ibn al-Rabi is also weak.

The second observation: Ibn Abd al-Barr coupled Aishah with Abu Hurayrah, but this is questionable, for it is authentically established from her that she said:

“To cut off my feet—or to cut my toes with a knife—would be dearer to me than wiping over them.”