better than what he did, and would have led to the prescribed punishment being carried out on him. And Allah knows best and is wisest.”

Al-Hafiz quoted this from him in al-Fath (12/125) and endorsed it.

In sum, the hadith applies to one like Ma‘iz: someone who regrets what he has done and is not habitually guilty of adultery. Such a person should be concealed and not publicly exposed. This differs from one who is not like that, whose case has reached the point of becoming widely known and of openly flouting the prohibitions. Such a person may not be concealed; rather, his case should be brought before the ruler, so that he may implement concerning him the ruling of the Wise Lawgiver. See al-Mirqah (4/76). *

3461 — “Three will not enter Paradise: an elderly adulterer, a lying ruler, and an arrogant poor man.”

Al-Bazzar recorded it in his Musnad: al-Bahr al-Zakhkhar (6/493/2529): Al-‘Abbas ibn Abi Talib narrated to us; Minjab ibn al-Harith informed us; Hafs ibn Ghiyath informed us, from ‘Asim, from Abu ‘Uthman, from Salman (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: … He then cited it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy narrators of Muslim, apart from al-‘Abbas ibn Abi Talib, who is trustworthy. He is al-‘Abbas ibn Abi Talib, son of Ja‘far ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Baghdadi, Abu Muhammad. He was one of Ibn Majah’s shaykhs, and is given a biographical entry in al-Tahdhib.

Al-Mundhiri said in al-Targhib (3/192/16):

“Al-Bazzar narrated it with a sound chain of transmission.”

Al-Haythami said (6/255):