a favor, then reciprocate it; and if you are unable to reciprocate it, then supplicate for him until you know that you have repaid him.” Abu Dawud and others transmitted it, and its documentation was given previously under no. 254.

I say: There is no contradiction, if this is understood to concern a case involving no intercession, or a need whose fulfilment is not a duty. And Allah knows best.

Note: Ibn al-Jawzi went to excess and exaggerated in declaring this hadith weak, saying in al-ʿIlal (2/268):

“Ubayd Allah is exceedingly weak, and al-Qasim is even weaker than he!”

I say: The majority declared Ubayd Allah trustworthy. Ahmad’s statement concerning him, “He is not strong,” does not mean that he is weak; rather, it means that his hadith are not authentic but good, as indicated by his statement in another narration concerning him: “There is no harm in him.” Accordingly, al-Dhahabi included him in Those Criticized in a Manner That Does Not Warrant Rejection (142/225). It is sufficient proof of this that the two Shaykhs relied upon him.

As for al-Qasim, he is of moderate standing, as mentioned previously. *

3466 — “Whenever they were alarmed, they turned to prayer”—meaning, the prophets.

Abu Bakr al-Ismaʿili transmitted it in al-Muʿjam (fols. 33/2–34/1): Muhammad ibn al-Sari narrated to us: Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Dawraqi narrated to us: Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi narrated to us from Sulayman ibn al-Mughirah, from Thabit, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from Suhayb, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said ... and he mentioned it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. All its narrators are trustworthy and are among Muslim’s narrators, apart from Muhammad ibn al-Sari—namely, Muhammad ibn Sahl al-Qantari, Abu Bakr—whose biography al-Khatib recorded in al-Tarikh (5/318),