“Leave him alone.” So I drew near to him until the neck of his mount was alongside that of mine. I said, “Messenger of Allah, tell me what will keep me far from Allah’s punishment and admit me to Paradise.” He said: … and then mentioned it.

I say: The narrators in this chain of transmission are trustworthy, except for the associate, who is unknown.

As for the phrase, “from a man,” I believe it to be an interpolation, since the original manuscript is of poor quality. This is supported by the fact that al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar cited it in the biography of Abu al-Muntafiq in al-Isabah, from al-Tabarani’s narration through ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Awn, with this chain but without the phrase, “from a man.”

Similar to this corruption is what appears in Majma‘ al-Zawa’id (1/43–44):

“From Hujayr, from his father—whose kunyah was Abu al-Muntafiq—who said: I came to Mecca…”

He then related the hadith and said:

“Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Kabir, and its chain includes Hujayr—the son of the Companion—but I have not seen anyone who mentioned him!”

That is what he said. He then mentioned a similar hadith, saying:

“From Suwayd ibn Hujayr, who said: My maternal uncle narrated to me: I met the Prophet between ‘Arafah and Muzdalifah and took hold of the rein of his she-camel. I said: ‘Messenger of Allah, what will bring me near to Paradise and keep me far from the Fire?’ He said:

“‘Though you have put your question concisely, you have asked something momentous and extensive: establish the prescribed prayer; pay the obligatory zakah; perform Hajj to the House; and whatever you would like people to do to you, do it for them, while whatever you would dislike people doing to you, do not do to them. Release the camel’s rein.’”

He said:

“Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Kabir, and its chain includes Quza‘ah ibn Suwayd. Ibn Ma‘in and others considered him trustworthy, whereas al-Bukhari and others graded him weak.”

The hadith also has another acceptable chain from Abu al-Muntafiq—who is also said to be Ibn al-Muntafiq—through al-Mughirah ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Yashkuri, from his father, who said:

“I set out for Kufa to trade in mules. I reached the marketplace before it had opened, so I said to a companion of mine, ‘Why do we not enter the mosque?’ Its location at that time was among the date merchants. There we found a man from Qays, called Ibn al-Muntafiq, saying: ‘The Messenger of Allah had been described to me, and I had been given a clear picture of him.’ So I sought him at Mina, and I was told, ‘He is at ‘Arafat.’ I went to him and pressed through the crowd to reach him. I was told, ‘Keep away from the path of the Messenger of Allah!’ But he said:

“‘Leave the man alone. What does he want?’

“I pressed through until I reached him. I took hold of the halter of the Messenger of Allah’s mount—or, he said, its rein; this is how Muhammad narrated it—until the necks of our mounts were alongside one another. The Messenger of Allah did not restrain me—or, he said, did not change his manner toward me; this is how Muhammad narrated it. I said, ‘There are two matters about which I wish to ask you:’