the hadith of ʿUqbah ibn ʿAmir, with similar wording.”
I say: As you can see, this concerns one of his actions, whereas our hadith is a verbal report; moreover, it does not contain the distinction found in this report between having become fully upright and not yet having done so.
I have found two corroborating narrations for Jabir al-Juʿfi which, as far as I can tell, none of the later scholars who transmitted this hadith pointed out. Rather, they all declared it defective on account of him. Al-Hafiz ʿAbd al-Haqq al-Ishbili preceded them in this in his al-Ahkam, as I noted in my edition of it (commentary no. 901). I therefore considered it necessary to mention them, lest anyone suppose the hadith to be weak merely because Jabir narrated it.
The first is Qays ibn al-Rabiʿ, from al-Mughirah ibn Shubayl, from Qays, who said:
“Al-Mughirah ibn Shuʿbah led us in prayer. When he rose after two rakʿahs, the people behind him said, ‘Glory be to Allah!’ He gestured to them to rise. When he had completed his prayer, he gave the salutation and performed the two prostrations of forgetfulness. Then he said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘If one of you has become fully upright, let him continue his prayer and perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness. But if he has not become fully upright, let him sit down, and no prostration of forgetfulness is required of him.’”
The other is Ibrahim ibn Tahman, from al-Mughirah ibn Shubayl through the same chain, with similar wording:
“We said, ‘Glory be to Allah!’ So he gestured and said, ‘Glory be to Allah!’ and continued his prayer. When he had completed his prayer, he performed two prostrations while seated, and then said: ‘When one of you is praying and rises from sitting, if he has not become fully upright, let him sit down, and he is not required to perform two prostrations. But if he has become fully upright, let him continue his prayer and perform two prostrations while seated.’”
Al-Tahawi recorded both of these routes (1/355).
Although Qays ibn al-Rabiʿ was weak on account of his memory, Ibrahim ibn Tahman’s corroboration of him—and he was trustworthy—strengthens his hadith. Though Ibrahim’s narration does not explicitly attribute the hadith to the Prophet, it is certainly attributed to him, for the detailed distinction it contains is not something that can be stated on the basis of personal opinion—especially since the hadith is attributed to the Prophet in all the chains from al-Mughirah. Thus, the hadith is established, and all praise is due to Allah.