2—Ibn Jurayj: in Aḥmad’s Musnad (4/4) and in Faḍāʾil al-Ṣaḥābah (637).

Perhaps, then, their two reports, following this pattern, at least make up for the omission in Muslim’s narration and dispel the difficulty I mentioned earlier.

What I consider most likely is that, owing to the omission of the name ʿAbd Allāh in Ibn Abī Mulaykah’s chain, one of the copyists of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim—or one of its transmitters—became confused and, mistakenly, inserted this chain among the numerous chains and versions of Ibn Masʿūd’s hadith. This is especially so since it is well known among those engaged in this noble discipline that, when ʿAbd Allāh is mentioned without qualification, Ibn Masʿūd is intended.

Something like this—or even worse—may occur through an error or an oversight and remain as it is. An example is the hadith of Abū Hurayrah concerning “the seven whom Allah will shade in His shade on the Day when there will be no shade but His shade.” In Muslim’s version, the wording appears: “...so that his right hand does not know what his left hand spends”—with the wording reversed. This contradicts the narrations of this hadith in al-Bukhārī and elsewhere in particular, and the sunnah in general.

This reversal still remains in copies of the Ṣaḥīḥ to this day, despite scholars drawing attention to it.

I had pointed out this reversal long ago in al-Irwāʾ (887), while tracing the hadith in question.

Then I found in Imam Aḥmad’s Faḍāʾil al-Ṣaḥābah (181) that the hadith is reported from Ibn Abī Mulaykah as mursal.