I say: Although this comment has no connection with the passage being commented upon—for the placing of the two stones was not a matter of choice, unlike the matter upon which this ignoramus based his comment, as is self-evident—the statement he attributed to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—has no basis whatsoever! *
- He would say in his supplication:
“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from an evil neighbour in a settled abode, for a desert neighbour moves on.”
It was transmitted by al-Bukhārī in al-Adab al-Mufrad (117), Ibn Ḥibbān (2056), al-Ṭabarānī in al-Duʿāʾ (3/1425/1340), and al-Bayhaqī in al-Daʿawāt al-Kabīr (2/62/296), through al-Ḥākim. It is found in al-Mustadrak (1/532) through Sulaymān ibn Ḥayyān, Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar, from Ibn ʿAjlān, from Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd, from Abū Hurayrah: that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—would say ... the hadith.
In al-Bukhārī’s version in al-Adab, “this world” occurs in place of “the desert.” Al-Ḥākim said, “Authentic according to the conditions of Muslim,” and al-Dhahabī agreed with him.
This is open to question, however, since Muslim only transmitted from Ibn ʿAjlān by way of corroboration. Al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “His hadiths from Abū Hurayrah became confused.”
Thus, the hadith is only good, or close to that grade; yet it is authentic in light of the corroborating reports that follow.
Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd differed from Abū Khālid in the wording of the hadith. He said: “Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān narrated it to us,” but he said: “Seek Allah’s protection from an evil neighbour in a settled abode ...” The rest of the hadith is similar.