a baseless hadith, and I have never known ʿAmr ibn Marzūq to narrate it at all.”

That is what he said. It will be mentioned below that Imam Aḥmad said that Ibn Marzūq used to narrate it, but then stopped.

ʿAmr ibn Marzūq was trustworthy, though he made errors, as stated in al-Taqrīb. Perhaps he changed his mind about it, or some doubt arose in his mind, and so he stopped narrating it. Allah knows best.

The second: from ʿAlī ibn al-Aqmar, from Abū Juḥayfah, with this same wording.

Al-Ḥākim narrated it (4/121) from Fahd ibn ʿAwf: Faḍl ibn Abī al-Faḍl al-Azdī narrated to us; ʿUmar ibn Mūsā informed me; ʿAlī ibn al-Aqmar informed me ... He said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic.”

Al-Dhahabī rebutted him, saying:

“I say: Concerning Fahd, al-Madīnī said: ‘A liar’; and ʿUmar is ruined.”

Al-Mundhirī also took issue with him, saying in al-Targhīb (3/122):

“Rather, it is very weak: it contains Fahd ibn ʿAwf and ʿUmar ibn Mūsā.”

I say: This ʿUmar is Ibn Mūsā al-Wajīhī, who too is accused [of fabrication]. It was also narrated through another route. Ibn Qudāmah said in al-Muntakhab (10/194/1):

“Muhannā said: I asked Aḥmad and Yaḥyā, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā narrated to me: Sharīk narrated to us, from ʿAlī ibn al-Arqam ...” Then he cited it. “They both said: ‘It is not authentic.’ I asked Aḥmad: ‘Is it narrated through another route?’ He said: ‘ʿAmr ibn Marzūq used to narrate it from Mālik ibn Mighwal, from ʿAlī ibn al-Arqam, from Abū Juḥayfah; then he later abandoned it.’ I asked him again afterwards, and he said: ‘It is not authentic.’”

I say: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā is al-Madanī; Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir al-Ḥizāmī declared him a liar.

Al-Bukhārī said: