I say: Ibn Abi Hatim’s al-Ilal (2/15–16), on the authority of his father, contains something similar, but is more precise in describing the stages of Abd al-Razzaq’s inconsistency in narrating it. He said:
“On one occasion, he narrated it from Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He narrated it in this manner for a long time. Then later he said: ‘Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father—I think from Umar—from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.’ Then, before he died, he settled on narrating it from Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, from Umar, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, without any uncertainty.”
I say: This indicates that the correct version is mursal, as Ibn Ma'in explicitly stated in what Abbas al-Duri narrated from him in Tarikh wa al-Ilal li-Yahya ibn Ma'in. He said (23/2):
“I heard Yahya ibn Ma'in say: ‘The hadith of Ma'mar, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, [from Umar], who said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said”—and he mentioned it—is of no account. Rather, it is from Zayd as a mursal report.’”
As for al-Hakim, he said: “Authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim!” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him, as had al-Mundhiri before him in al-Targhib (3/130).
The other route is through al-Sa'b ibn Hakim ibn Sharik ibn Namla, from his father, from his grandfather, from Umar, with it. It was recorded by al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir (1/5/1).
I say: This is a weak chain of transmission: the three narrators between it and Umar are unknown.
- The hadith of Abu Usayd.
Sufyan narrated it from Abdullah ibn Isa, from a man called Ata, one of the people of Syria—in one narration: “and he is not Ibn Abi Rabah”—from Abu Usayd al-Ansari, who said: