I say: Its narrators are trustworthy, except Abū al-Muthannā al-Juhanī. Ibn Ḥibbān included him in al-Thiqāt (1/172), and Ibn Maʿīn said: “Trustworthy.” Ibn al-Madīnī, however, said: “Unknown.” In al-Taqrīb, al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “Acceptable.”
Al-Suyūṭī cited this hadith in two separate places in al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr. He cited its first part, attributing it to al-Tirmidhī alone! He then cited its latter part with the wording: “Remove the cup from your mouth, then breathe.” He said: “Samawayh narrated it in his Fawāʾid, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Shuʿab.”
Al-Manāwī sharply criticized him for not attributing it to Mālik and al-Tirmidhī, and for marking it as good. He said: “This gives the impression that it is not authentic, whereas that is incorrect. Rather, it is authentic. How could it not be, when it is among the hadiths of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, after the two Ṣaḥīḥs there being no work more authentic than it? Al-Tirmidhī declared it good and authentic, and al-Nawawī and other hadith masters endorsed him in this.”
I say: In accordance with the principles, it is more properly graded good, in light of what you have learned concerning the condition of Abū al-Muthannā.
Benefits of the Hadith
- The prohibition of blowing into a drink. In al-Fatḥ (10/80), al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “Several hadiths have been reported prohibiting blowing into a vessel, as likewise has the prohibition of breathing into a vessel, because the contents may be affected by the breath—either because the mouth of the person breathing has been affected by some food, for example,”