Suwayd ibn Nasr is trustworthy. Ali ibn Ishaq also corroborated him, saying: Abdullah informed us of the same report. Muhammad ibn Bakr likewise corroborated him, saying: Yunus informed us of the same report. Ahmad recorded it (6/118–119, 119).

Thus, the hadith is authentic according to the criteria of both of them. Ibn Hibban also authenticated it (231).

I say: This is a sound hadith transmitted by at least two chains. It establishes that washing the hands before eating is a Sunnah practice, and thus renders unnecessary the well-known hadith on this subject, worded:

“The blessing of food lies in washing before and after it.”

We discussed it in al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah (no. 168).

391 — “When any of you eats food, he should not wipe his hand until he has licked it or had it licked; nor should he lift his dish until he has licked it or had it licked, for the last of the food contains blessing.”

Al-Nasa’i recorded it in al-Sunan al-Kubra (folio 60/1—the chapter on the wedding feast): Yusuf ibn Sa'id informed us; he said: Hajjaj narrated to us from Ibn Jurayj, who said: Abu al-Zubayr informed me; he said: I heard Jabir say: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said—and he mentioned it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. All its narrators are trustworthy and among Muslim’s narrators, apart from Yusuf ibn Sa'id—namely Yusuf ibn Muslim al-Massisi—who was a trustworthy memorizer.