to being established. Let him reflect.

I say: Although this hadith has a weak chain of transmission, that does not prove that the hadith itself is weak or unestablished; it may have a good or authentic chain, or corroborating reports whose combined force indicates that it is established. Indeed, this is the case with this hadith, for it has corroborating reports showing that it has a basis. It was narrated from Ibn Umar by al-Diya al-Maqdisi in Selected Hadiths, and from Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas by al-Hakim (4/326–327), who declared it authentic, and al-Dhahabi agreed with him.

402 — “What is the matter with people whose killing has gone so far today that they have killed children?” A man said, “Messenger of Allah, they are only the children of the polytheists!” He replied, “Indeed, the best among you are themselves the children of polytheists.” He then said, “Do not kill children; do not kill children. Every soul is born upon the innate disposition until it speaks for itself; then its parents turn it into a Jew or a Christian.”

Ahmad (3/435), al-Darimi (2/223), al-Hakim (2/123), and al-Bayhaqi (9/77) narrated it through Yunus ibn Ubayd, from al-Hasan, from al-Aswad ibn Sari', who said: “I came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and went on campaign with him. I obtained a mount from among the best of people that day, until”