and with such blind trust, it is not permissible to say that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said such-and-such to Salmā bint Mālik!
Fifth: the report he cited and relied upon is not sound on account of its chain of transmission; indeed, it is very weak. After the remarks on this hadith that we quoted from him above, Professor al-Khaṭīb said:
“Had we permitted ourselves to transmit flimsy reports, we could have cited, in opposition to this report, another report transmitted by Yāqūt in Muʿjam al-Buldān, under the entry ‘Hawʾab,’ from Sayf ibn ʿUmar al-Tamīmī: that the woman barked at by the dogs of Hawʾab was Umm Zumal Salmā … This report is weak, while the report they adduced concerning ʿĀʾishah is even weaker.”
That is what he said! “They have mixed a righteous deed with another that was evil. Perhaps Allah will turn to them in forgiveness.”
Sixth: his statement, “to satisfy certain partisan passions.”
He seems thereby to be referring to the Shīʿah, who hate Lady ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and declare her sinful—if they do not even declare her an unbeliever—because of her going out on the Day of the Camel. But who are those to whom he referred as “some people”? Is it Imam Aḥmad, whose chain of transmission for this hadith the professor had before him? Or al-Dhahabī, who authenticated it? Or Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān, Imam Aḥmad’s teacher, who was among the firmly established trustworthy narrators—especially since six other trustworthy narrators corroborated him, as mentioned above? Or Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, who, as you have learned, was of the same standing? Or his teacher Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim, who was likewise trustworthy and precise, though it was said that he bore hostility toward ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him?
He was therefore a partisan of ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, so it is inconceivable that he would transmit from her a baseless report that would gratify those to whom the professor alluded!
The hadith also has a corroborating report that further strengthens it: the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to his wives: