“A good, authentic hadith.”

Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to Muslim’s criteria.” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him.

Muhammad ibn ‘Amr was included by Muslim only in corroborating chains. However, Sa‘id ibn Abi Hilal corroborated him in Ibn Hibban (1930), and thus it is authentic, praise be to Allah.

It also has a corroborating report from Abu Bakrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said it.

It was narrated by al-Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad (1314), Ibn Majah (4184), al-Tahawi in al-Mushkil (4/238), and al-Hakim, through the route of Hushaym, from Mansur ibn Zadhan, from al-Hasan, from him. Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to the criteria of both of them.” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him.

In al-Zawa’id, al-Busiri also attributed it to Ibn Hibban in his Sahih. Al-Haythami, however, did not cite it in his Zawa’id except through the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, as mentioned above.

Al-Busiri then said:

“If someone objects to Ibn Hibban and al-Hakim declaring it authentic, citing al-Daraqutni’s statement that al-Hasan did not hear from Abu Bakrah, I say: Al-Bukhari relied in his Sahih on al-Hasan’s narration from Abu Bakrah in four hadiths. Moreover, Musnad Ahmad and al-Tabarani’s al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir explicitly state that he heard from Abu Bakrah in several hadiths, among them: ‘This son of mine is a leader.’ A positive assertion takes precedence over a denial.”

I say: This is a valid response. However, al-Hasan al-Basri practised tadlis and was known for it. Thus, merely establishing that he heard from Abu Bakrah in general is insufficient; it is necessary to establish that he heard this particular hadith from him. We have not found this in any of the narrations, so the objection remains valid from this perspective. Nevertheless, the hadith is an acceptable corroborating report for the hadith of Abu Salamah from Abu Hurayrah. And Allah knows best.