“Abū al-Raddād al-Laythī fell ill, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf visited him. He said: ‘To the best of my knowledge, Abū Muḥammad, you are the best of them and the most diligent in maintaining ties.’ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān then said: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say ...’” He then mentioned it.

They then both recorded it through Maʿmar, from al-Zuhrī, who said: “Abū Salamah told me that al-Raddād al-Laythī informed him from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf that he heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say” its meaning. Aḥmad also recorded it (1/194) through this route, with Sufyān’s wording; and Ibn Ḥibbān (2033) recorded something similar.

Al-Tirmidhī said: “Sufyān’s hadith from al-Zuhrī is an authentic hadith, and Maʿmar narrates it in this manner.” Muḥammad said: “Maʿmar’s hadith is mistaken.” Al-Mundhirī criticized him, saying (3/225): “There is room for consideration regarding al-Tirmidhī’s authentication of it, for Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān did not hear anything from his father. This was stated by Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn and others.”

I say: What appears to me is that al-Tirmidhī did not mean that the hadith was authentic in terms of its attribution to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Rather, he meant only with respect to al-Zuhrī: that Sufyān’s attribution to him of the hadith with the aforementioned chain is sound, unlike Maʿmar’s attribution to him, which is mistaken. This is what first comes to mind upon considering the entirety of his statement, and it does not establish that he regarded the hadith as authentic from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. And Allah knows best.

I say this by way of tracing and interpreting al-Tirmidhī’s statement. Otherwise, the hadith is authentic in my view, and Maʿmar did not err in it. Rather, it was Sufyān who abbreviated its chain of transmission, thus rendering it disconnected. The evidence for this is that Maʿmar was corroborated in it. For Imam Aḥmad said after his previous narration—apparently indicating its reinforcement: “Bishr ibn Shuʿayb ibn Abī Ḥamzah narrated to us; my father narrated to me, from al-Zuhrī; Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to me that Abū al-Raddād al-Laythī informed him from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf that he heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say ...” He then mentioned it.

Thus, this is a strong corroboration of Maʿmar’s narration from Shuʿayb ibn Abī Ḥamzah, for he is trustworthy and his reports were relied upon by