(1) It is the hadith of Anas b. Malik: “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to …” (full wording omitted). Al-Bayhaqi narrated it in his Sunan (2:179) and, again, in Maʿrifa, through Abu Bakr b. Ishaq; al-Diyaʾ al-Maqdisi recorded it in al-Ahadith al-Mukhtara via Muhammad b. ʿAbd Allah al-Shafiʿi and Sulayman b. Ahmad al-Tabarani—who also transmits it in al-Awsat (32/2) among the Addenda to the two Muʿjams. The three routes converge upon Abu al-Muthanna Muʿadh b. al-Muthanna, who said: “ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAbd al-Wahhab al-Hajabi related to us; ʿAbd al-Wahhab b. ʿAbd al-Majid al-Thaqafi related from Humayd, from Anas,” and so forth. Al-Hafiz al-Zaylaʿi remains silent about this chain (1:433–434), while al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar states in al-Diraya (p. 90): “Its transmitters are trustworthy.” I add: all of them are narrators used by al-Bukhari except Abu al-Muthanna—Muʿadh b. al-Muthanna b. Muʿadh al-Anbari—whom al-Khatib profiles in Tarikh Baghdad (13:136): “He settled in Baghdad, transmitted hadith there, and was reliable; he died in 288 AH.” Among the teachers he names is this very ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAbd al-Wahhab. Hence, in my view, the report is sound (sahih). Al-Haythami likewise cites it in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid (2:145–146) with the wording: “Anas b. Malik said: The Prophet, Abu Bakr, and ʿUmar would begin the recitation with: Al-hamdu lillahi rabbi l-ʿalamin, and they would give a single salam.” _________ (*) The Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, also attributed the narration, in the printed edition of al-Sifah, to ʿAbd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi’s al-Sunan (1:243) and described its chain as “sound.”