—in his Sahih (1), as Ibn al-Turkumani wrote in reply to al-Bayhaqi, who had said: “The soundness of this hadith is debatable, for its transmitter Ibn Akimah al-Laythi is an unknown man; no one narrated from him except al-Zuhri. Al-Humaydi said: This is a hadith transmitted by an unknown man.” Ibn al-Turkumani responded: “Ibn Hibban included his report in his Sahih, al-Tirmidhi graded it hasan, and Abu Dawud also recorded it without any critical remark— which, as is well known, indicates that he considered it hasan. Al-Kamal states that Malik and Muhammad b. ‘Amr transmitted from Ibn Akimah. Ibn Sa‘d said that he died in 101/719 at the age of seventy-nine. Ibn Abi Hatim relates: I asked my father about him and he replied, ‘His hadith is sound and acceptable.’ Ibn Hibban said: his name is ‘Amr; he and his brother ‘Umar are both trustworthy. Ibn Ma‘in said: Muhammad b. ‘Amr and others narrated from him, and it is enough that Ibn Shihab narrated from him. Al-Tamhid reports that he used to relate hadith in the circle of Sa‘id b. al-Musayyab, who would listen attentively to him—proof of the esteem in which they held him and of his reliability.” End of Ibn al-Turkumani’s words. All of this removes the charge of anonymity from him. Among those who also declared him reliable is Yahya b. Sa‘id, as recorded in Tahdhib. Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, in the chapter “Those whose narrations are not widespread yet are accepted because trustworthy narrators transmit from them,” wrote: “Ibn Akimah al-Laythi was never criticised.” Accordingly, Ibn Hajar stated in al-Taqrib: “Trustworthy (thiqah).” It is therefore clear that the isnad of the hadith is sound, and the claim that its transmitter is “unknown” is untenable. _________ (1) 126/454 – al-Mawarid. [*] The words in brackets are supplied from Sunan al-Bayhaqi; the author abbreviated al-Bayhaqi’s wording.