As for Abu al-Aswad, no one beside Ibn Hibban declared him reliable, and al-Taqrib grades him “maqbul” (acceptable). (1) The Companion was uncertain whether the Prophet’s ﷺ repetition of the same surah was due to forgetfulness—since his normal habit was to recite something different in the second rakah and, if so, the act would not be normative for the ummah—or whether he did it deliberately to show that repetition is permissible, in which case the act would be legislated. When an action can be viewed as either prescribed or not, it is preferable to regard the Prophet’s ﷺ deed as legislative, because the default assumption concerning his actions is that they convey law, whereas forgetfulness is exceptional. This is the position stated in Nayl al-Awtar. The more plausible view is that he ﷺ repeated it intentionally for the purpose of legislation. (2) Abu Dawud (1/130) records the report: Ahmad b. Salih—Ibn Wahb—Amr— Ibn Abi Hilal—Muadh b. Abd Allah al-Juhani—from a man of Juhaynah who said he heard the Prophet ﷺ recite in the dawn prayer: Idha zulzilati l-ard (When the earth is shaken)… Al-Bayhaqi (2/390) transmits the same isnad. Al-Nawawi remarked in al-Majmu (3/384), “Its chain is sahih,” and that is correct, for all its transmitters are trustworthy narrators found in the two Sahihs, except Muadh b. Abd Allah al-Juhani, who is reliable according to Ibn Main, Abu Dawud, and others; al-Taqrib describes him as “saduq, sometimes errs.” As for al-Shawkani’s comment (2/193)