More reliable transmitters contradict him—among them this very Abd al-Hamid, and also Muhammad b. Amr b. Halhala, whose version is recorded by al-Bukhari (2/243) and others; its wording will be quoted below, God willing. Abu Dawud (1/117) and likewise al-Tahawi (1/153; 2/405) relate the report through the route of al-Hasan b. al-Hurr: “Isa b. Abd Allah b. Malik told me, from Muhammad b. Amr b. Ata, from Abbas— or Ayyash— b. Sahl al-Saidi: he was sitting in a gathering that included his father, a Companion of the Prophet, together with Abu Hurayra, Abu Humayd al-Saidi, and Abu Usaid …,” with the wording varying in length. Isa b. Abd Allah thus corroborates Attaf, even adding the name of the previously unnamed narrator. Yet Isa himself is problematic: Ibn al-Madini says, “He is unknown,” and Taqrib sums him up as “maqbul” (acceptable when supported). Hence the narration of Muhammad b. Amr b. Ata from Abbas b. Sahl is not sound, and Isa’s report cannot be treated as an instance of al-mazid fi muttasil al-asaneed (an extra transmitter inserted into an otherwise continuous chain), as Ibn Hajar suggested (2/244), because Isa’s reliability is unproven. Admittedly, Abbas b. Sahl does possess an authentic report, but it comes by another route. Al-Bukhari in his monograph (5–6), Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah (no. 283), and al-Tahawi transmit it through Fulayh b. Sulayman: “Abbas b. Sahl told me: Abu Humayd, Abu Usaid, Sahl b. Sad, and Muhammad b. Maslama gathered and discussed the Prophet’s prayer. Abu Humayd said …,” with wording similar to the present hadith. Al-Tirmidhi (2/45–46) records a portion of it—under “The Description of Ruku”—and declares it authentic. This chain is sound by the standards of both al-Bukhari and Muslim; the only possible reservation concerns Fulayh’s occasional lapses of memory.