“transmitting anything from him is impermissible.” He is also known as al-Nabbati—spelled with the n placed before the b in al-Lisan, and with the opposite order in al-Mizan. Yet this very report is related from Abu Ishaq through this al-Fazari, whose kunya is likewise Abu Ishaq and whose full name is Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Kufi al-Shami al-Misaisi. Al-Nawawi (3/431) attributes the hadith to al-Bayhaqi, and so does Ibn Hajar in al-Talkhis (3/475); both cite it without further remark. Ibn Hajar then adds: “In the hadith of Abu Humayd recorded by al-Bukhari: When he prostrated he placed his hands—neither spreading them out nor clasping them—toward the qibla.” I say: The hadith is indeed in al-Bukhari (2/245), as he noted, but it lacks the crucial phrase “toward the qibla.” Moreover, Ibn Hajar himself does not mention that wording in his commentary Fath al-Bari, even though he normally collects the variant readings. Abu Dawud (1/117) does transmit the narration with the wording: “…nor clasping them, and he faced the qibla with the tips of his fingers.” At first glance this suggests that he oriented the fingertips of his hands toward the qibla. Yet the version found in al-Bukhari and al-Bayhaqi reads: “…and he faced the qibla with the tips of his toes.” It is therefore plausible that the word “feet” dropped out of our copy of the Sunan; Allah knows best. Ibn Abi Shayba (1/82/2) and al-Siraj likewise report the directing of the fingers through another chain. Al-Bayhaqi then narrated: “Abu Abdillah al-Hafiz told us; ʿAbd al-Baqi ibn Qaniʿ al-Hafiz told us…”