—while others omit it altogether. This latter version is reported by al-Tirmidhi (3/386), al-Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad (p. 151), and Ahmad (6/457–458) through the route of Abd al-Hamid ibn Bahram from Shahr ibn Hawshab. Al-Tirmidhi comments: “This is a hasan hadith.” He then cites Ahmad ibn Hanbal: “There is no problem with the narration of Abd al-Hamid ibn Bahram from Shahr ibn Hawshab,” and adds: “Muhammad [ibn Ismail al-Bukhari] said: Shahr’s hadith is hasan and his standing has strengthened; only Ibn Awn spoke against him.” I reply: Others have criticized him as well; see his biography in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib. I have already summarized the conclusions that can be drawn from their remarks about him. The hadith is also recorded by Abu Dawud (2/343), al-Darimi (2/277), Ibn Majah (2/398), and Ahmad (6/452) through Ibn Abi Husayn, who heard it from Shahr ibn Hawshab, who said: “Asma bint Yazid related that the Prophet passed by us among a group of women and greeted us.” In Ibn Abi Husayn’s version—his name is Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman—there is no mention of the hand gesture, whereas Abd al-Hamid ibn Bahram does mention it. Since the two reports conflict, one must weigh them. In my view, the version of Ibn Abi Husayn is stronger, because he is universally regarded as reliable, as Ibn Abd al-Barr notes, and both Sahih collections rely on him. Ibn Bahram, however, is not among their narrators, and some scholars have said of him: “He is prone to error” and “his hadith is not used as proof.” His narration, therefore, cannot counter that of Ibn Abi Husayn, and the maxim “an additional detail supplied by a reliable narrator is accepted” does not apply here, for that rule presumes the narrator adding the detail to be unquestionably reliable and sharp in memory—which is not the case in this instance. Take note. Even if we were to concede that Ibn Bahram accurately preserved this extra detail from Shahr, it would merely show that Shahr himself wavered over it—sometimes including the gesture and sometimes omitting it—thereby weakening reliance on the addition as evidence. This is further confirmed by the fact that other transmitters besides Shahr report the hadith from Asma without the added phrase. Al-Bukhari says in al-Adab: “Mukhallad narrated to us, saying: Mubashir ibn Ismail told us from Ibn Abi Ghaniyyah from Muhammad ibn …"