Ahmad 4507

Its isnad is sahih. Malik related it in Muwatta 2:5 with the wording, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade traveling with the Quran to the land of the enemy." Malik said, "That is only for fear that the enemy might get hold of it." Abu Dawud related it 2:340, with the same ending. He said, "Malik said, I think it is for fear that the enemy might get hold of it."Muslim related it 2:94 through the route of Malik, omitting its ending, then related it in full as a marfu narration through the route of Layth and others, as here. In the narration of Hammad from Ayub in Muslim, Ayub said, "The enemy did indeed get hold of it, and they argued with you by means of it."In Awn al-Mabud it says, know that this explanation, namely the fear that the enemy might get hold of it, has come as marfu in the narration of Ibn Majah and others. Hafiz said, "Perhaps Malik used to state it definitely, then came to doubt its being marfu, so he attributed it to his own interpretation." I say, but the memorizers of hadith other than Malik established its being marfu, so the doubt is removed.It will come at 4525 through the route of Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi from Malik, marfu in its entirety, so it seems, as Hafiz said, that he related it as marfu and then doubted it. Likewise it will come at 4576 through the route of Ayub from Nafi, marfu in its entirety.