Ahmad 6547

Its chain of transmission is daif. Faraj bin Fadala is daif, as we explained in 581 and 5626. Ibrahim bin Abdul-Rahman bin Rafi is unknown, and Hafiz said in Tajil (19-20), Ibn Abu Hatim did not mention him, and his hadith appears in the Musnad with this chain concerning the prohibition of wine, gambling, and vows, and the hadith is from Abdullah bin Amr. Ibn Yunus mentioned him and said, "I think he is Ibrahim bin Abdul-Rahman bin Faruq [as written] Tanukhi, and no one mentioned him except Nafi, apart from Faraj, and no criticism was mentioned of him." His statement, as quoted from Ibn Yunus, "bin Faruq," is an error by a copyist or printer, the correct reading being "bin Rafi." I did not find a biography of this Ibrahim elsewhere, and regarding his father Abdul-Rahman bin Rafi, we already discussed at 5394, separately, Abdul-Rahman bin Rafi Hadrami and Abdul-Rahman bin Rafi Tanukhi. It should also be added here that Tanukhi has a biography in Tabaqat Ulama Ifriqiya (pp. 20, 233) and in Riyad Nufus by Abu Bakr Maliki (1:72).This hadith will come again at 6564 from Abu Nadr Hashim bin Qasim, from Faraj bin Fadala, with this same chain. Imam Ahmad also related it in Kitab Ashribah Saghir (pp. 69-70) from Hashim, that is Ibn Qasim Abu Nadr, but he divided it into four separate hadiths, first, wine, gambling, and mizr, second, qanin, and in a manuscript in its margin, ghubayra, and I think both are corrupted readings, and that the correct one is qanin, as it appears in the two narrations of the Musnad, third, kuba, fourth, "Allah has increased for me the prayer of Witr."Haythami mentioned it in Majma al-Zawaid (2:239-240) in abbreviated form, together with the coming hadith 6919 specific to Witr, and attributed both only to Ahmad, then said, "Neither of the two paths is sound, for in the first there is Muthanna bin Sabbah, who is daif, and in the second there is Ibrahim bin Abdul-Rahman bin Rafi, who is unknown."Suyuti mentioned it in full in the additions to Jami Saghir (1:332, from Fath Kabir), but with ghubayra in place of qanin, attributing it to Tabarani and Bayhaqi. I did not find it in Sunan al-Kubra by this route. See what came earlier in the Musnad of Ibn Abbas at 2476, 2625. See also 6608, 6693, 6919.Mizr, with a kasra on the mim, a saakin zay, and ending in ra, is a fermented drink made from corn, though some say from barley or wheat. So said Ibn Athir.Kuba, with a damma on the kaf, was discussed earlier at 2476, where Khattabi's statement was given, that it is explained as a drum, and it is also said to be backgammon, and its meaning includes every stringed instrument and every wind instrument, and similar things among instruments of amusement and singing. Ibn Athir said it is backgammon, and it is also said to be a drum, and it is also said to be a lute. Jawaliqi said in Muarrab (295, in our edition), "Kuba is a small drum narrow in the middle, and it is a foreign word." Muhammad bin Kathir said, "Kuba is backgammon in the language of Yemen." But better than all of this, and more comprehensive, is Ahmad's statement in Kitab Ashribah, "By kuba he means anything that is struck upon."Qanin, with a kasra on the qaf, a doubled kasra-bearing nun, and ending in another nun, Ibn Athir said, "It is a game of the Romans by which they gamble, and it is also said to be the tanbur in the Abyssinian language, and qanin means striking upon it." Yazid bin Harun explained it here as meaning the barbat. As for the barbat, Ibn Athir said, "It is an instrument of amusement resembling the oud, and it is a Persianized foreign word, its origin being barbat, because the one who plays it places it upon his chest, and the word for chest is bar."