Ahmad 7278

Its chain of transmission is sahih. Abu Dawud related it (3:361 of Awn al-Mabud), as did Tirmidhi (2:285) and Ibn Majah (2:30), all of them through Sufyan bin Uyayna, with this same chain. They did not mention in it his statement "and it was read to him." Muslim also related it (1:473) through Sufyan, but he did not give its full wording, rather he referred back to the hadith before it, from the narration of Malik from Zuhri. This has already passed at 7154, from the narration of Ikrima from Abu Hurairah. Hafiz alluded to this narration of the Musnad in Fath al-Bari 5:80.His statement here, "and it was read to him," is from the words of Zuhri, meaning that this hadith was read to Araj. This is supported by what Ibn Saad related in Tabaqat 5:209, in the biography of Araj, with his chain of transmission to Uthman bin Abdullah bin Abu Rafi, who said, "I saw someone reading to Araj his hadith from Abu Hurairah from the Messenger of Allah , and he would say, 'Is this your hadith, Abu Dawud?' He said, 'Yes.' He said, 'So I say, "Abdul-Rahman narrated to me," when I have read it to you?' He said, 'Yes, say, Abdul-Rahman narrated to me.'"This shows that the writing down of hadith was established practice in the era of the successors as well, after its establishment in the era of the Messenger of Allah , and then in the era of the companions. It also indicates that Araj's hadith was written down before the reader read it to him. It could not be that he wrote it down at the moment he heard it from him, for then this question would have had no meaning. So it appears that some narrators wrote it down from Araj, and then the narrators passed it on from one another, so that some of them would come to him in the session of hearing and read to him what had been transmitted of his hadith from the written text.Regarding his statement, "the trustworthy one among your shoulders," Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari 5:80, "Ibn Abdul-Barr said, 'We related it in Muwatta with the letter tha, and with the letter nun.' Aknaf is the plural of kanaf, with a fatha, meaning the side." Ibn Athir said, "It is transmitted with the letter ta and with the letter nun. The meaning with the ta is that since it was upon their backs and between their shoulders, they were unable to turn away from it, because they were carrying it, so it was with them and did not part from them. The meaning with the nun is that he casts it into their courtyards and surroundings, so whenever they passed by it they would see it, and they would be unable to forget it."The jurists differed over whether this is an obligatory right owed by a neighbor to his neighbor, or merely a matter of etiquette. Khattabi said in Maalim 2487 of Tahzib Sunan, "The generality of scholars incline in its interpretation to the view that it is not an obligation that is imposed upon people from the standpoint of legal ruling, but rather it belongs to the category of kindness and good neighborliness, except for Ahmad bin Hanbal, who held it to be obligatory." He said, "The judges must rule by it against the neighbor and enforce it upon him if he refuses to comply." The truth is what Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, held.