Ahmad 7508

Its isnad is sahih, though there is some discussion regarding it. Zakariya is Ibn Abu Zaida. Saad is the son of Ibrahim bin Abdul-Rahman bin Awf. In (kh) it appears as Saeed, which is an error we corrected based on (m), on Jami al-Masanid by Ibn Kathir, and on biographical reference works.Saad bin Ibrahim's reliability was already established at 6529. What is added here is that Ibn Abu Hatim gave his biography at 2/1/79, and that he frequently narrates from his uncle Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman. But did he narrate this particular hadith directly from his uncle, or did he narrate it through an intermediary? As for this isnad, it appears on its face that he narrated it from him directly.However, it will come later at 10205, through the narration of Sufyan Thawri, and at 10419, through the narration of Mansur bin Mutamir, both of them narrating from Saad bin Ibrahim, from his cousin Umar bin Abu Salama, from his father Abu Salama. So it is possible that Saad heard it from his uncle Abu Salama directly, and also heard it from his cousin Umar, from Umar's father Abu Salama, and thus narrated it in both ways. It is also possible that Zakariya bin Abu Zaida made a mistake in his narration from Saad, inadvertently dropping Umar bin Abu Salama from the isnad.I am inclined to favor this second view, for Thawri and Mansur had superior memory, more reliable narration, and had heard from Saad earlier than Zakariya did. In fact, there is no real basis for comparing him with the two of them. In any case, the hadith is sahih on that basis, and also because it has been narrated from Abu Salama through sahih isnads by a route other than this one.Ahmad narrated it (as will come later) at 7835 from Hammad bin Usama, at 9474 from Abu Muawiya, at 10148 from Yahya Qattan, at 10546 from Yazid bin Harun, and at 10846 from Muhammad bin Ubayd, all of them from Muhammad bin Amr bin Alqama, from Abu Salama, from Abu Hurairah, as a marfu hadith, using the wording "the person" instead of "the man." The meaning is the same.Likewise, Hakim narrated it in Al-Mustadrak 2/223, through the route of Mutamir bin Sulayman, from Muhammad bin Amr bin Alqama, with the same wording. In Al-Mustadrak it appears as "Muhammad bin Amr, from Alqama," which is clearly a printing error.Abu Dawud narrated it at 4603 from Ahmad bin Hanbal, from Yazid bin Harun, with the isnad found at 10546.Its meaning also occurs within a longer hadith, which Ahmad likewise narrated at 7976, from Anas bin Iyad, from Abu Hazim, from Abu Salama, "I do not know it except from Abu Hurairah." This hadith was narrated by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, number 73 in our edition, where it reads, from Abu Hazim, from Abu Salama, from Abu Hurairah, without this uncertainty, and we have verified its soundness there.Praise be to Allah.