Ahmad 7747

Its isnad is hasan. Muthanna bin Sabbah, his biography was given previously at 6893, and we concluded there that his hadith should be graded hasan. We add here that Ibn Saad mentioned him in his biographical work, 5:361, and Ibn Abu Hatim at 324/1/4–325.The hadith was narrated by Bayhaqi in Sunan al-Kubra, 1:216–217, through the route of Sufyan Thawri, from Muthanna bin Sabbah, with this isnad. Bayhaqi then said, "This hadith is known through Muthanna bin Sabbah from Amr, and Muthanna is not strong. Hajjaj bin Artah also narrated it from Amr, but he differed from him in the isnad, narrating it from Amr, from his father, from his grandfather, and he abridged the text, making the question about a man who cannot find water, whether he may have intercourse with his wife. He said, Yes."The hadith of Hajjaj bin Artah, to which Bayhaqi refers, has already appeared in the Musnad of Abdullah bin Amr bin As at 7097. Its isnad, in our view, is sahih. So it serves as a strong corroborating witness for this hadith. We do not regard it as a divergence in the chain going back to Amr bin Shuayb, rather, he has both hadiths transmitted through two different routes.As for this hadith of Abu Hurairah, Haythami mentioned it in Majma al-Zawaid, 1:261, and said, "Ahmad and Abu Yaala narrated it, and in Abu Yaala's version it reads, use the earth. Tabarani also narrated it in al-Awsat. It contains Muthanna bin Sabbah, and most scholars considered him daif. Abbas reported from Ibn Main that he regarded him as reliable, while Muawiya bin Salih reported from Ibn Main that he said, He is daif, his hadith may be recorded but not entirely disregarded."Regarding Abbas, the narrator from Ibn Main, the printed edition of Zawaid has it as Ayyash, which is a typographical corruption and confusion. The actual wording of Abbas's report from Ibn Main is found in Tahdhib, 10:36, where Abbas Duri said, on the authority of Ibn Main, "Muthanna bin Sabbah is from Makkah, Yaala Ibn Muslim is from Makkah, and Hasan bin Muslim is from Makkah, and all of them are reliable."Zaylai also mentioned this hadith in Nasb Raya, 1:154, 156, pointing to some of its routes of transmission and discussing its underlying issues.