Ahmad 7973

Its chain of transmission is sahih. Its wording, both this text and the one before it, concerns the interpretation of verses 2 and 3 of Surah Buruj, the recitation of the verses being as follows, "By the sky containing great stars (1) and the promised day (2) and by the witness and the witnessed" [Buruj 85:1–3].What is meant by Yunus bin Ubayd's statement, "I heard Ammar, the freedman of Banu Hashim, narrating that he said..." and so on, is that the one who said this was Abu Hurairah, as indicated by the preceding narration. So the pronoun "he" in "that he said" refers to Abu Hurairah. Perhaps the mention of him was omitted in this narration for brevity. This is what is established in the three original manuscripts of the Musnad.However, what appears in Jami al-Masanid 7:311, and in Ibn Kathir's tafsir 9:158 quoting this passage from the Musnad, reads, "I heard Ammar, the freedman of Banu Hashim, narrating [from Abu Hurairah] that he [Abu Hurairah] said..." and so on, with the addition, making it explicit. I do not know whether this addition was dropped from some of the old copies of the Musnad and preserved in others, or whether Hafiz Ibn Kathir added it in Jami al-Masanid and in his tafsir to clarify the chain of transmission and explain the actual situation. But I find it unlikely that he would do such a thing, and I consider it more likely that this is simply a variation among the copies of the Musnad. Either way, the intended meaning is clear.I have judged this narration to be sound based on its wording, and on the fact that it is the corroborated version, since Tabari related it in his tafsir from this same route, in scattered pieces, matching what is found here. He related [vol. 30, p. 82, Bulaq edition] via Ibn Ulaya, who said, Yunus narrated to us, who said, Ammar informed me, who said, Abu Hurairah said, "The promised day is the Day of Resurrection." He then related it via Thawri from Yunus, with the same content. After that he related it again via Ibn Ulaya, who said, Ammar informed me, who said, Abu Hurairah said, "The witness is the day of Friday, and the witnessed is the day of Arafah."These narrations, as found in Tabari, agree with this narration and this wording in the Musnad, which supports the soundness of the wording here, and indicates that anything differing from it or contradicting it is in error.Furthermore, neither this hadith nor the one before it, whether as a raised or a stopped narration, was mentioned by Haythami in Majma al-Zawaid, since he considered it sufficient that their meaning was related by Tirmidhi through another route from Abu Hurairah. This other route was not related by Ahmad in the Musnad, so we mention it here to complete the benefit.Tirmidhi related, 4:211, via Rawh bin Ubada and Ubaydullah bin Musa, from Musa bin Ubayda, from Ayub bin Khalid, from Abdullah bin Rafi, from Abu Hurairah, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The promised day is the Day of Resurrection, the witnessed day is the day of Arafah, and the witness is the day of Friday." He said, "The sun has not risen nor set on a day more excellent than it. In it there is an hour in which no believing servant coincides while asking Allah for something good but Allah answers him, and none seeks refuge from something but Allah grants him refuge from it."Tirmidhi then said, "We do not know this hadith except through the narration of Musa bin Ubayda. Musa bin Ubayda is graded daif in hadith, having been declared daif by Yahya bin Saeed and others on account of his memory. Shuba, Sufyan Thawri, and more than one of the leading scholars have related from Musa bin Ubayda."This hadith was mentioned by Ibn Kathir in his tafsir 9:158, relating it from Ibn Abu Hatim, via Ubaydullah bin Musa from Musa bin Ubayda. He then said, "Ibn Khuzayma likewise related this hadith through several routes from Musa bin Ubayda Rabazi, who is daif in hadith."Tabari related scattered portions of it [vol. 30, pp. 81–83, Bulaq edition] through several routes from Musa bin Ubayda. Bayhaqi related its beginning, concerning the explanation of the three days, in Sunan al-Kubra 3:170, via Rawh bin Ubada from Musa bin Ubayda.Suyuti mentioned it in full in Durr Manthur 6:331, and added that it was also attributed to Abd bin Humayd, Ibn Abu Dunya in his Adahi, Ibn Munzir, and Ibn Mardawayh.Musa bin Ubayda is extremely daif. He is discussed in Tahdhib, in Bukhari's Kabir 4/1/291, in his Sagheer 172–173, and in Ibn Abu Hatim 4/1/151–152.Bukhari said, "His hadith is munkar," a statement made by Ahmad bin Hanbal. Ali bin Madini, quoting Qattan, said, "We used to be wary of him in those days." Ibn Abu Hatim related from Juzjani, who said, "I heard Ahmad bin Hanbal say, 'Relating hadith from Musa bin Ubayda is not permissible in my view.' I said, 'O Abu Abdullah, is it not permissible?' He said, 'In my view, no.' I said, 'But Sufyan and Shuba both related from him.' He replied, 'If what became clear to others had become clear to Shuba, he would not have related from him.'"Ibn Main said, "His hadith is not to be relied upon as evidence." Abu Hatim said, "His hadith is munkar."