Azami 1570

Ahmad narrated it (22433), Tabarani in al-Kabir (1444), and Abu Yaala as in Ithaf Khayra (1/414, no. 972), all of them through Walid bin Muslim, who said, Ibn Thawban narrated to us, Hassan bin Atiya narrated to me, that Abu Kabsha Saluli told him, that he heard Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, say, and he then related the hadith.Its isnad is hasan because of Ibn Thawban, who is Abdul-Rahman bin Thabit bin Thawban Ansi (with a nun), the ascetic of Damascus. Nasai said, "Daif." Abu Hatim said, "Trustworthy." Ibn Main and Ajli both criticized him as somewhat weak.Busiri said in Ithaf Khayra, "Ibn Majah narrated it in his Sunan through Salim bin Abu Jaad, from Thawban, without his saying, 'Aim straight and come close.'"I say, Ibn Majah narrated it (277). He said, Ali bin Muhammad narrated to us, Waki narrated to us, from Sufyan, from Mansur, from Salim bin Abu Jaad, from Thawban, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Be upright, though you will never be able to fully accomplish it, and know that the best of your deeds is prayer, and none but a believer takes care to maintain wudu."Hakim said (1/130), "Sahih according to the standard of the two Shaykhs, and I do not know of any defect by which it could be criticized."I say, on the surface it appears sound, but it contains a hidden defect, namely that Salim bin Abu Jaad Ashjai, their freed slave, the Kufan, although Ibn Main, Abu Zura, Nasai, and others deemed him trustworthy, never heard from Thawban and never met him. Between them stands Madan bin Abu Talha, and these hadiths are not sahih. This is what Dhuhli related from Imam Ahmad.That is why Busiri said in Zawaid bin Majah, "The men of its isnad are trustworthy and reliable, except that there is a break between Salim and Thawban." And he said, "But Darimi and Ibn Hibban narrated it in his Sahih through Thawban with a connected chain." End of quote.I say, it is as he said. Darimi narrated it in "Wudu" (660) and Ibn Hibban (3/311, no. 1037), both of them through Walid bin Muslim with the same wording, as narrated by Imam Ahmad and others, and not as Ibn Majah narrated it. In Darimi's version, "Ibn Thawban" was corrupted into "Abu Thawban."The hadith of Thawban has other routes, and this is the best of them. Ibn Majah and others also narrated it from the hadith of Abdullah bin Amr, Abu Umama, Jabir, and Rabia Jurashi, but all of them are daif, and none of them is sahih.