A man came to the Prophet ﷺ after performing his ablution, but he had left a spot the size of a fingernail on his foot untouched. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, "Go back and perform your ablution properly."
أن رجلا جاء إلى النبي ﷺ وقد توضأ وترك على قدمه مثل موضع الظفر، فقال له رسول الله ﷺ: ارجع! فأحسن وضوءك.
Abu Dawud (173) and Ibn Majah (665) both narrated it through Abdullah bin Wahb, from Jareer bin Hazim, that he heard Qatada bin Diama, "Anas told us," and he related the hadith. Abu Dawud said, "This hadith is not known from Jareer bin Hazim, and no one narrated it except Ibn Wahb alone."I say, this is a criticism from Abu Dawud directed at the hadith of Ibn Wahb, from Jareer, from Qatada. It is said that he narrated from Qatada, from Anas, things that are not corroborated. Abdullah bin Wahb is the Qurashi, their freedman, Abu Muhammad the Egyptian, a trustworthy and precise memorizer, so his being the sole narrator does not harm the hadith. As for Jareer bin Hazim, who is the Azdi, he is one of the trustworthy narrators, among the men of the six books, except that there is disagreement concerning his narrations from Qatada.Abdullah bin Ahmad said, I asked Yahya bin Main about Jareer bin Hazim, and he said, "There is no harm in him." I said to him, "He narrated from Qatada, from Anas, hadiths that are objectionable." He said, "It is nothing, and regarding Qatada he is daif."Ibn Adi included the aforementioned hadith in al-Kamil (5502), and said, "Jareer has other unusual reports besides what I have mentioned." Dhahabi said in al-Mizan, "In sum, Jareer has objectionable hadiths from Qatada." He also said, "He is one of the great imams, and were it not for Ibn Adi's mention of him, I would not have included him."This indicates that Dhahabi, who is known for his thorough survey, was not satisfied with placing Jareer bin Hazim among the daif narrators, even though he agreed that he has objectionable hadiths from Qatada. However, we have nothing indicating that Jareer bin Hazim erred in narrating the hadith in question. Rather, there is evidence that he heard this hadith from Qatada, just as the hadiths on this subject testify that he preserved it and got it right. Ibn Khuzayma graded it sahih (164), and narrated it through Ibn Wahb, from him.Daraqutni said (1/108), "Jareer bin Hazim narrated it alone, and he is trustworthy." That is, as long as he is trustworthy, his being the sole narrator does not harm the hadith. Allah, the Exalted, knows best what is correct.Abu Dawud then said, "It has also been narrated from Maqil bin Abdullah al-Jazari, from Abu Zubayr, from Jabir, from Umar, from the Prophet ﷺ, something similar, in which he said, 'Go back and perform your wudu properly.'"I say, the hadith of Maqil bin Abdullah was connected by Muslim in his Sahih, who narrated it from Salama bin Shabib, from him, as mentioned earlier, and it is the second hadith in this chapter. Perhaps Abu Dawud presented it as a corroborating witness for the hadith of Anas.