Azami 1699

Abu Dawud (159), Tirmidhi (99), and Ibn Majah (559) all narrated it from the hadith of Sufyan, from Abu Qays Awdi, from Hazeel bin Shurahbil, from Mughira bin Shuba, and he related the hadith. Imam Ahmad (18206) narrated it by this route as well. Ibn Khuzayma graded it sahih (198), and Ibn Hibban transmitted it from him (1338), all of them narrating from the hadith of Sufyan by his chain, in the same manner. Tirmidhi said, "Hasan sahih."Its chain of transmission is hasan because of Abu Qays, whose name is Abdul-Rahman bin Tharwan, about whom there is disagreement. Imam Ahmad said, "He contradicts himself in his hadiths." In another report he said, "There is nothing wrong with him." Abu Hatim said, "He is not strong." Nasai said, "There is nothing wrong with him." Ibn Main, Ibn Saad, Ajli, and others considered him reliable. Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators. So his rank does not fall below that of "truthful."Abu Dawud said, Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi would not narrate this hadith, because what is known from Mughira is that the Prophet ﷺ wiped over the leather socks. He also said, this hadith has been narrated from Abu Musa Ashari, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he wiped over woolen socks, but it is neither connected nor strong.Abu Dawud also said, those who wiped over woolen socks include Ali bin Abu Talib, Ibn Masud, Bara bin Azib, Anas bin Malik, Abu Umama, Sahl bin Saad, and Amr bin Hurayth, and it has also been narrated from Umar bin Khattab and Ibn Abbas. End of quote.Bayhaqi transmitted from Muslim bin Hajjaj, Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi, Imam Ahmad, and Ibn Main that they weakened this hadith. See Sunan al-Kubra (1/284).Daraqutni said in Ilal (7/112), "No one narrated it except Abu Qays, and this counts against him, because what is preserved from Mughira is wiping over the leather socks."Ibn Qayyim discussed at length in Tahzib Sunan the criticism of this hadith, and he transmitted from Imam Ahmad the permissibility of wiping over woolen socks, along with Ahmad's explanation of the narration of Abu Qays. He said, "This reflects his fairness and justice, may Allah have mercy on him." He then mentioned thirteen companions from whom wiping over woolen socks is reported. He said, "The basis relied upon by these companions is clear analogy, for there is no meaningful difference between woolen socks and leather socks." He also said, "This is the view of most scholars, including those companions we named, as well as Ahmad, Ishaq, Abdullah bin Mubarak, Sufyan Thawri, Ata bin Abu Rabah, Hasan Basri, Saeed bin Musayab, and Abu Yusuf." He said, "We do not know of any companion who held a contrary view to those we have named." End of his words, summarized.I say, as for those who considered this hadith sahih or hasan, they viewed it as an independent hadith, since Mughira bin Shuba described the ablution of the Prophet ﷺ. Some narrated from him wiping over the leather socks, and these are the majority, some narrated from him wiping over the turban, and some narrated from him wiping over woolen socks. So these are multiple hadiths that are not contradictory. This is what Shaykh Taqi Din (Ibn Daqiq Eid) points to in Imam, "Those who consider it sahih rely on the reliability of Abu Qays, on the basis that it does not contradict the narration of the majority in a way that conflicts with it, but rather it is something additional to what they narrated, and it does not conflict with it, especially since it is an independent route through the narration of Hazeel from Mughira, which does not share in its chain with the well known narrations." See Nasb Raya (1/185).And Allah knows best.