Azami 2495

Imam Ahmad (16535) narrated it from Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi, from Zuhayr. He said, Yahya bin Abu Bukayr narrated to us, he said, Zuhayr bin Muhammad narrated to us, from Yazid bin Khusayfa, from Salama bin Akwa, and he mentioned it.Its chain is sahih. Yazid bin Khusayfa is Yazid bin Abdullah bin Khusayfa Kindi Madani, one of the narrators found in all the major collections. He was graded trustworthy by Ibn Main, by Ahmad in the narration of Athram, by Abu Hatim, and by Nasai. Ahmad, in the narration of Abu Dawud from him, said, "His hadith is munkar." This is not a criticism, for Imam Ahmad applies this term to a narrator who transmits something unusual not found among his peers, as I have explained in detail in my book Dirasat fil-Jarh wat-Tadil.For this reason Haythami said in Majma (3351), "Ahmad and Tabarani in Awsat narrated it, and the narrators of Ahmad are the narrators of the Sahih." He is correct, except that he failed to attribute it also to Tabarani in Kabir. As for Awsat (7504), he narrated it through the route of Saeed bin Salama bin Abu Hasam, who said, "Yazid bin Khusayfa narrated to us, from Ibn Salama bin Akwa, from Salama," and he mentioned something similar. Tabarani said, "No one narrated this hadith from Ibn Salama except Yazid bin Khusayfa, and Saeed bin Salama transmitted it alone."I say, it is not as he said, for Zuhayr bin Muhammad also narrated it from Yazid bin Khusayfa, as you can see, and Ibn Salama bin Akwa is Iyas, one of the narrators found in all the major collections. As for Saeed bin Salama bin Abu Hasam Adawi, their client, Nasai declared him daif, while Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators. Hafiz said, "Truthful, with a sound book, but he errs from his memory." Perhaps this is one of the instances where he erred, for he added "Ibn Salama bin Akwa" into the chain. If this addition is confirmed as correct, then it would be an instance of an addition within a continuous chain.This hadith does not contradict what Ayesha and Umm Salama narrated, that the Prophet ﷺ used to pray two rakahs after Asr, for Salama bin Akwa is reporting what he saw the Prophet ﷺ do while traveling, whereas the two of them are reporting what the Prophet ﷺ used to do inside the house. So there is no contradiction between the two reports, as will be explained further.