Azami 2550

Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Prayer (360) from Abu Naeem, who said, Shayban (that is, Ibn Abdul-Rahman) narrated to us from Yahya bin Abu Kathir, from Ikrima. He, meaning Yahya bin Abu Kathir, said, "I heard him," or "I had asked him." He, meaning Ikrima, said, "I heard Abu Hurairah," and he mentioned it.His statement "I heard him" means Yahya said, "I heard Ikrima," and then he was uncertain whether he heard it directly or as the answer to a question he had asked him.I say, whether the hearing was direct or came after a question, the hearing did in fact take place. Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, was cautious in his use of the transmission wording because Yahya bin Abu Kathir was described as practicing tadlis.But Hafiz related from Ismaili that he said, "I do not know of anyone who mentioned Yahya's hearing from Ikrima," meaning, with certainty. He said, "We have also related it through the route of Husayn bin Muhammad, from Shayban, with the same uncertainty about whether it was hearing or writing."Hafiz said, "Harith bin Abu Usama narrated it in his Musnad from Yazid bin Harun, from Shayban, similar to Bukhari's narration. He said, 'I heard him,' or 'I had asked him and heard him.'" End of quote.I say, this confirms what Bukhari held regarding Yahya bin Abu Kathir's hearing from Ikrima.The meaning of the hadith, as Baghawi said in Sharh al-Sunnah (2/423), is, "What is meant is that one should not tie the garment around his waist and pray with his shoulders bare, but rather wrap it around himself, raise its two ends, cross them over each other, and tie it over his shoulder, so that it becomes like a waist-wrap and a cloak together. This is when the garment is wide, but if it is narrow, he ties it around his waist."The evidence for this is what will come later in the hadith of Jabir.