"My father granted me a gift."Ismail bin Salim said from among the group, "He granted him a slave-boy."He continued, "My mother, Amra bint Rawaha, said to him, 'Go to the Prophet ﷺ and have him witness this.' So he went to the Prophet ﷺ and mentioned it to him, saying, 'I have granted my son Numan a gift, and Amra has asked me to have you witness it.'The Prophet ﷺ asked, 'Do you have any other children besides him?'He said, 'I replied, Yes.'The Prophet ﷺ asked, 'Have you given all of them the same as you have given Numan?'He said, 'No.'"Some of these narrators said, "This is injustice." Others said, "This is coercion, so have someone other than me witness it."Mughira said in his version, "Would it not please you that they all be equal toward you in goodness and kindness?"He said, "Yes."The Prophet ﷺ said, "Then have someone other than me witness this."Mujalid mentioned in his version, "They have a right over you that you treat them justly, just as you have a right over them that they show you kindness."
نحلني أبي نحلا. قال إسماعيل بن سالم من بين القوم: نحله غلاما. قال: فقالت له أمي عمرة بنت رواحة: ائت النبي ﷺ، فأشهده. قال: فأتى النبي ﷺ، فذكر ذلك له، فقال: إني نحلت ابني النعمان نحلا، وإن عمرة سألتني أن أشهدك على ذلك، فقال: ألك ولد سواه؟ قال: قلت: نعم. قال: فكلهم أعطيت مثل ما أعطيت النعمان. فقال: لا. فقال بعض هؤلاء المحدثين: هذا جور. وقال بعضهم: هذا تلجئة، فأشهد على هذا غيري. وقال مغيرة في حديثه: أليس يسرك أن يكونوا لك في البر واللطف سواء؟ قال: نعم. قال: فأشهد على هذا غيري. وذكر مجالد في حديثه: إن لهم عليك من الحق أن تعدل بينهم كما أن لك عليهم من الحق أن يبروك.
Ahmad narrated it (18378) from Hushaym, who said, "Sayyar (Abu Hakam), Mughira (Ibn Miqsam Dabbi), Dawud (bin Abu Hind), Ismail (Ibn Salim Asadi), and Mujalid (Ibn Saeed) informed us, all of them from Shaybi, from Numan bin Bashir," and he mentioned it.Abu Dawud narrated it (3542) from Imam Ahmad, and Bayhaqi narrated it through his route (6/177-178). Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (5104), narrating it from Mughira, from Shaybi alone.Its chain of transmission is sahih, except for what Mujalid alone narrated, and he is Ibn Saeed bin Umayr Hamdani, who is disputed. Bukhari had a favorable opinion of him, while Ibn Main, Ibn Saad, Nasai, Ibn Hibban, and others graded him as daif. The conclusion regarding him is that he is not accepted when he narrates something alone.So his statement, "They have a right upon you that you treat them equally, just as you have a right upon them that they honor you," is something he narrated alone, and a group of reliable narrators did not narrate it from Shaybi. Bayhaqi said the same thing (6/177) after narrating it through the route of Abu Dawud Tayalisi, from Shuba, from him, from Shaybi.As for what Sufyan narrated from Mujalid, he said, "I heard Shaybi say, I heard Numan bin Bashir say" - and he was governor of Kufa - "My father gave me a slave boy as a gift, so I came to the Prophet ﷺ to have him witness it. He said, 'Have you given the same to all your children?' He said, 'No.' He said, 'Then I will not witness an injustice.'"This is something that a group of reliable narrators agreed with him on, from Shaybi. Imam Ahmad narrated it (18410) from Sufyan with his chain of transmission.