Azami 6919

Ibn Majah (2540) narrated it from Abdullah bin Salim al-Maflooj, who said, Ubayda bin Aswad narrated to us, from Qasim bin Walid, from Abu Sadiq, from Rabia bin Najid, from Ubada bin Samit, and he mentioned it. Abdullah bin Ahmad also narrated it through this same route in his additions (22795) at length, and it will come later in the book of jihad. In it is Rabia bin Najid al-Azdi, also said to be al-Asadi al-Kufi. Ibn Hibban mentioned him in his "Thiqat," and Ajli said, "A Kufan follower, trustworthy." Ibn Hajar relied on their assessment of his reliability, saying in Taqrib, "Trustworthy." But he is not trustworthy, rather he is "unknown," because no one narrated from him except Abu Sadiq. As for the assessment of reliability by Ibn Hibban and Ajli, it follows their general principle of deeming reliable anyone in whom no defect is known, and Dhahabi indeed declared him unknown in "al-Mughni."However, the hadith has another chain of transmission, which is what Abdullah bin Ahmad narrated (22776) from Yahya bin Uthman Abu Zakariya al-Basri al-Harbi, who said, Ismail bin Ayyash narrated to us, from Abu Bakr bin Abdullah, from Abu Salam, from Miqdam Madikarib al-Kindi, that he sat with Ubada bin Samit, Abu Darda, and Harith bin Muawiya al-Kindi. They discussed the hadith, and Abu Darda said to Ubada, "O Ubada, the words of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in such-and-such campaign concerning the matter of the fifths." Ubada then mentioned the hadith at length. In it appears, "Establish the limits set by Allah, whether at home or traveling."Imam Ahmad narrated it (22680-22699) from Ishaq bin Isa, who said, Ismail bin Ayyash narrated to us with his chain of transmission, both abridged and lengthy. Its central figure is Abu Bakr bin Abdullah, who is Ibn Abu Maryam al-Ghassani al-Shami, a daif narrator. Ibn Hibban said, "He was among the best of the people of Syria, but his memory was poor. He would narrate something, and errors would creep in, and this happened so often with him that he deserved to be abandoned."The hadith has a third chain of transmission as well, which is what Abdullah bin Ahmad narrated (22777) from Yahya bin Uthman, who said, Ismail bin Ayyash narrated to us, from Saeed bin Yusuf, from Yahya bin Abu Kathir, from Abu Salam, similarly. Saeed bin Yusuf is al-Rahbi, also said to be al-Zurqi, from Sanaa of Damascus, and he is daif. But taken together, these various routes make the hadith hasan.This subject has also been narrated from Abu Hurairah, Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Umar. As for the hadith of Abu Hurairah, it was narrated by Imam Ahmad (8738), Ibn Majah (2538), Nasai (4904), and Ibn Jarud (801), and Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (4398). All of them narrated it through Abdullah bin Mubarak, from Isa bin Yazid, from Jareer bin Yazid, from Abu Zura, from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "A single legal punishment carried out on earth is better for the people than being rained upon for thirty, or forty, mornings." In it is Jareer bin Yazid bin Abdullah al-Bajali, who is daif by the consensus of the scholars.A note of caution, there is a gap in the printed edition of Ibn Hibban between Isa bin Yazid and Abu Hurairah, where the phrase "Jareer bin Yazid from Abu Zura" has dropped out. Ibn Hibban also narrated it (3497) from Ibn Qutayba, who said, Muhammad bin Qudama narrated to us, who said, Ibn Ulaya narrated to us, from Yunus bin Ubayd, from Amr bin Saeed, from Abu Zura bin Amr, from Abu Hurairah, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Establishing a single legal punishment in a land is better for its people than forty mornings of rain."On the surface, this chain of transmission appears sound, but it is in fact defective, for the students of Ibn Ulaya, that is, Ismail bin Ulaya, disagreed among themselves regarding it. Muhammad bin Qudama, who is Ibn Ayun al-Masissi, narrated it in this manner. Nasai said of him, "There is no harm in him," and Daraqutni said, "Trustworthy." But Amr bin Zurara contradicted him, narrating it from Ismail bin Ulaya, saying, Yunus bin Ubayd narrated to us, from Jareer bin Yazid, from Abu Zura, who said, Abu Hurairah said, and he mentioned it as a statement of Abu Hurairah's own, not attributed to the Prophet.Nasai narrated this (4905) from Amr bin Zurara. Amr bin Zurara al-Kullabi is more reliable than Muhammad bin Qudama, and he contradicted him in two respects. First, he made Jareer bin Yazid the teacher of Yunus bin Ubayd, and Jareer bin Yazid is daif, as mentioned earlier. Second, he narrated it as a statement of Abu Hurairah's own rather than attributing it to the Prophet, and this is the correct version, which Daraqutni also favored in his Ilal (11/213).As for the hadith of Ibn Abbas, it was narrated by Tabarani in al-Kabir (11/337) and Bayhaqi (8/162), both from Ahmad bin Yunus, who said, Saeed Abu Ghaylan narrated to us, who said, Affan bin Jubayr al-Tai narrated to us, from Abu Jareer, or Hurayz, al-Azdi, from Ikrima, from Ibn Abbas, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "A single day under a just ruler is better than sixty years of worship, and a legal punishment justly carried out on earth is more purifying for it than forty years of rain." This wording is Tabarani's. In Bayhaqi's version it reads, "forty days." In it are men who are unknown, as Haythami said in "al-Majma" (6/263).I would note that there is something suspect in the wording, "forty years," and for this reason Munziri said in Targhib wal-Targhib (3582), "This is an unusual wording, though its chain of transmission is hasan."As for the hadith of Ibn Umar, it was narrated by Ibn Majah (2537), and its wording is, "Establishing a single one of the legal punishments set by Allah is better than forty nights of rain over the lands of Allah ." In it is Saeed bin Sinan al-Hanafi al-Himsi, whom Daraqutni and others accused of fabricating hadith.