He reported from his father that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the use of the skins of predatory animals. In another narration, he added, "that they be used as carpets."
عن أبيه أن رسول الله ﷺ نهى عن جلود السباع. وزاد في رواية: أن تفترش.
Abu Dawud (4132), Tirmidhi (1770), Nasai (4264), Ahmad (20706), Hakim (1/144), and Diya in al-Mukhtara (1379) all narrated it through various routes from Saeed bin Abu Aruba, from Qatada, from Abu Malih, who related it.Hakim said, "This chain is sahih, for Abu Malih's name is Amir bin Usama, and his father Usama bin Umayr was a companion from Banu Lihyan whose hadith is recorded in the Masanid works." This is as he said, and even though Saeed bin Abu Aruba's memory became confused later in life, he was one of the people most knowledgeable about Qatada's hadith. A group of people narrated from him, including major imams such as Ibn Mubarak, Ibn Ulaya, Yahya Qattan, and others.However, Tirmidhi also narrated it (1771) through the route of Shuba, from Yazid Rishk, from Abu Malih, from the Prophet ﷺ, who related it. Then he said, "This is more sahih," meaning the mursal version. And before that he said, "We do not know of anyone who said, 'from Abu Malih, from his father,' other than Saeed bin Abu Aruba." This is what he said.A note of caution, in al-Ithaf by Ibn Hajar (1/335) it states, "Ahmad narrated it from Muhammad bin Jafar and Ismail, from Saeed, and from Bahz, from Hammam, both of them from Qatada with this wording." The same appears in Atraf Musnad (1/252).I say, I have not come across Bahz's narration in the section on Usama bin Umayr in the Musnad. However, there is indeed a hadith with this same chain about the strip of cloth, narrated as mursal (20710), and the hadith about prayer in one's dwellings (20711). If this chain is confirmed as being from Imam Ahmad, then Hammam would be a corroborator of Saeed bin Abu Aruba, meaning he was not alone in narrating it as Tirmidhi claimed. And Allah knows best.Furthermore, what strengthens the connected version is that Shuba himself narrated it from Qatada as connected, with the wording that the Prophet ﷺ forbade spreading out the skins of predatory animals as rugs. Tabarani narrated this in al-Kabir (1/159) through the route of Ibn Mubarak, from Shuba.This is further supported by the fact that Mamar narrated it from Yazid Rishk, from Abu Malih, "I think," from his father, that the Prophet ﷺ said something similar. Tabarani also narrated this.With this, the connected version is confirmed as sahih, and praise be to Allah.