Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿArʿarah: Muʿādh ibn Hishām informed us, saying: I found in my father's book ... the ḥadīth. I said: This isnād is authentic, its men are trustworthy, the men of Muslim. Abū Ḥassān is al-Aʿraj al-Baṣrī, well-known by his kunyah, and his name is Muslim ibn ʿAbd Allāh. The ḥadīth has been criticized with what does not undermine it, as al-Khaṭīb narrated in "al-Tārīkh" (6/149) from al-Athram who said: I said to Abū ʿAbd Allāh—meaning Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal—do you preserve from Qatādah from Abū Ḥassān ... (and he mentioned the ḥadīth). He said: They wrote it from the book of Muʿādh and did not hear it. I said: Here is a person who claims he heard it from Muʿādh, and he denied that, saying: Who is he? I said: Ibrāhīm ibn ʿArʿarah. His face changed, and he shook his hand and said: Lies and falsehood, glory be to Allāh! They did not hear it from him; rather, so-and-so said: We wrote it from his book and did not hear it from him, glory be to Allāh! And he considered that a grave matter. Perhaps Imām Aḥmad refers by saying "so-and-so ..." to ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, as al-Khaṭīb narrated through Ismāʿīl al-Qāḍī from him, saying: Qatādah narrated a strange ḥadīth not preserved from any of Qatādah's companions except from the ḥadīth of Hishām, so I copied it from the book of Ibn Muʿādh ibn Hishām while he was present; I did not hear it from him from Qatādah, and Muʿādh said to me: Bring it so I may read it. I said: Leave it for today—he said: Abū Ḥassān narrated to us (and he mentioned it). ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī said: This is how it is in the book. Al-Khaṭīb commented on this by saying: "And what prevents that Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿArʿarah heard this ḥadīth from Muʿādh along with others hearing it from him, as Ibn Abī Ḥātim al-Rāzī said in the book "al-Jarḥ wa-al-Taʿdīl": My father was asked about Ibrāhīm ibn ʿArʿarah? He said: 'Truthful.' Then al-Khaṭīb narrated from Ibn Maʿīn that he said: Trustworthy, known for ḥadīth, Yaḥyá ibn Saʿīd used to honor him, well-known for seeking [knowledge], a skillful scribe but he corrupts himself by involving in everything. And from Ibrāhīm ibn Khurzādh: I memorized from four whom I saw ... and he mentioned among them Ibrāhīm ibn ʿArʿarah. I said: Abū Zurʿah also declared him trustworthy by narrating from him. Al-Ḥākim said: He is an imām among the preservers of ḥadīth. Al-Khalīlī said: A great trustworthy ḥāfiẓ agreed upon. Others also declared him trustworthy