"the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) was asked: Which deed is best?" and he mentioned it. I said: This isnād [chain of transmission] consists of narrators all of whom are reliable according to the standards of the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhārī and Muslim], except for ʿAbd al-Malik al-Maktab, whom I do not know. It is possible that he is ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr al-Kūfī, known as al-Qibṭī, or ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Maysarah al-Hilālī al-Kūfī al-Zarrād, as both are mentioned among the teachers of Shuʿbah ibn al-Ḥajjāj. Both are trustworthy, and it is likely that the first one is more probable. He has been corroborated, as Muslim narrated it (1/63) through the route of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh from Abū ʿAmr al-Shaybānī with it, except for his saying: "and jihād," and he named the man as ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu). Both he and al-Bukhārī (2/9/527) narrated it through the route of Shuʿbah and others from al-Walīd ibn ʿAzzār, who said: I heard Abū ʿAmr al-Shaybānī say: The owner of this house told us, and he pointed to the house of ʿAbd Allāh, saying: "I asked the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam): Which deed is most beloved (in another narration: best) to Allāh? He said: Prayer at its appointed time (in another narration: at its proper time), I said: Then what? He said: Then honoring one's parents. I said: Then what? He said: Jihād in the way of Allāh. He said: He told me these, and if I had asked for more, he would have given me more." The ḥadīth was mentioned by al-Suyūṭī in "al-Ziyādah ʿalá al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr" from the narration of al-Bayhaqī in "al-Shuʿab" from Ibn Masʿūd, raised [to the Prophet] with the wording: "The best deed is prayer at its appointed time, then honoring one's parents, then that people are safe from your tongue." And with the wording: "The best deed is prayer at its proper time and jihād in the way of Allāh." It is apparent that the second wording is authentic, but it does not mention "honoring one's parents," and it is also authentic with the first wording except for his saying: "then that people are safe from your tongue," for I have not seen it in any of the routes of the ḥadīth in "the two Ṣaḥīḥs" or others like the Musnad (1/410 - 418 - 421 - 439 - 444 - 448 - 451). In fact, the statement of Ibn Masʿūd: "and if I had asked for more, he would have given me more" negates it, as it is an objectionable addition contradicting the narration of "the two Shaykhs," "then jihād in the way of Allāh."