"Abū Bakr was among the meticulous preservers, and Yaḥyá al-Qaṭṭān and Ibn al-Madīnī held a poor opinion of him. This was because, as he aged, his memory deteriorated, leading him to make errors when narrating. Mistakes and errors are things from which humans cannot be entirely free. If errors become so frequent that they outweigh his correct narrations, then his narrations deserve to be avoided. However, if he errs occasionally or makes mistakes, this does not warrant abandoning his ḥadīth after his integrity has been established and his hearing confirmed." Then he said: "The correct approach regarding him is to avoid what is known to be erroneous and to use what he narrates as evidence, whether it agrees with the trustworthy narrators or not, because he is included among the people of integrity. One whose integrity is confirmed does not deserve criticism or disparagement unless his integrity is nullified by one of the reasons for disparagement." "This is the ruling for every trustworthy narrator whose integrity is confirmed and whose error is certain." I said: For this reason, the ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar explicitly stated the authenticity of this chain in "al-Fatḥ," then he said (6/154): "For the men of its chain are used as evidence in the authentic collections." He was preceded in this by the ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr, as will be mentioned, and likewise by al-Dhahabī, as in "Tanzīh al-Sharīʿah" (1/379). The second path: Imām Aḥmad also said (2/318): "ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn Hammām narrated to us, narrated to us by Maʿmar from Hammām from Abū Hurayrah who said: The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said... He mentioned many ḥadīths exceeding one hundred with this chain, this ḥadīth being one of them. They are all in the 'Ṣaḥīfah of Hammām ibn Munabbih,' which was narrated by Abū al-Ḥasan Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf al-Sulamī from ʿAbd al-Razzāq with it, and this ḥadīth is numbered (123) in it." Muslim also included it in "Ṣaḥīḥ" (5/145) through the route of Muḥammad ibn Rāfiʿ: ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated it with the second narration, and the wording is Muslim's
" كان أبو بكر من الحفاظ المتقنين، وكان يحيى القطان، وابن المديني يسيئان الرأي فيه، وذلك أنه لما كبر سنه، ساء حفظه، فكان يهم إذا روى، والخطأ والوهم شيئان لا ينفك عنهما البشر، فلو كثر الخطأ حتى كان غالبا على صوابه لاستحق مجانبة رواياته، فأما عند الوهم يهم، أو الخطأ يخطىء، لا يستحق ترك حديثه بعد تقدم عدالته وصحة سماعه ". ثم قال:" والصواب في أمره مجانبة ما علم أنه أخطأ فيه، والاحتجاج بما يرويه، سواء وافق الثقات " أولا "، لأنه داخل في جملة أهل العدالة، ومن صحت عدالته لم يستحق القدح ولا الجرح، إلا بعد زوال العدالة عنه بأحد أسباب الجرح. وهذا حكم كل محدث ثقة صحت عدالته، وتيقن خطؤه ". قلت: ولهذا صرح الحافظ ابن حجر في " الفتح " بصحة هذا السند، ثم قال (٦ / ١٥٤) :" فإن رجال إسناده محتج بهم في الصحيح ". وسبقه إلى نحوه الحافظ ابن كثير كما سيأتي، وكذا الذهبي كما في " تنزيه الشريعة " (١ / ٣٧٩) . الطريق الثانية: قال الإمام أحمد أيضا (٢ / ٣١٨) :" حدثنا عبد الرزاق بن همام حدثنا معمر عن همام عن أبي هريرة قال: قال رسول الله ﷺ.... فذكر أحاديث كثيرة فوق المائة بهذا الإسناد، هذا الحديث أحدها، وهي جميعها في " صحيفة همام بن منبه " التي رواها أبو الحسن أحمد ابن يوسف السلمي عن عبد الرزاق به، وهذا الحديث فيها برقم (١٢٣) . وقد أخرجه مسلم في " صحيحه " (٥ / ١٤٥) من طريق محمد بن رافع: حدثنا عبد الرزاق به بالرواية الثانية، واللفظ لمسلم.