a slight issue regarding his memory, I would have said: It is a sound chain of transmission, but some have criticized it, and the ḥāfiẓ said in "al-Taqrīb": "Truthful, but makes mistakes." I said: In this ḥadīth, there is an important benefit, which is the interpretation of "intimacy" as touching a woman without engaging in intercourse. This supports the interpretation previously mentioned by al-Qārī, even though he narrated it with uncertainty (it was said): this ḥadīth indicates that it is a reliable opinion, and there is nothing in the evidences of the sharīʿah that contradicts it. In fact, we have found in the statements of the predecessors what strengthens it further. Among them is the narrator of the ḥadīth, ʿĀʾishah herself (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā). Al-Ṭaḥāwī narrated (1/347) with a sound chain from Ḥakīm ibn ʿAqāl that he said: I asked ʿĀʾishah: What is prohibited for me from my wife while I am fasting? She said: Her private parts. And Ḥakīm was deemed trustworthy by Ibn Ḥibbān, and al-ʿAjīlī said: "A Basran successor, trustworthy." Al-Bukhārī also mentioned it (4/120) with certainty: "Chapter on Intimacy for the Fasting Person, and ʿĀʾishah (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā) said: Her private parts are prohibited for him." The ḥāfiẓ said: "Al-Ṭaḥāwī connected it through the route of Abū Murrah, the freed slave of ʿAqīl, from Ḥakīm ibn ʿAqāl.... And its chain to Ḥakīm is sound. Its meaning is also supported by what ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated with a sound chain from Masrūq: I asked ʿĀʾishah: What is permissible for a man from his wife while fasting? She said: Everything except intercourse." I said: Ibn Ḥazm (6/211) mentioned it, using it as evidence against those who disliked intimacy for the fasting person. Then I was able to refer back to a copy of "al-Thiqāt" in the Ẓāhiriyyah Library, and I saw him say in it (1/25):