and others—whom he attributed to them in the first instance—al-Ṭabarānī narrated it through three chains from Muḥammad ibn Sābiq. So is the ignorance he referred to concerning Muḥammad ibn Sābiq and those above him—which is unimaginable from the ḥāfiẓ, or even from those below him—or is it in the three chains? This is like the previous case; if all were unknown, it would not be permissible to criticize the ḥadīth based on them due to their corroboration, so how can it be when at least two of them are authentic?! How can it be when Aḥmad narrated it directly from Muḥammad ibn Sābiq?! There is no doubt that this was issued from the ḥāfiẓ out of oversight and forgetfulness. And we are all that man: (Our Lord, do not hold us accountable if we forget or make a mistake) *

- (If allegiance is pledged to two caliphs, then kill the latter of them). It came from the ḥadīth of Abū Saʿīd, Abū Hurayrah, Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān, Anas ibn Mālik, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd. 1- As for the ḥadīth of Abū Saʿīd; there are two chains from him: the first is from al-Jurayrī from Abū Naḍrah from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī who said: The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said... and Muslim recorded it (6/23), as did Abū ʿAwānah (4/460), and al-Bayhaqī in "al-Sunan" (8/144). The other is from Bishr ibn Ḥarb that Ibn ʿUmar came to Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī and said: O Abū Saʿīd! Was I not informed that you pledged allegiance to two leaders before the people united under one leader? He said: Yes, I pledged allegiance to Ibn al-Zubayr, then the people of Shām came and took me to Ḥubaysh ibn Duljah (1) and I pledged allegiance to him. Ibn ʿUmar said: It was this I feared, it was this I feared! And (Ḥammād) raised his voice with it