Subsection: How to Attain Salvation and Protection from Him

...his assumption, and the silence of the Prophet (ﷺ) was because he was hesitant concerning him. As for the hadith of Abu Bakrah, al-Bayhaqi stated in reply to it: 'Ali ibn Zayd alone narrated it, and he is not strong.'

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: What further weakens his narration is that Abu Bakrah embraced Islam when he came down from al-Ta'if during its siege in the eighth year of the Hijrah. Meanwhile, it is established in the two Sahihs that when the Prophet (ﷺ) met Ibn Sayyad among the palm trees, he was approaching the age of puberty. How then could Abu Bakrah have witnessed the time of his birth in Medina, when he did not reside in Medina except two years prior to the demise of the Prophet (ﷺ)? How could he have been near the age of puberty during the era of the Prophet (ﷺ)? Thus, what is recorded in the two Sahihs is the relied-upon narrative. Furthermore, al-Bayhaqi related that there is nothing more in the hadith of Jabir than the silence of the Prophet (ﷺ) regarding Umar's oath. Hence, it is plausible that he (ﷺ) initially withheld judgment concerning his affair, and was subsequently informed by Allah that he was someone else, as necessitated by the account of Tamim al-Dari.

Ibn Hajar said: Some people have mistakenly assumed that the hadith of Fatimah bint Qays regarding the account of Tamim is a solitary narration (fard), but that is not the case; for alongside Fatimah bint Qays, it was also narrated by Abu Hurairah, Aisha, and Jabir. As for the hadith of Abu Hurairah, it was recorded by Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and Abu Ya'la. As for the hadith of Aisha, it is mentioned within the aforementioned hadith of Fatimah through al-Sha'bi, who said: 'Then I met al-Qasim ibn Muhammad...'