Abu Dawud said: This is more authentic than the hadith of al-Zuhri from Anas, and al-Zuhri from Salim from his father.

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It was also narrated by Abu 'Umar (3), al-'Uqayli in al-Du'afa' 3/15, and Ibn 'Adi in al-Kamil 5/1925–1926 via the chain of 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn al-Husayn, from al-Zuhri, from Abu Salama, from Abu Hurayra. Al-'Uqayli said: 'Abd al-'Aziz is not followed [in this], and the narration from other than this path is disordered with weakness in it. Ibn 'Adi said: This, with this chain, is rejected (munkar).

It was also narrated by Ibn Abi Dawud, p. 103, via the chain of Bahr ibn Kaniz al-Saqqa', from al-Zuhri, from Abu Salama, from Abu Hurayra. This Bahr is very weak.

It was also narrated by Abu Ya'la (4159) and Ibn Abi Dawud, p. 104, via the chain of Abu Ishaq al-Humaysi, from Malik ibn Dinar, from Anas ibn Malik. Abu Ishaq al-Humaysi—whose name is Khazim ibn al-Husayn—is weak.

This reading has also come from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab via two other chains. The first: from Hushaym, from al-Hajjaj ibn Artat, from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Aswad, from his father, from 'Umar. It was narrated from this chain by Sa'id ibn Mansur in the tafsir section of his Sunan (170). This chain is good (hasan) in follow-ups (mutaba'at).

The second: from al-A'mash, from Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, who said: 'Umar used to recite... It was narrated from this chain by Sa'id ibn Mansur as well (172). This chain has trustworthy narrators, except that it is interrupted (munqati'), because al-Nakha'i was too young to have met 'Umar. However, it is suitable for follow-ups.

The reading of {Maliki yawm al-din} with the alif is supported by the hadith of Abu Hurayra in Muslim (395), which preceded with the author at no. 821 in the long hadith, in which it says: "Allah the Exalted said: I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant into two halves, and My servant shall have what he asks... And when he says: {Maliki yawm al-din}, Allah the Exalted says: My servant has glorified Me..."

Ibn Kathir said in his Tafsir 1/40: Marwan possessed knowledge of the soundness of what he recited, which Ibn Shihab did not come to know. And Allah knows best.

We say: His reading without the alif is supported by the hadith of Umm Salama that follows after this.

The readers 'Asim, al-Kisa'i, Ya'qub, and Khalaf recited it as {Maliki} with the alif, while the rest recited it without the alif. See Ittihaf Fudala' al-Bashar by al-Banna', p. 122.