105 - Chapter: If one prays toward a pillar or something similar, where should he place it relative to himself?

693 - Mahmud ibn Khalid al-Dimashqi narrated to us, Ali ibn Ayyash narrated to us, Abu Ubaydah al-Walid ibn Kamil narrated to us, from al-Muhallab ibn Hujr al-Bahrani, from Duba'ah bint al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, from her father, who said: I never saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, pray toward a stick, a pillar, or a tree, except that he placed it to his right or left eyebrow, and he did not face it directly.

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= al-Ahmar, for he falls below the rank of authentic — and he has been followed. Ibn Abi Khalaf: he is Muhammad ibn Ahmad, and Ubaydullah: he is Ibn Umar al-Amari.

Al-Bukhari (430), Muslim (502) (248), and al-Tirmidhi (352) also narrated it via the chain of Abu Khalid al-Ahmar, with this chain of transmission.

Al-Bukhari (507) and Muslim (502) (247) also narrated it via the chain of Mu'tamir ibn Sulayman, from Ubaydullah ibn Umar, with it.

It is also in the Musnad of Ahmad (4468).

(1) Its chain of transmission is weak: al-Walid ibn Kamil is lax in hadith, and al-Muhallab ibn Hujr al-Bahrani and Duba'ah bint al-Miqdad are unknown.

Ahmad (23820), al-Tabarani 20/ (610), al-Bayhaqi 2/271, al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunnah (538), and al-Mizzi in his biography of al-Muhallab in Tahdhib al-Kamal 29/7 also narrated it via the chain of Ali ibn Ayyash, with this chain of transmission.

Ya'qub ibn Sufyan also narrated it in al-Ma'rifah wa al-Tarikh 2/161-162 — and from his route al-Bayhaqi 2/272 — from Yahya ibn Salih, and 162 via the route of Muhammad ibn Humayd, both from al-Walid ibn Kamil, with it. Yahya ibn Salih was corrupted in the printed edition of al-Ma'rifah wa al-Tarikh to Muhammad ibn Salih, and in al-Bayhaqi's narration: al-Miqdam, instead of al-Miqdad, and he said: Muhammad ibn Himyar and Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid narrated it from al-Walid ibn Kamil, and he said: al-Miqdad, and it was said from Baqiyyah in another narration from him: al-Miqdam, and al-Miqdad is more correct, so Allah the Exalted knows best. Al-Walid ibn Kamil al-Bajali al-Shami was unique in narrating this hadith. Al-Bukhari said: He has wondrous things. =