Zainab bint Abi Salama

Ismail ibn Abi Khalid was a reliable and well-regarded Tabi'i hadith narrator from Kufa who lived approximately from 50 AH and died around 146 AH. He transmitted from a number of senior companions and their close followers, including al-Bara ibn Azib, Abu Juhayfah, Qays ibn Abi Hazim, and others. He was held in very high regard by the leading critics of hadith of his time: Shu'bah ibn al-Hajjaj — one of the strictest and most exacting hadith critics — said of him, 'I have not seen anyone whose memory for what he heard was more reliable than Ismail ibn Abi Khalid.' Yahya ibn Maʿin and Ahmad ibn Hanbal both classified him as thiqah (trustworthy) without reservation. He was particularly known for his transmission of narrations related to Islamic practice, the conduct of the companions, and matters of belief. He narrated from eyewitnesses to key events of the Prophet's era and was considered one of the more precise Kufan narrators. His reports appear in Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and throughout the four Sunan collections.