What is the status of the narrator whose name is 'Ubayd Allah al-Asamm, for whom Muslim narrated in his Sahih, and some of them have accused him of being unknown?

The Shaykh : Do you have anything with you to clarify?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The student : Shall I read it?

The Shaykh : Who is he? I don't know him off the top of my head. Never mind, read the hadith.
The student : And Qutaybah ibn Sa'id, Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, Suwayd ibn Sa'id, and Ya'qub al-Duqra'i narrated to us, all of them from Marwan al-Fazari. Qutaybah said: Al-Fazari narrated to us from 'Ubayd Allah ibn al-Asamm, who said: Yazid ibn al-Asamm narrated to us from Abu Hurayrah, who said: "A blind man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, I have no guide to lead me to the mosque. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked to be granted a dispensation to pray in his house, and he was granted a dispensation. When he turned to leave, the Prophet called him back and said: . He said: Yes. He said: .

The Shaykh : This is the hadith we mentioned to you.
The student : But the narrator here, my Shaykh, is 'Ubayd Allah ibn al-Asamm.

The Shaykh : Never mind, may Allah reward you. I told you: do you mean the hadith? I said no, this is another blind man. So the hadith is the same. Now we have investigated the narrator.
The student : The narrator, yes.

The Shaykh : Okay, never mind, who is the unknown one in your view?
The student : 'Ubayd Allah ibn al-Asamm.

The Shaykh : Have you checked al-Taqrib now? Does it say: acceptable?
The student : It says: acceptable.

The Shaykh : Okay, we need to check the original source.
The student : Yes, this is the original source.

The Shaykh : What does it say in the original source?
The student : It says: "He narrated from his uncle Yazid ibn al-Asamm, and from him: 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ziyad, Marwan ibn Mu'awiyah, and Ibn 'Uyaynah."

The Shaykh : Okay, where is the accusation of being unknown?
The student : "And Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators."

The Shaykh : Where is the accusation of being unknown here? If Muslim had not narrated this hadith, we would still grade it as authentic because three trustworthy narrators narrated from this man who is allegedly unknown, plus Ibn Hibban graded him as trustworthy. This is the problem today in the modern era, as we discussed in a previous session, that one of them defecates before he urinates; he thinks that being unknown means absolute unknown status that cannot be used as evidence. Now I say, in addition to what I said earlier: this is a man from whom three trustworthy narrators narrated, and Muslim narrated from him in his Sahih, and Ibn Hibban graded him as trustworthy. This is a good person, and it is said that he narrated from an unknown person? Glory to Allah!
The student : My Shaykh, because they do not consider such rules regarding the narration of trustworthy narrators... nor the grading of Ibn Hibban.

The Shaykh : I, and do not hold me to this if I say it, and you are the most knowledgeable of people about what I will say. I am the one who opened the door to not considering the grading of Ibn Hibban for the rising generation in this time, but I am also the one who opened for them the second door that this rule is not absolute. Someone might ask: where did you get this from? My brother, from investigation and research. Where did the science of hadith get these rules from? From tracking and research, and so on. And I found that al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar and al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi, and others, often grade as trustworthy those from whom narrators like these three trustworthy ones narrated, even if there is no other grader who graded him as trustworthy, yet they say he is truthful. What do you say if to that is added that Ibn Hibban graded him as trustworthy? What do you say if Muslim used him as evidence in his "Sahih"? But I want to seize this opportunity now and benefit from it, so did Muslim not provide another chain of narration for this hadith so that we can say he used him as evidence in the original sources?
The student : ... .

The Shaykh : ... Here comes something else, this also comes from investigation. It is possible, and this is what I think is most likely, even though I am not currently recalling it, that this man may have a supporting narrator, either a partial or complete support. This is researched in books of takhrij, especially in books like "Irwaa' al-Ghalil" and the like. In that case, if a supporting narrator is found for him, whether the support is partial or complete, it is appropriate to say that Muslim narrated from him, and we assume he is unknown, because a supporting narrator has been established for him. Just as it is said regarding what al-Bukhari narrated in his "Sahih" from some of those who have some poor memory or weakness of memory or some confusion or something similar that weakens their hadith, it is said that al-Bukhari selects the hadith of such people. So it is not permissible to say such absolute statements. Anything else, Professor?
The student : ... .

The Shaykh : Welcome.
The student : ... Any more questions?

The Shaykh : If you are hoping for good, please go ahead, but I heard that you are leaving at ten o'clock.
The student : Our car... is fast, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : Please proceed.