Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 1842 — Making nabidh in waterskins

Uyaynah bin Abd al-Rahman narrates from his father (Abd al-Rahman bin Jawshan) that nabidh used to be prepared for Sayyiduna Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in a large earthenware jar. Once Sayyiduna Abu Barzah (may Allah be pleased with him) returned from a long journey, and before going to his own house he stopped at the house of Sayyiduna Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him). There he met a woman named Mayyah, of whom he asked after the well-being of Sayyiduna Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him). Meanwhile his eye fell upon the earthenware jar in which the nabidh was, and he asked, "What jar is this?" The woman replied that they prepared nabidh in it for Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him). He advised, "I wish you had prepared it in a leather waterskin." So after he left, the woman transferred the nabidh into a waterskin and hung it up. When Sayyiduna Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) came, he was told of the arrival of Sayyiduna Abu Barzah (may Allah be pleased with him). Then his eye fell upon the waterskin and he asked (what this change was). When he learnt the reality, he refused to drink it and said, "I will never drink it. If you were to put honey in an earthenware jar, would it become unlawful for me? And if you were to put wine in a waterskin, would it become lawful for me?" (meaning: what counts is not the vessel but the true nature of the drink inside it). Then he explained, "We know well what we were forbidden: we were forbidden the dubba' (gourd vessels), the naqir (hollowed-out wooden vessels), the hantam (green jars) and the muzaffat (vessels coated with tar or pitch)." Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) further explained: As for the dubba', we people of the tribe of Thaqif in Ta'if would take gourds, clean them out from inside, fill them with bunches of grapes and bury them in the ground until they seethed and then became still (that is, turned into wine). And the naqir means that the people of al-Yamamah would hollow out the base of a palm trunk, crush fresh and ripening dates into it and leave it until it seethed and then settled. The hantam were the earthenware jars in which wine used to be brought to us, and the muzaffat are the vessels smeared with pitch (a tar-like substance).
Imam Musaddad, Imam Ahmad bin Mani' and Imam al-Bazzar also recorded this narration through the route of Uyaynah bin Abd al-Rahman, each with his own chain.