What is the authencity of these hadiths on Abdaal (Substitutes) of Syria?

I'm a revert. So naturally, my knowledge is very limited. However, the Islam I came to is completely different from the one that people I live with practice. They have weird beliefs and Aqeedah like believing in 40 Abdaal that have powers *given to them by Allah*, and as soon as one of them dies, another person takes its place and becomes the new Abdaal. Out of curiosity, I asked one of them for the sources of these beliefs and he cited me [this source](https://makashfa.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/hadith-of-40-abdal-authenticity-and-proofs/) . I managed to find that hadith on Sunnah.com, its reference is [Musnad 896](https://sunnah.com/ahmad:896) : > Shuraih - i.e., bin Ubaid said: The people of Syria were mentioned in the presence of Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) when he was in Iraq. They said: Curse them, O Ameer al-Mu`mineen. He said: No, I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “The abdal (people who are close to Allah) will be in Syria, and they will be forty men. Every time one of them dies, Allah will replace him with another man. By virtue of them rain is sent and through them victory is achieved against the enemy and punishment is warded off from the people of Syria. It is graded weak by Darussalam. The source clearly rejects that and gives reason for it. However, their argument heavily relies on the assumption that in the Musnad Ahmad, the takhrij about the hadith being weak is not from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal himself. Probably suggesting that it is added by the publisher or something. See the image below. **Question: Is it true that this comment is not by Imam Ahmad? What is really the authenticity of these hadiths and why are there some scholars who seem to not think these stories are fabrication ([like here](https://islamqa.org/shafii/shafiifiqh/30127/narrations-on-the-abdal/)) . And also what are good hadiths or verses from the Qur'an to counter this belief if this is fabrication?** Jazakallahu Khayran!