Sunan at-Tirmidhī Ḥadīth [2263] – The best of you from the worst…

5 September 2023 · 20 Ṣafar 1445 AH

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حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ العَزِيزِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، عَنْ العَلَاءِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَقَفَ عَلَى نَاسٍ جُلُوسٍ، فَقَالَ: >أَلَا أُخْبِرُكُمْ بِخَيْرِكُمْ مِنْ شَرِّكُمْ؟< قَالَ: فَسَكَتُوا، فَقَالَ ذَلِكَ ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ، فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ: بَلَى يَا رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ، أَخْبِرْنَا بِخَيْرِنَا مِنْ شَرِّنَا، قَالَ: >خَيْرُكُمْ مَنْ يُرْجَى خَيْرُهُ وَيُؤْمَنُ شَرُّهُ، وَشَرُّكُمْ مَنْ لَا يُرْجَى خَيْرُهُ وَلَا يُؤْمَنُ شَرُّهُ<

قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى: هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ.

Reference

Book [33]: Chapters on al-fitan
Chapter [76]: The ḥadīth “The best of you is the one whose goodness is hoped for and whose evil people are safe from”

Translation

Ḥadīth [2263]: It is narrated on the authority of Abū Hurayrah ^{[d. 57H]} (may Allāh be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) came across some people who were sitting, so he said: “Shall I not inform you of the best of you from your worst?” He said: They became silent, so he said that three times, then a man said: ‘Of course, O Messenger of Allāh! Inform us of the best among us from our worst.’ He said: “The best of you is the one whose goodness is hoped for, and people are safe from his evil. And the worst of you is he whose goodness is not hoped for, and people are not safe from his evil.”

Abū ‘Īsā ^{[d. 279H]} said: This ḥadīth is [ḥasan] ṣaḥīḥ.

Takhrīj

• Musnad Aḥmad (8812 (14/410-411) & 8920 (14/492)) ^{[Shu’ayb al-Arna'ūṭ]}

• Musnad Aḥmad (8797 (9/6) & 8904 (9/46)) ^{[Aḥmad Shākir]}

• Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Ḥibbān (527-528 (2/285-286))

• Shu’ab al-Īmān (10755 (13/542))

→ Non-primary books:

• Majma’ al-Zawā'id (13673 (16/632-633))

• Al-Musnad al-Jāmi’ (14263 (17/643-644))

• Tuḥfatul Ashrāf (14076 (10/31))

• Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ (4993)

• Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’ (2603 (1/508))

• Al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil (13901 (17/45))

• Talkhīṣ al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil (13901 (5/667))

• Jāmi’ al-Uṣūl (9431 (11/696))

Grading

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh al-Albānī (Sunan at-Tirmidhī (2263 (1/513)) & Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’)

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar ad-Da’wah, New Delhi (Sunan at-Tirmidhī (2263 (3/275)))

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh ‘Eṣām Mūsā Hādī (Jāmi’ al-Kabīr (2263 (1/692)))

• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ by Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr ‘Alī Za'ī (Jāmi’ at-Tirmidhī (2263 (1/685)) & Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ (4993 (3/112-113)))

• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna'ūṭ (Musnad Aḥmad (8812 (14/410-411)))

• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Dr. Ḥamzah Zayn (Musnad Aḥmad (8797 (9/6)))

• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Ḥusayn Asad (Majma’ al-Zawā'id)

• Isnād qawī as per the conditions of Muslim by Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna'ūṭ (Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Ḥibbān (527-528 (2/285-286)))

• Ḥadīth ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna'ūṭ (Jāmi’ al-Kabīr (2413 (4/313-314)) & Musnad Aḥmad (8920 (14/492)))

• Ḥadīth ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh ‘Abdul-Qādir al-Arna'ūṭ (Jāmi’ al-Uṣūl)

• Ḥasan by Shaykh Dr. Ḍiyā'-ur-Raḥmān al-‘Aẓamī (Al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil)

• Isnād ḥasan by Shaykh Dr. Ḥamzah Zayn (Musnad Aḥmad (8904 (9/46)))

• Isnād ḥasan by Mukhtār Aḥmad an-Nadwī (Shu’ab al-Īmān)

• Ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ by Imām at-Tirmidhī

Commentary

Commentary by Dārussalām (Jāmi’ at-Tirmidhī)

The companions feared lest any of their characteristics should be named as that of the worst people, and as a result of which the person concerned should appear a sorry figure in the midst of the people. That is why they refrained from speaking initially, and thought it fit to let the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) speak what he thought best. But when the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) persisted with the question, one of them spoke out and requested the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) to tell them about the best and the worst among the people. The Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) thereupon only mentioned the golden principle with which to tell the best from the worst.

• Reference: [2263 (4/311), Jāmi’ at-Tirmidhī, Dārussalām (Eng)]

Commentary by Mawlānā Sayyid Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Awwal al-Ghaznawī (may Allāh have mercy upon him)

❶ It means that the finest among you are those who are the best to your brothers.
❷ This implies the fear that by defining and labelling things as good or bad, it can lead to humiliation and merely disgraceful behavior.

• Reference: [4993 (4/137), Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, Maktabah Muḥammadiyah (Ur)]

Translated by ‘Uzayr Khān (India)

5. Sunan at-Tirmidhī Aḥādīth

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