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

قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَ: هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ

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”

Ḥadīth [2263]: It is narrated on the authority of Abī Hurayrah (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 said: This ḥadīth is [ḥasan] ṣaḥīḥ.

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), Sunan at-Tirmidhī, Dārussalām (Eng)]

1) It means that the finest among you are those who are the best to your brothers.
2) 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 Uzair Khan (India)

• Musnad Aḥmad (8812 (14/410-411); and 8920 (14/492)) [Shu’ayb al-Arna’ūṭ]
• Musnad Aḥmad (8797 (9/6); and 8904 (9/46)) [Aḥmad Shākir]
• Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Ḥibbān (527-528 (2/285-286))
• 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 (1/507))
• Talkhīṣ al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil (13901 (5/667))

Grade:

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh al-Albānī (Sunan at-Tirmidhī (2263 (1/513)))
• Ṣaḥīḥ by Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar ad-Da’wah, New Delhi (Sunan at-Tirmidhī (2263 (3/275)))
• Ṣaḥīḥ isnād by Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr ‘Alī Za’ī (Jāmi’ at-Tirmidhī (2263 (4/311)); and Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ (4993 (3/112-113)))
• Qawī isnād 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)))
• Ḥasan by Shaykh Dr. Ḍiyā’-ur-Raḥmān al-‘Aẓamī (Talkhīṣ al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil (13901 (5/667)))