Riyad as-Salihin, 508

'Imran bin Husain (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The best of you, are my contemporaries, then those who follow them, then those who will come after them. ('Imran said, I do not know if he said this twice or thrice). Then, they will be followed by those who will testify but will not be called upon to testify; they will betray the trust, and will not be trusted. They will make vows but will not fulfill them, and obesity will prevail among them." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

وعن عمران بن الحصين رضي الله عنهما، عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال‏:‏ ‏"‏ خيركم قرني، ثم الذين يلونهم، ثم الذين يلونهم‏"‏ قال عمران‏:‏ فما أدري قال‏:‏ النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم مرتين أو ثلاثاً ‏"‏ ثم يكون بعدهم قوم يشهدون ولا يستشهدون، ويخونون ولا يؤتمنون، وينذرون ولا يوفون، ويظهر فيهم السمن‏"‏ ‏(‏‏(‏متفق عليه‏)‏‏)‏‏.‏

References1 variant

In-Book Reference: Introduction, Hadith 508

Sharh · explanationclick to expand

Guidance from the Hadith: 1) It points out the superiority of the first three generations over those who came after them. Those are the Companions, the Tābi‘is (the generation that followed the Companions), and the generation that followed the Tābi‘is (may Allah be pleased with them all). 2) The best generations were marked by certain signs, such as holding onto the traits of sincere faith, abandonment of luxury, and moderateness with regard to food and drink. 3) The appearance of obesity in the succeeding generations is a sign of their shortcomings that resulted from their remoteness from the traits of true believers and their attachment to worldly pleasures.

Related hadiths5