Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
The best age of my Umma is one in which I was sent (by Allah as an Messenger), then the one next to that. (The narrator said): And Allah knows best whether he stated this third (time) or not. Then there would come people who would love (to look) bulky and they would hasten to the witness box before they are asked to bear witness.
حَدَّثَنِي يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، حَدَّثَنَا هُشَيْمٌ، عَنْ أَبِي بِشْرٍ، ح وَحَدَّثَنِي إِسْمَاعِيلُ، بْنُ سَالِمٍ أَخْبَرَنَا هُشَيْمٌ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو بِشْرٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ شَقِيقٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " خَيْرُ أُمَّتِي الْقَرْنُ الَّذِينَ بُعِثْتُ فِيهِمْ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ " . وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ أَذَكَرَ الثَّالِثَ أَمْ لاَ قَالَ " ثُمَّ يَخْلُفُ قَوْمٌ يُحِبُّونَ السَّمَانَةَ يَشْهَدُونَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُسْتَشْهَدُوا " .
Isnad
8 transmitters- 1Ya'qub bin Ibrahim bin Sa'dMedina,Baghdad · d. 208 AH
- 2Hashaym bin Bashayr bin al-Qasimal-Wasit,Baghdad · d. 183 AH
- 3Ja'far bin Iyas (Abi Wahshiyya)Wasit,Basra · d. ~126 AH
- 4Isma'il bin Salm al-Sa'aghal-Baghdad,Makkah
- 5Hashaym bin Bashayr bin al-Qasimal-Wasit,Baghdad · d. 183 AH
- 6Ja'far bin Iyas (Abi Wahshiyya)Wasit,Basra · d. ~126 AH
- 7'Abdullah bin Shaqayq al-AqayliBasra · d. 108 AH
- 8Abu HurairahMakkah/Medina/Yemen/Bahrain · d. 59 AH/681 CE
References2 variants
- In-Book Reference
- Book 44, Hadith 302
- USC-MSA web (English) reference
- Book 31, Hadith 6154 (deprecated numbering scheme)