Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd related—on the authority of al-Ḥasan, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh—that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“Love for Abū Bakr and ʿUmar is an aspect of faith, and hatred for them is unbelief; likewise, love for the Arabs is an aspect of faith, and hatred for them is unbelief.”
Harb al-Kirmānī and others have adduced this ḥadīth as proof, citing the wording:
“Love for the Arabs is faith, and hatred for them is hypocrisy and unbelief.”
This particular chain of transmission is, in itself, open to criticism, yet it may exist through another route. I have recorded it only because its purport parallels the ḥadīth of Salmān, which explicitly states that hatred for them is a form of unbelief; by implication, therefore, love for them is a form of faith, making the two reports consistent.
Further reports do exist—though their weakness is conspicuous—such as the one transmitted by al-Tirmidhī through Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿUmar from Mukhāriq ibn
(1) Yunus ibn Ubayd ibn Dinar al-Abdi, a mawla (client) from Basra. Ibn Saʿd said of him, “He was reliable and transmitted a great many hadith,” a verdict upheld by Ibn Maʿin, Ibn al-Madini, Ahmad, al-Nasaʾi, and the other leading critics. He died in 140 AH. See: Ibn Saʿd, al-Tabaqat al-kubra 7:260; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-tahdhib 11:442–45 (no. 855).
(2) Al-Suyuti includes this report in al-Jamiʿ al-saghir with an additional clause about love for the Ansar and reviling the Companions, citing it from Ibn ʿAsakir; he judges the hadith weak. See: al-Jamiʿ al-saghir 1:567, no. 3668.
(3) The phrase “and unbelief” is omitted in MS A. Al-Hakim narrates the hadith in his al-Mustadrak (4:87), but the words “and unbelief” do not appear there. The author has already examined its chain of transmission.
(4) Husayn ibn ʿUmar al-Ahmasi al-Kufi. Ibn Hajar, in al-Taqrib, labels him matruk (abandoned), and al-Bukhari—quoted there—calls his narrations munkar al-hadith (objectionable). Ahmad and the rest of the major critics also deemed him weak, as the author notes. He belongs to the eighth generation and died between 180 and 190 AH. See: Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-tahdhib 1:183 (no. 414); Tahdhib al-tahdhib 2:385–86 (no. 668).