739 – Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman relates from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: “We heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Whoever comes upon his very property in the hands of a man who has gone bankrupt is more entitled to it than anyone else.’” Agreed upon.

Abu Dawud and Malik also transmitted it through Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman with a mursal (disconnected) chain in the wording: “If a man sells merchandise and the buyer is declared bankrupt before paying him anything of its price, and the seller finds his merchandise unchanged, he has the strongest claim to it. If the buyer dies, the seller is on the same footing as the other creditors.” Al-Bayhaqi supplied a connected chain for it but judged it weak, following Abu Dawud.

Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah likewise reported—through ʿUmar ibn Khulda—that he said: “We came to Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding a companion of ours who had gone bankrupt. He said, ‘I shall rule among you with the ruling of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “Whoever goes bankrupt or dies, and a man finds his very property intact, that man has the strongest claim to it.”’” Al-Hakim declared this ḥadīth authentic, while Abu Dawud judged it weak and also considered the addition mentioning death to be weak. ⦗1⦘

Degree of authenticity:
The ḥadīth is sound due to corroborating evidence.
This narration is pieced together from several routes, all of which reach Abu Hurayrah except—