Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām - Abd Allah al-Bassam - (7/192)

Chapter on Testimony

1215 – Zayd ibn Khālid al-Juhanī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Shall I not inform you of the best of witnesses? He is the one who brings his testimony before he is asked for it.” Related by Muslim (1).

1216 – Imrān ibn Ḥuṣayn (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The best of you are the people of my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them. After that there will come a people who testify without being asked, who betray trusts and are not trustworthy, who make vows and do not fulfill them, and among whom obesity will become widespread.” Agreed upon (2).

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Vocabulary notes
• khayr: plural akhyār and khiyār; used here as a superlative. Its original form is akhyar, but the hamzah was dropped—contrary to the usual morphological rule—through frequent usage, which rendered the word fully declinable and distinct from the verb pattern.
• qarnī: “my generation.” Qarn (plural qurūn) is a verbal noun denoting a span of time; some scholars say it equals forty years,

(1) Muslim, Hadith 1719. (2) al-Bukhari, Hadith 2651; Muslim, Hadith 2535.

باب الشهادات ١٢١٥ - عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ الْجُهَنِيِّ ﵁ أَنَّ النَّبيَّ ﷺ قَالَ: "أَلاَ أُخْبِرُكُمْ بخَيْرِ الشُّهَدَاءِ؛ هُوَ الَّذِي يَأْتِي بِالشَّهَادَةِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُسْأَلَهَا" رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ (١). ١٢١٦ - وعَنْ عِمْرَانَ بْنِ حصَيْنِ ﵁ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ: "إِنَّ خَيْرَكُمْ قَرْنِي، ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ، ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُم، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ قَوْمٌ يَشْهَدُونَ وَلاَ يُسْتَشْهَدُونَ، وَيَخُونُونَ وَلاَ يُؤْتَمَنُون، وَينْذُرُونَ، وَلاَ يُوفُونَ، وَيَظْهَرُ فِيهِمُ السِّمَنُ" مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ (٢). ــ * مفردات الحديث: - خير: جمعه: أخيار وخيار، يستعمل اسم تفضيل، وأصله: أخْيَرُ، فحذف الهمزة على خلاف القياس؛ لكثرة الاستعمال، فصار متصرِّفاً لمغايرته وزن الفعل. - قرني: القرن جمعه قرون، وهو مصدر، وهو مدة، قيل: أربعون سنة،

(١) مسلم (١٧١٩). (٢) البخاري (٢٦٥١)، مسلم (٢٥٣٥).