1218 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) related that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: “The testimony of a Bedouin is not admissible against a townsman.” Reported by Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah. (1)

Status of the report:
The hadith is classified as munkar (anomalous and therefore rejected).
It is transmitted by Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and Ibn al-Jarud through the chain of Ibn al-Had, from Muhammad b. ʿAmr b. ʿAtaʾ, from ʿAtaʾ b. Yasar, from Abu Hurayrah.
Ibn Daqiq al-ʿId said: “Its transmitters, all the way to the Companion, are those relied upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim; the isnad is therefore sound, and every narrator is trustworthy.”
Ibn ʿAbd al-Hadi likewise affirmed: “Its narrators are reliable.”
Al-Dhahabi, however, judged: “The report is munkar, despite the cleanliness of its chain.”

Points derived from the hadith:
The scholars differed over whether Bedouin testimony is acceptable against a city-dweller.
Imams Malik and Ahmad—in one of the two opinions reported from him—held that such testimony is not to be accepted, because of the underlying hostility between the two groups and the fact that the Bedouin is usually rough in religious matters, scant in his knowledge of the Sacred Law, and imprecise in grasping or relating what he is told or hears.
Imam Ahmad said: “I fear that the testimony of a Bedouin against a townsman would not be accepted on the strength of this hadith.”