of the people, their rallying around him, and their agreement upon him. He did not mean the staff literally; rather, he used it as a metaphor for their obedience to him and his authority over them. Yet its mention indicates that he will be stern and forceful with them.” (1)
I say: Yes, his driving the people with his staff is a metaphor for their obedience to him and submission to his command. However, al-Qurtubī’s suggestion that he will be stern with them does not apply to everyone, as his words might imply. Rather, he will be severe only toward the sinners among them. He is a righteous man who will rule justly. This is supported by Ibn Hajar’s report from Nu‘aym ibn Hammād (2), who narrated through a strong chain from Abdullah ibn Amr that he mentioned the caliphs and then said, “And a man from Qahtān.”
This is also supported by the report he transmitted with a good chain from Ibn Abbas, who said concerning him, “And a man from Qahtān; all of them are righteous.” (3)
(1) *Al-Tadhkira* (p. 635).
(2) Nuʿaym ibn Hammād al-Khuzāʿī was one of the leading hadith masters. Al-Bukhārī narrated from him alongside another transmitter; Muslim narrated from him in the Introduction, as did the compilers of the Sunan collections except al-Nasāʾī. Imam Ahmad, Yahyā ibn Maʿīn, and al-ʿIjlī deemed him trustworthy. Abū Hātim said, “He was truthful,” whereas al-Nasāʾī declared him weak. Al-Dhahabī said, “He was one of the eminent leading scholars, though there was some weakness in his hadith transmission.” Ibn Hajar said, “He was truthful but frequently erred.” Al-Dhahabī also related that Nuʿaym said, “I was a Jahmī, and therefore I knew their teachings. When I began seeking hadith, however, I realized that their doctrine ultimately leads to *taʿtīl* (negation of the divine attributes).” He died in 228 AH—may Allah have mercy on him.
See *Tadhkirat al-Huffāz* (2/418–420); *Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl* (4/267–270); *Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb* (10/458–463); *Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb* (2/305); *Hady al-Sārī: Muqaddimat Fath al-Bārī* (p. 447); and *Khulāsat Tadhhīb Tahdhīb al-Kamāl* (p. 403).
(3) *Fath al-Bārī* (6/535).