[Another ḥadith]
Imam Aḥmad (1) said: “Wakīʿ narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us; Khālid al-Ḥaddāʾ narrated to us, from Abū Qilābah, from Anas.” He related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“The most compassionate of my community is Abū Bakr, the firmest in Allah’s religion is ʿUmar, the most modest is ʿUthmān, the most learned concerning the lawful and the unlawful is Muʿādh ibn Jabal, the most proficient in reciting the Book of Allah is Ubayy, and the most knowledgeable about the laws of inheritance is Zayd ibn Thābit. Indeed, every nation has a trustee, and the trustee of this nation is Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarāḥ.”

Al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah (2) have also reported it through the transmission of Khālid al-Ḥaddāʾ. Al-Tirmidhī graded it “ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.” In the Ṣaḥīḥ collections of al-Bukhārī and Muslim (3) only the concluding words appear: “Every nation has a trustee, and the trustee of this nation is Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarāḥ.” Hushaym likewise narrated—from Kawthar (4) ibn Ḥakīm, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar—a report identical or similar to the narration of Abū Qilābah from Anas.

[Another ḥadith]
Imam Aḥmad (5) said: “Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Rabbih narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb narrated to us; al-Zubaydī related to me, from Ibn Shihāb, from ʿAmr ibn Abān ibn ʿUthmān, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah,” who used to relate that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Tonight a righteous man was shown (in a dream) that Abū Bakr was fastened to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, ʿUmar was fastened to Abū Bakr, and ʿUthmān was fastened to ʿUmar.”

When we rose from the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, we said, “As for the righteous man, he is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; and as for what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ mentioned about one being fastened to another, these are the leaders over this affair with which Allah sent His Prophet ﷺ.”

Abū Dāwūd (7) also transmitted it—from ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān, from Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb—and then remarked: “Yūnus and Shuʿayb narrated it from al-Zuhri, but they did not mention ʿAmr.”

[Another ḥadith]
Imam Aḥmad (8) said: “Abū Dāwūd—ʿUmar ibn Saʿd—narrated to us; Badr ibn ʿUthmān narrated to us, from ʿUbayd Allah ibn …”