He also said to Abd al-Rahmān ibn Samura, “O Abd al-Rahmān, do not ask for authority. If it is granted to you without your asking, you will be helped in discharging it; but if it is granted to you because you asked, you will be left to bear it on your own.” This was narrated by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim in their Sahih collections (1).
He—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “Whoever seeks judicial office and enlists help to obtain it will be left to it. But whoever neither seeks judicial office nor enlists help to obtain it, Allah will send down an angel to guide him aright.” This was narrated by the compilers of the Sunan works (2).
If he passes over the person most deserving and best qualified in favor of someone else because they are related, share a bond created by manumission or a friendship, or have the same homeland, school of thought, religious path, or ethnic background—such as Arab, Persian, Turkish, or Byzantine—or because of a bribe he receives from him in the form of money or some benefit, or for any other
(1) Al-Bukhārī (6622) and Muslim (1652) narrated it from Abd al-Rahmān ibn Samura, may Allah be pleased with him.
(2) Ahmad (13302, 12184), Abū Dāwūd (3587), al-Tirmidhī (1323), Ibn Mājah (2309), al-Hākim (4/92), al-Bayhaqī (10/100), and al-Diyā in *al-Mukhtāra* (1581, 1580) narrated this report through Isrā’īl, from Abd al-Alā ibn Āmir al-Thalabī, from Bilāl ibn Abī Burda ibn Abī Mūsā al-Asharī, from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him. Al-Hākim graded it authentic, but Abd al-Alā is weak.
Al-Tirmidhī (1324) and al-Bayhaqī (10/100) also narrated it through Abū Awāna, from Abd al-Alā ibn Āmir, from Bilāl ibn Mirdās, from Khaythama, from Anas. In addition to Abd al-Alā, this chain contains Bilāl ibn Mirdās, who is unknown, while Ibn Maīn said of Khaythama: “He is of no account.”
Al-Tirmidhī said: “This is a *hasan gharīb* hadith, and it is sounder than the narration of Isrā’īl from Abd al-Alā.” Ibn al-Qattān expressed surprise at al-Tirmidhī’s statement, saying: “Isrā’īl was one of the great hadith masters. Were it not for Abd al-Alā’s weakness, this chain would have been better than that of Abū Awāna, which contains Khaythama and Bilāl ibn Mirdās.” End quote from *Bayān al-Wahm wa-l-Īhām* (3/547–548).