Ibn Iraq in Tanzīh al-Sharīa (2/182). Al-Sakhāwī said in al-Maqāsid (392/1044): “Its chain of transmission is acceptable. It is not weakened by the anonymity of the unnamed sons of the Companions, for they are numerous enough to offset their anonymity.”

472—(In the hadith: “Let your hatred of your enemy be moderate; perhaps one day he will become your beloved.” Al-Tirmidhī and al-Bayhaqī transmitted it in Shuab al-Īmān from Abū Hurayra. Al-Suyūtī marked it with the symbol indicating a good hadith. Its opening reads: “Love your beloved in moderation; perhaps one day he will become hateful to you.” Al-Bukhārī also transmitted it in al-Adab al-Mufrad as a statement of Ali.) p. 331

Authentic. It has several routes from a number of the Companions, all of which suffer from defects except the one whose authenticity we shall establish below.

The first is from Abū Hurayra. Suwayd ibn Amr al-Kalbī narrates it from Hammād ibn Salama, from Ayyūb, from Muhammad ibn Sīrīn, from Abū Hurayra—I believe he traced it back to the Prophet—and he related the hadith.

It was transmitted by al-Tirmidhī (1/360), Ibn Adī (fol. 84/2), Qām in al-Fawāid (fol. 242/2), and Ibn Hibbān in al-Duafā. Ibn Hibbān declared it defective on account of Suwayd, saying:

“He fabricates feeble texts and attaches them to sound chains of transmission.”

Al-Tirmidhī said:

“This is a singular hadith. We know it with this chain only through this route. This hadith has also been narrated from Ayyūb through a different chain. Al-Hasan ibn Abī Jafar narrated it through a chain of his from Ali, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but it too is weak. The sound version is the statement of Ali alone.”

I say: In my judgment, the chain of Abū Hurayra’s hadith is good. All of its narrators are trustworthy transmitters used by Muslim. The only one whose status warrants examination is Suwayd ibn Amr al-Kalbī, about whom the following assessment was made: