there will be people after them who give testimony without being asked, betray trusts and cannot be trusted, make vows but do not fulfil them, and among whom fatness becomes widespread.”

Another version reads:

“The best of this community are the generation among whom I was sent, then those who follow them, then those who follow them.”

The hadith continues, including the words:

“They swear oaths without being asked to do so.”

In Sahīh Muslim, Abū Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“The best of my community are the generation among whom I was sent, then those who follow them”—and Allah knows best whether he mentioned the third generation—“then they will be succeeded by people who love fatness and give testimony before being asked.”

Some scholars understood his words in these hadiths, “They give testimony before being asked,” to mean giving truthful testimony before the person in whose favour it is given requests it. They took this to apply when that person already knows of the testimony, thereby reconciling it with his saying:

“Shall I tell you who is the best witness? The one who brings forward his testimony before being asked for it.”

They understood the latter to mean that the witness approaches the person in whose favour he can testify and informs him of his testimony.

The correct understanding, however, is that these hadiths condemn those who testify falsely, as stated in one version of the hadith: “Then lying will become so widespread among them that a man will give testimony without being asked.” This is why he coupled it with betrayal of trust and failure to fulfil vows. These three traits are the sign of a hypocrite, as established in the hadith recorded in both Sahīh collections and narrated from him