addition say:

“This addition comes from a trustworthy narrator. Its omission from the other hadiths does not negate it, just as uncertainty in Abū Hurayrah’s hadith about whether the third generation was mentioned does not undermine the other authentic hadiths in which the third generation is established.”

Those who reject it say concerning the authentic hadith of Ibn Masʿūd:

“He stated that after the three generations, people would come whose testimony would precede their oaths, and whose oaths would precede their testimony. Thus, those who come after the three generations were mentioned with censure.”

It may be said:

“There is no contradiction between the two reports. Lying may become prevalent in the fourth generation, yet that generation may still include someone on whose account victory is granted, owing to an unbroken succession of people who saw one another.”

During the generations praised by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah Most High bless him and grant him peace, the way of the people of Medina was the soundest among those of the various cities. They followed the example of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, more closely than the inhabitants of other cities, who were less knowledgeable about the Prophetic Sunnah and less observant of it. Indeed, they had no need for any form of royal governance, while scholars and the pursuits of devout worshippers stood in greater need than did the people of Medina. They were less dependent than others on all such things because of the Prophetic traditions they possessed, which everyone needs to know and follow.

For this reason, no Muslim scholar held that the consensus of the inhabitants of any city other than Medina constituted binding proof that must be followed, whether in those times or in the times