“This is sounder than the hadith of Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl.” The hadith also has two other chains, previously mentioned under “The Best of My Ummah,” and a supporting narration with the wording:
“The best people are my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them. Then there will come people whose testimony will precede their oath, and whose oath will precede their testimony.”
- “The best people are my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them. Then there will come people whose testimony will precede their oath, and whose oath will precede their testimony.”
It was narrated by al-Bukhari (5/199, 7/6, 11/460), Muslim (7/184–185), Ibn Majah (2/63–64), al-Tayalisi (p. 39, no. 299), Ahmad (1/378, 417, 434, 438, 442), and al-Khatib in his History (12/53), through the route of Ibrahim, from Ubaydah al-Salmani, from Abdullah ibn Masud, in a report attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
The two Shaykhs and others added: “Ibrahim said: When we were boys, our companions would forbid us to swear by testimony and covenant.”
It has a supporting narration from al-Numan ibn Bashir with this wording, except that he said, “then those who follow them,” three times, thus affirming the fourth generation.
Ahmad (4/267, 276, 277) narrated it through the route of Asim, from Khaythamah ibn Abd al-Rahman, from him.
This is a good chain. In al-Majma (10/19), he said: “It was narrated by Ahmad, al-Bazzar, and al-Tabarani in al-Kabir and al-Awsat. Their chains contain Asim ibn Bahdalah, who is good in hadith, while the rest of Ahmad’s narrators are narrators of the Sahih.”
This is established in the following hadith. In my view, however, the soundness of this addition is open to question, because it has not come through an authentic chain, and Asim ibn Bahdalah had some deficiency in his retention; therefore, what he alone narrates, apart from the reliable narrators, cannot be cited as proof.