Ibn Abī Ḥātim said in al-ʿIlal (2/288), quoting his father: “This is a rejected hadith.” In sum, the hadith is authentic through the combined strength of the two routes from Anas and the hadith of Yazīd ibn Ṭalḥah. And Allah, Most High, knows best.
- “The Balance will be set up on the Day of Resurrection; and were the heavens and the earth to be weighed in it, it would contain them. The angels will say, ‘My Lord, for whom will You weigh this?’ Allah, Most High, will say, ‘For whomever I will among My creatures.’ The angels will say, ‘Glory be to You! We have not worshipped You as You truly deserve to be worshipped.’ The Bridge will then be placed, like the edge of a razor, and the angels will say, ‘Whom will You permit to cross this?’ He will say, ‘Whomever I will among My creatures.’ They will say, ‘Glory be to You! We have not worshipped You as You truly deserve to be worshipped.’”
Al-Ḥākim narrated it (4/586), saying: Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ ibn Hāniʾ related to me; al-Musayyab ibn Zuhayr related to us; Hudbah ibn Khālid related to us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah related to us, from Thābit, from Abū ʿUthmān, from Salmān, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and mentioned the report. He said: “This hadith is authentic according to the criteria of Muslim.” Al-Dhahabī agreed with him.
I say: This requires further examination. Although Hudbah ibn Khālid was one of Muslim’s teachers, I have not found anyone who declared al-Musayyab ibn Zuhayr—the narrator from him—to be reliable. Al-Khaṭīb included his biography (13/149), gave his appellation as Abū Muslim al-Tājir, mentioned that a group narrated from him and that he died in 285 AH, but cited neither narrator criticism nor accreditation concerning him.
Al-Ājurrī also narrated it in al-Sharīʿah (382), through ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Muʿādh, who said: My father related to us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah related to us, with the report attributed to Salmān. Its chain of transmission is authentic, and it has the status of a report attributed to the Prophet, since this is not something that can be stated on the basis of personal opinion.
The part concerning the Bridge has a supporting witness in the hadith of Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Abū Khālid al-Dālānī: al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr related to us, from Abū ʿUbaydah, from Masrūq, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: