“Allah loves it when many hands partake of food.”

Al-Dulabi narrated it in al-Kuna (1/188) with a weak chain of transmission.

It appears to me that this hadith was well-known among the early generations, for al-Isfahani narrated it in his al-Targhib (2/819) from ‘Ata’, attributed to the Successor. Al-Bayhaqi likewise narrated it in al-Shu‘ab (5/76/5837) from al-Awza‘i.

11–907. (The best of your leaders ...)

In addition to Imam Muslim, Ibn Hibban also narrated this hadith in (7/55/4570—al-Ihsan), as did Abu ‘Awanah (4/482–486). All three narrated it through Muslim ibn Qurazah, from ‘Awf ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him.

I say: This hadith is among those mishandled by the person referred to in correction no. 6. In his annotations to what he called Riyad al-Salihin, he declared it defective, saying:

“Muslim ibn Qurazah is unknown in status. See hadith no. 129.”

He failed to realize that these three scholars’ inclusion of it in their Sahih collections constitutes an attestation to his trustworthiness—I mean Muslim, Ibn Hibban, and Abu ‘Awanah. He also ignored Ibn Hibban’s listing him among the trustworthy narrators in al-Thiqat (5/396), and al-Dhahabi’s categorical statement in al-Kashif that he was trustworthy. Hence his teacher, Shu‘ayb al-Arna’ut, had no alternative but to say in his annotation to al-Ihsan (10/449): “Its chain is strong according to Muslim’s criteria.” How could it be otherwise, when the man was a well-known Successor, as al-Bazzar stated?! Ya‘qub ibn Sufyan listed him in the highest tier of the Successors of the people of Syria in his book al-Ma‘rifah (2/333). Similarly, Tarikh Ibn ‘Asakir (16/482) reports from Abu Zur‘ah al-Dimashqi that he placed him in the tier immediately following the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him—the highest tier.

Added to this is the fact that Imam Ahmad cited this hadith as evidence that it is impermissible to rebel against the rulers, and mentioned that it had come through more than one route. Al-Khallal narrated this from him in al-Sunnah (1/3/