“This Mus‘ab is unknown, and his reports from trustworthy narrators are not well preserved.”
Al-‘Uqayli said (416): “There is cause for scrutiny in his hadith.” As for ‘Imran ibn al-Rabi‘, I have not found any biographical notice for him.
- As for the hadith of Ibn Abi Awfa, Abu ‘Ubaydah Sa‘id ibn Zarbi narrates it from Thabit al-Bunani, from Nufay‘ ibn al-Harith, from him, traced back to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with similar wording. Abu Nu‘aym recorded it in Sifat al-Jannah.
I say: This is a very weak chain of transmission. Nufay‘ is abandoned, and Ibn Ma‘in declared him a liar. Ibn Zarbi is rejected in hadith, as stated in al-Taqrib.
In sum, the hadith is authentic through some of its routes from Jabir. And Allah knows best.
1088 — “The most wretched of the former peoples was the one who hamstrung the she-camel, and the most wretched of the latter peoples will be the one who stabs you, O ‘Ali.” He pointed to the place where he would be stabbed.
Ibn Sa‘d recorded it in al-Tabaqat (3/35) from Musa ibn ‘Ubaydah, from Abu Bakr ibn ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Anas—or Ayyub ibn Khalid, or both of them—who said: ‘Ubayd Allah informed us that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to ‘Ali: “O ‘Ali, who is the most wretched of the former and latter peoples?” He replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” The Prophet then mentioned it.
I say: This is a weak mursal chain of transmission. Abu Bakr ibn ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Anas is unknown. The same applies to his father, ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Anas: no one declared him trustworthy, and he is known only through his son Abu Bakr’s narration from him.
However, the hadith is authentic, for it has numerous corroborating reports from a number of Companions, including ‘Ali himself, ‘Ammar ibn Yasir, and Suhayb al-Rumi.
- As for the hadith of ‘Ali, it is narrated by ‘Abd Allah ibn Salih: al-Layth ibn Sa‘d narrated to me; Khalid ibn Yazid narrated to me; from Sa‘id ibn Abi Hilal, from Zayd ibn Aslam, that Abu Sinan al-Du’ali informed him from ‘Ali, traced back to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with similar wording.