I say: The Shiites’ lies and deceptions against the Muslim community are almost beyond counting. I only intended to point out some of those found in this treatise, in the course of tracing the sources of this hadith, by way of illustration; otherwise, time is too precious to be squandered in pursuing them.
1172 — “The finest among you are those who learn the Quran and teach it.”
Al-Darimi (2/437) and Ibn Majah (1/93) transmitted it through al-Harith ibn Nabhan, who said: Asim ibn Bahdalah narrated to us, from Musab ibn Sad, from his father, as a report attributed to the Prophet. This is a weak chain due to the weakness of this al-Harith. However, the hadith is strengthened by its supporting narrations:
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One of them is from Ali, attributed to the Prophet, with this wording. Ahmad transmitted it (vol. 2, no. 1317) through Abd al-Rahman ibn Ishaq, from al-Numan ibn Sad, from Ali. It too is weak because of Abd al-Rahman ibn Ishaq. Al-Darimi, as well as al-Tirmidhi (2/149), narrated it with the wording: “The best among you.” He said: “It is a singular hadith; we know it only through the hadith of Abd al-Rahman ibn Ishaq.”
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Another is from Anas. Al-Tabarani transmitted it in al-Saghir (p. 48), and from him Abu Nuaym in al-Hilyah (3/35), through Muhammad ibn Sinan al-Qazzaz, who said: Muadh ibn Awd Allah al-Qurashi narrated to us; Sulayman al-Taymi narrated to us from Anas. He said: “None narrated it from al-Taymi except Muadh ibn Awd Allah.”
I say: I have not found a biographical notice for him. The one who narrated from him, Muhammad ibn Sinan, is weak, though he has been declared trustworthy.
In sum, the hadith is good by virtue of these supporting narrations, and it is authentic with the wording of al-Tirmidhi and al-Darimi, which follows next.
Note: Al-Suyuti, in al-Jami, also attributed Ali’s hadith with al-Tirmidhi’s wording to al-Bukhari. This is an error; rather, al-Bukhari narrated it only from Uthman, as follows next. Ibn Abi Shaybah also transmitted it in al-Musannaf (12/65/1), with the wording cited in the heading, through two chains from Uthman and Ali, the first of which is authentic.
1173 — “The best among you are those who learn the Quran and teach it.”
Al-Bukhari (6/108), Abu Dawud (1/226), and al-Tirmidhi