(2/149), al-Darimi (2/437), Ibn Nasr in Qiyam al-Layl (Night Prayer) (p. 71), Ibn Majah (1/92 and 93), al-Tayalisi (p. 13, no. 73), Ahmad (vol. 1, nos. 412, 413, and 500), and al-Khatib (4/109 and 11/35) all transmitted it through Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, from Uthman ibn Affan, as a hadith attributed to the Prophet. Al-Tirmidhi said: “It is a good and authentic hadith.” It has been said that Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami did not hear from Uthman. However, al-Hafiz, following al-Bukhari, deemed it more likely that he did hear from him, and discussed this at length in al-Fath; whoever wishes may consult it.

In one narration of Ahmad (vol. 1, no. 405)—as also in al-Bukhari, Ibn Majah, and al-Khatib (5/129)—the wording is: “The most excellent among you,” in place of: “The best among you.”

The hadith was also narrated with an additional wording: “The best among you are those who learn the Quran and teach it. The superiority of the Quran over all other speech is like Allah’s superiority over His creation, for it is from Him.” Al-Bayhaqi transmitted it in al-Asma wa-l-Sifat (The Names and Attributes), p. 238, through Yala ibn al-Minhal al-Kufi, who said: Ishaq ibn Sulayman al-Razi narrated to us from al-Jarrah ibn al-Dahhak al-Kindi, from Alqamah ibn Marthad, from Abu Abd al-Rahman, from Uthman, as a hadith attributed to the Prophet with this wording. Ibn al-Durays likewise transmitted it from al-Jarrah with this wording, as stated in al-Fath (9/54).

I say: Al-Jarrah is truthful, as stated in al-Taqrib, and the rest of its narrators are trustworthy men among the narrators of the six canonical collections, except for Yala ibn al-Minhal, for whom I have not found a biographical notice. Al-Himmani also corroborated him from Ishaq in attributing it to the Prophet. Al-Bayhaqi likewise transmitted it (p. 237) and said: “It is said that al-Himmani took this from him”—meaning this Yala—“and Allah knows best.”

I say: Al-Himmani is Yahya ibn Abd al-Hamid. He is a trustworthy hadith master and one of Muslim’s narrators, though he was accused of stealing hadiths, as stated in al-Taqrib. Yahya ibn Abi Talib, however, differed from them in narrating from Ishaq ibn Sulayman, making the latter part of the report—namely, “The superiority of the Quran ...,” and so forth—a statement of Abu Abd al-Rahman. Others followed him in this, as al-Bayhaqi said. Al-Hafiz said in al-Fath (9/54): “Al-Askari clarified that it is a statement of Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami.”

I say: This establishes that this addition cannot authentically be attributed to the Prophet, because the one who attributed it to him is unknown and contradicted others in doing so. This is further supported by the fact that it does not occur in any of the chains of this hadith,