Ibn Abi Shaybah also narrated it with a connected chain in al-Iman (no. 43), from al-Hasan, from Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah, who said: “It was said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, which faith is best?’ He replied: ‘Patience and generosity.’” Its narrators are trustworthy, so it is authentic were it not for al-Basri’s non-explicit ‘from’ transmission. The hadith’s text is sound, for it has two corroborating reports in Ahmad, from the hadiths of ‘Amr ibn ‘Abasah and ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit. Al-Bayhaqi also reported the first of these in al-Zuhd al-Kabir (87/1), through another route from him. I also found another mursal corroborating report, which Ibn Nasr related in al-Salah (fol. 143/2), from ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umayr, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Its chain is authentic, and it is part of a hadith I cited under hadith 1491.

1496 — “The best jihad is to strive against yourself and your desires in Allah’s cause.”

It was narrated by Ibn Mullah in al-Amali (3/2), Abu Nu‘aym in al-Hilyah (2/249), and al-Daylami (1/1/127), through Hisham ibn Khalid, who said: Abu Khulay d ‘Utbah ibn Hammad—there was no one in Damascus who had memorized the Book of Allah better than he—narrated to us from Sa‘id, from Qatadah, from al-‘Ala’ ibn Ziyad, from Abu Dharr, who said: I asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, “Which jihad is best?” He replied: “That you strive…”

Abu Nu‘aym said: “This is how Qatadah narrated it. Sa‘id ibn Bashir alone narrated it from him, while Suwayd ibn Hujayr differed from Qatadah, saying: from al-‘Ala’, from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As.”

I say: Sa‘id ibn Bashir is weak, as stated in al-Taqrib. Therefore, it is not authentically established from Qatadah, nor is it correct to say that Suwayd differed from Qatadah, as is evident. Suwayd ibn Hujayr is trustworthy and among Muslim’s narrators; so, if the chain to him is authentic, then the hadith is authentic. And Allah knows best.