I say: It is as he said. Yet does not the Prophet’s statement in the account of Abu Hurayrah’s devil apply to him: “He told you the truth, though he is a liar”? For this hadith is authentically established from the Prophet through numerous routes from a number of Companions, among them the route of Abu al-Siddiq to which al-Bazzar alluded. At most, Dawud ibn al-Muhabbar either mistakenly or deliberately lied in attributing the hadith in its chain of transmission to Muʿawiyah ibn Qurrah’s father. What is preserved is that it is narrated by Muʿawiyah ibn Qurrah from Abu al-Siddiq al-Naji, from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri.

Thus al-Hakim recorded it (4/465) through ʿAbd al-Hamid ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Humani, who said: ʿUmar—in Talkhis al-Mustadrak: ʿAmr—ibn ʿUbayd Allah al-ʿAdawi narrated to us, from Muʿawiyah ibn Qurrah, from Abu al-Siddiq al-Naji, from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri, attributing it to the Prophet, in a fuller version of the report. He said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic.”

I say: Al-Dhahabi rebutted him, saying: “Its chain is obscure.” He seems to be referring to this al-ʿAdawi being unknown, for I have not found any biographical notice for him, neither among those named ʿUmar nor among those named ʿAmr.

However, Maʿmar’s narration from Harun—who is Ibn Riʾab—which al-Bazzar cited without its chain, indicates that he had accurately retained it from Muʿawiyah. This is the correct view, of which we are certain, because Muʿawiyah has numerous corroborating narrations. Indeed, in my view, it is mass-transmitted from Abu al-Siddiq, from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri. The two most authentic routes from him are:

The first: ʿAwf ibn Abi Jamilah narrated to us from Abu al-Siddiq al-Naji, from Abu Saʿid, attributing it to the Prophet, with the wording: “The Hour will not come until the earth is filled with wrongdoing, tyranny, and aggression. Then a man from my descendants—or from my household—will emerge and fill it with equity and justice, just as it had been filled with wrongdoing and aggression.” Ahmad (3/36), Ibn Hibban (1880), al-Hakim (4/557), and Abu Nuʿaym in al-Hilyah (3/101) recorded it. Al-Hakim said: