“Beware of the discernment of the believer, for he sees by the light of Allah.”
Although its chain of transmission is weak through all its routes, as I have explained in al-Ḍaʿīfah (1821), it is at least suitable as a corroborating witness for this report—and not the reverse. Reflect, then.
1694 — “Yes, Abu Bakr! Allah has angels who speak upon the tongues of the children of Adam concerning the good and evil found in a person.”
Al-Hakim (1/377), al-Daylami (1/2/258), and Abu Shurayh al-Ansari in Juzʾ Bibi (171/2) narrated it through Yunus ibn Muhammad, who said: Harb ibn Maymun narrated to us, from al-Nadr ibn Anas, from Anas, who said: “I was sitting with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when a funeral procession passed by. He asked, ‘Whose funeral is this?’ They replied, ‘It is the funeral of so-and-so. He loved Allah and His Messenger, acted in obedience to Allah, and strove in it.’ Thereupon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘It has become incumbent, it has become incumbent, it has become incumbent.’
“Then another funeral procession passed by, and they said, ‘It is the funeral of so-and-so. He hated Allah and His Messenger, acted in disobedience to Allah, and strove in it.’ He said, ‘It has become incumbent, it has become incumbent, it has become incumbent.’ They asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, regarding the funeral procession and the praise given to it: the first was spoken of well and the other ill, yet you said of both, “It has become incumbent, it has become incumbent, it has become incumbent”?’ He then mentioned the above hadith.”
Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to Muslim’s criteria.” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him, and they were correct. It is also found in the two Sahihs and elsewhere through other routes from Anas, with some narrations adding details not found in others. I have compiled the reliably established additions and presented them in a single continuous account in Ahkam al-Janaʾiz (p. 44). It includes an important discussion concerning testimony to a deceased person’s goodness, so consult it.
1695 — “The grave has a squeeze; had anyone escaped it—or been spared from it—it would have been Saʿd ibn Muʿadh.”
Al-Baghawi narrated it in Hadith ʿAli ibn al-Jaʿd (8/73/2), and al-Tahawi in al-Mushkil