In sum, this report from Ibn ʿUmar has a strong chain of transmission. There are many other reports as well, which Ibn Abī Shaybah recorded in al-Muṣannaf, as did ʿAbd al-Razzāq in his Muṣannaf (3/217–218). Among those recorded by Ibn Abī Shaybah is the report from al-Mustamir ibn al-Rayān, who said: “On a Friday, I saw Anas at the first entrance, facing the pulpit.” I say: Its chain of transmission is authentic according to Muslim’s criteria.

There can be no doubt that the Companions and those after them consistently acted upon this hadith, which is compelling evidence that it has a firmly established basis from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him—especially since it is supported by the statement of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, may Allah be pleased with him: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sat upon the pulpit, and we sat around him…” Al-Bukhārī recorded it (921, 1465, 2842, and 6427), as did Muslim (3/101–102), al-Nasāʾī (1/360), al-Bayhaqī (3/198), and Aḥmad (3/26 and 91), through the route of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār from him. In their versions, it has a continuation which includes: “What I fear for you after me is the prosperity of this world that will be opened up to you…”

Al-Ḥumaydī recorded it in his Musnad (2/325/740), as did Abū Yaʿlā (1/340), but without the relevant passage. In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr wa-Ziyādatuh (2313), it was attributed to Ibn Mājah, following its source, al-Fatḥ al-Kabīr, under the symbol (h)—that is, Ibn Mājah. I think this can only be an error, for al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Mizzī did not attribute it to him in al-Tuḥfah. I later found it in Ibn Mājah (no. 4043, Dr. al-Aʿẓamī’s edition), through another chain from Abū Saʿīd, in abbreviated form.

Al-Bukhārī included the hadith under the chapter heading: “The imam faces the people, and the people face the imam when he delivers the sermon; Ibn ʿUmar and Anas would face the imam,” may Allah be pleased with them.