I say: This chain of transmission is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.
- “By Allah, after me you will find no one more just with you than I am.”
Ahmad (3/65) recorded it: Muhammad ibn Mus'ab narrated to us; al-Awza'i narrated to us from al-Zuhri, from Abu Salamah and al-Dahhak al-Mashriqi, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, who said:
“While the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was distributing some wealth one day, Dhu al-Khuwaysirah—a man of Banu Tamim—came to him and said, ‘O Muhammad, be just! By Allah, you have not dealt justly today!’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said”—and he repeated the above words three times. Umar then said, “O Messenger of Allah, will you permit me to strike off his head?” He replied, “No. He has companions whose prayers will make any one of you regard his own prayer as insignificant beside theirs ...”
I say: This chain of transmission consists of trustworthy narrators accepted by al-Bukhari and Muslim, apart from Muhammad ibn Mus'ab, who has some weakness. Nevertheless, the hadith is authentic, for Muslim (3/122) recorded a similar report through Yunus from Ibn Shihab, though it does not contain the hadith cited in the heading.
It is further supported by the hadith of al-Azraq ibn Qays from Sharik ibn Shihab, who said: “I had wished to meet one of the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to ask him about the Kharijites. Then, on a festival day, I met Abu Barzah al-Aslami among a group of his companions, and I asked him, ‘Have you heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, speak about the Kharijites?’ Abu Barzah said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah with my own ears and saw him with my own eyes. Some wealth was brought to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the original erroneously reads “bimallal”; another version reads, “with dinars from a land”—and he distributed it. A man with closely cropped hair, wearing two white garments, came, and he gave to those on his right and those on his left, but gave him nothing. The man then came up from behind him and said, “By Allah, O Muhammad, you have not dealt justly!” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then spoke the words quoted above.’”
Al-Tayalisi (2/183–184) recorded it, and al-Nasa'i (2/174–175) recorded it from him.