“Its chain is good.”
Al-Manāwī cites this judgement in al-Fayḍ and endorses it, and the ruling is indeed correct. Hilāl has been the object of slight criticism, yet his reports do not fall below the rank of ḥasan unless he is contradicted, and in the present ḥadīth he has been corroborated, as will be shown below.
Al-Suyūṭī attributed the ḥadīth, in this very wording, to al-Ḥākim alone. Two points must be noted:
- He thereby gives the impression that none of the compilers of the Sunan—nor anyone of higher standing than al-Ḥākim—recorded it. That is plainly not the case, as has become evident.
- He also suggests that the wording belongs to al-Ḥākim, whereas it is actually Aḥmad’s.
As for the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAmr, it possesses three additional chains:
First chain: from Abū Ḥāzim, from ʿUmārah ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm, from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr with the wording, “How will you fare when—or a time is soon coming when—people will be sifted like grain in a sieve? Only the dregs of humanity will remain, people whose covenants and trusts have been violated; they will differ and become like this,” and he interlaced his fingers… The report is identical except for the words, “Remain in your house and keep control of your tongue.”
It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd (2/437–438), Ibn Mājah (2/467–468), al-Ḥākim (4/435) and Aḥmad (2/221). Al-Ḥākim said, “Its chain is authentic,” and al-Dhahabī concurred—and their assessment is sound, for its transmitters are reliable and well-known. The only exception is ʿUmārah, but al-ʿAjlī and Ibn Ḥibbān declared him trustworthy, and a group of reliable transmitters narrated from him.
Second chain: also from Abū Ḥāzim, from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, attributed to the Prophet. It carries the wording, “There will come a time when people will be sifted with a sieve; only the dregs will remain, those whose covenants have been broken…”—a narration similar to the one just mentioned.