“Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl—that is, al-Bukhārī—said: ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī said: ‘They are the people of hadith.’”
- Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (164–241 AH). Al-Ḥākim narrated in Maʿrifat ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth (p. 2), and al-Khaṭīb narrated through two chains—one of which al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar declared authentic—from Imām Aḥmad, that he was asked about the meaning of this hadith and replied:
“If this divinely aided group is not the people of hadith, then I do not know who they are.”
Al-Khaṭīb also narrated a similar statement (33/3) regarding the interpretation of the saved sect.
- Aḥmad ibn Sinān, the trustworthy hadith master (…–259 AH). Al-Khaṭīb narrated from Abū Ḥātim, who said:
“I heard Aḥmad ibn Sinān mention the hadith, ‘A group from my ummah shall continue to adhere to the truth,’ and he said: ‘They are the people of knowledge and the people of transmitted reports.’”
- Al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl (194–256 AH). Al-Khaṭīb narrated from Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad, who said: “Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī narrated to us”—and he mentioned the hadith of Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir, from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): “A group from my ummah shall continue …” Al-Bukhārī then said: “That is, the people of hadith.”
In his Ṣaḥīḥ, he also cited the hadith without a full chain and made it the heading of a chapter: “They are the people of knowledge.” There is no contradiction between this and the preceding statement, as is apparent, for the people of knowledge are the people of hadith. The more knowledgeable a person is in hadith, the more learned he is than one less versed in hadith, as is self-evident.
In his book Khalq Afʿāl al-ʿIbād (p. 77, Indian edition), after citing with his chain the hadith of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī concerning the saying of Allah, Most High: “Thus We have made you a middle community, that you may be …”