Fourth: Shurayh ibn ʿUbayd said:

When Allah revealed, “O you who believe, whoever among you turns back from his religion …,” to the end of the verse, ʿUmar said, “Is it I and my people, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied:

“No; rather, it is this man and his people”—meaning Abu Musa al-Ashʿari.

Ibn Jarir narrated it. Its chain is an authentic mursal chain; all its narrators are trustworthy. Thus, it is, in general, a strong corroborating report. And Allah, Most High, knows best. *******

3369—When the verse, “When Allah’s help and victory come,” was revealed, he said: “The people of Yemen have come to you. They are the tenderest of hearts. Faith is Yemeni, religious understanding is Yemeni, and wisdom is Yemeni.”

ʿAbd al-Razzaq recorded it in his Tafsir (2/404), and through his route Ahmad in his Musnad (2/277): Hisham ibn Hassan narrated to us from Muhammad ibn Sirin, who said: I heard Abu Hurayrah say … and he mentioned it.

I say: This chain is authentic according to the conditions of the two Shaykhs.

Muslim (1/52) and others also recorded it through another route from Ibn Sirin, with the same wording but without the verse.

Likewise, Muslim, al-Bukhari (4388–4390), Ibn Hibban (7253 and 7255–7256), Abu ʿAwanah (1/59–60), and others recorded it through other routes from Abu Hurayrah, with the same wording. It has been documented in al-Rawd al-Nadir (1045).

However, the addition of the verse has a strong corroborating report in the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbas, which has two routes from him—indeed, three: