Sunan Abi Dawud 4888
سنن أبي داود#4888Sahihحَدَّثَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الرَّمْلِيُّ، وَابْنُ، عَوْفٍ - وَهَذَا لَفْظُهُ - قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا الْفِرْيَابِيُّ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ، عَنْ ثَوْرٍ، عَنْ رَاشِدِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، عَنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " إِنَّكَ إِنِ اتَّبَعْتَ عَوْرَاتِ النَّاسِ أَفْسَدْتَهُمْ أَوْ كِدْتَ أَنْ تُفْسِدَهُمْ " . فَقَالَ أَبُو الدَّرْدَاءِ كَلِمَةٌ سَمِعَهَا مُعَاوِيَةُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم نَفَعَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِهَا .
Narrated Mu'awiyah: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If you search for the faults of the people, you will corrupt them, or will nearly corrupt them. AbudDarda' said: These are the words which Mu'awiyah himself from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and Allah benefited him by them
Scholarly Authentication
We show the most cautious grade (weakest-wins) as the overall label. Individual scholars graded it as follows:
In-book reference: 43:116