Sahih Muslim 6172
صحيح مسلم#6172Sahihحَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ الْعَبْدِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، بْنِ رَجَاءٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ أَبِي الْهُذَيْلِ، يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ أَبِي الأَحْوَصِ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ عَبْدَ، اللَّهِ بْنَ مَسْعُودٍ يُحَدِّثُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهُ قَالَ " لَوْ كُنْتُ مُتَّخِذًا خَلِيلاً لاَتَّخَذْتُ أَبَا بَكْرٍ خَلِيلاً وَلَكِنَّهُ أَخِي وَصَاحِبِي وَقَدِ اتَّخَذَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ صَاحِبَكُمْ خَلِيلاً " .
Abdullah b. Mas'ud reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:If I were to choose a bosom friend I would have definitely chosen Abu Bakr as my bosom friend, but he is my brother and my companion and Allah, the Exalted and Gliorious. has taken your brother and companion (meaning Prophet himself) as a friend
Scholarly Authentication
We show the most cautious grade (weakest-wins) as the overall label. Individual scholars graded it as follows:
Every narration in Sahih Muslim is accepted as Sahih (authentic) by the established status of the book.
In-book reference: 44:4