Sahih Muslim 6473
صحيح مسلم#6473Sahihحَدَّثَنِي يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، حَدَّثَنَا هُشَيْمٌ، عَنْ أَبِي بِشْرٍ، ح وَحَدَّثَنِي إِسْمَاعِيلُ، بْنُ سَالِمٍ أَخْبَرَنَا هُشَيْمٌ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو بِشْرٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ شَقِيقٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " خَيْرُ أُمَّتِي الْقَرْنُ الَّذِينَ بُعِثْتُ فِيهِمْ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ " . وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ أَذَكَرَ الثَّالِثَ أَمْ لاَ قَالَ " ثُمَّ يَخْلُفُ قَوْمٌ يُحِبُّونَ السَّمَانَةَ يَشْهَدُونَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُسْتَشْهَدُوا " .
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may, peace be upon him) as saying:The best age of my Umma is one in which I was sent (by Allah as an Apostle), then the one next to that. (The narrator said): And Allah knows best whether he stated this third (time) or not. Then there would come people who would love (to look) bulky and they would hasten to the witness box before they are asked to bear witness
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Every narration in Sahih Muslim is accepted as Sahih (authentic) by the established status of the book.
In-book reference: 44:302