Sahih Muslim 6478
صحيح مسلم#6478Sahihحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، وَشُجَاعُ بْنُ مَخْلَدٍ، - وَاللَّفْظُ لأَبِي بَكْرٍ - قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا حُسَيْنٌ، - وَهُوَ ابْنُ عَلِيٍّ الْجُعْفِيُّ - عَنْ زَائِدَةَ، عَنِ السُّدِّيِّ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْبَهِيِّ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، قَالَتْ سَأَلَ رَجُلٌ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَىُّ النَّاسِ خَيْرٌ قَالَ " الْقَرْنُ الَّذِي أَنَا فِيهِ ثُمَّ الثَّانِي ثُمَّ الثَّالِثُ " .
A'isha reported that a person asked Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as to who amongst the people were the best. He said:Of the generation to which I belong, then of the second generation (generation adjacent to my generation), then of the third generation (generation adjacent to the second generation)
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: 44:307