It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You are hearing (knowledge from me), and (your students) will hear from you, and (knowledge) will be heard from those who hear from you."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You hear (from me), and it is heard from you, and it is heard from those who hear from you." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), and there is no hidden defect ('illah) in it, but they did not record it. In this chapter there are also narrations from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reported by Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud and Thabit bin Qays bin Shammas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and in the hadith of Thabit bin Qays the third generation (the followers of the Successors) is also mentioned.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Irbad bin Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in the morning (Fajr) prayer, then turned his blessed face towards us and gave us such a moving admonition that hearts trembled and eyes shed tears. We said: O Messenger of Allah! It seems as though this is the admonition of one bidding farewell, so give us some counsel. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I counsel you to fear Allah, and to listen and obey (the ruler), even if a slave is made your leader; for whoever of you lives (after me) will see much disagreement. So hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs (al-Khulafa' al-Rashidun); bite onto it with your molar teeth, and beware of newly invented matters (in the religion), for every innovation is misguidance." This hadith is sahih (authentic) and there is no hidden defect ('illah) in it. Imam Bukhari used Abd al-Rahman bin Amr and Thawr bin Yazid as evidence, and mentioned this hadith at the beginning of his Book of Holding Fast to the Sunnah. In my view, both of them (Imams Bukhari and Muslim) were under the impression that no one besides Thawr bin Yazid narrated from Khalid bin Ma'dan, whereas Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin al-Harith, whose hadith is found in the two Sahihs, also narrated it from Khalid bin Ma'dan.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Irbad bin Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him), who was from Banu Sulaym and among the People of the Suffah, that one day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us and admonished the people, encouraging them and also warning them (of an evil end). Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him; obey the one whom Allah has put in charge of your affairs; and do not dispute authority with those who hold it, even if he is an Abyssinian slave. It is binding on you to hold to what you know of the Sunnah of your Prophet and the way of the rightly guided caliphs (al-Khulafa' al-Rashidun), and to hold firmly to this truth with your molar teeth." This chain is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), and I know of no hidden defect ('illah) in it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Irbad bin Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave us such an admonition that eyes shed tears and hearts trembled. We said: O Messenger of Allah! This seems like the counsel of one bidding farewell; what do you enjoin upon us? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I have left you upon a bright path (Islam) whose night is as (clear as) its day; no one will deviate from it after me except one who is destined to perish. Whoever of you lives will see much disagreement, so it is binding on you to follow what you know of my Sunnah and the way of the rightly guided caliphs (al-Khulafa' al-Rashidun) who come after me; and hold fast to obedience, even if it be to an Abyssinian slave. Hold onto it firmly with your molar teeth." Asad bin Wada'ah used to add in this hadith: "Indeed the believer is like a camel with a rope through its nose: wherever it is led, it goes."

Sayyiduna al-Irbad bin Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him), about whom this verse was revealed: "Nor (is there any blame) on those who, when they came to you that you might provide them with mounts, and you said, 'I find nothing on which to mount you', turned back with their eyes overflowing with tears out of grief that they could not find the means to spend (in jihad)" [Surah al-Tawbah: 92] , relates that one day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in the morning (Fajr) prayer and then gave us a most eloquent admonition, from which eyes shed tears and hearts quaked. Someone said: O Messenger of Allah! It seems as though this is the admonition of one bidding farewell; what do you counsel us? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I counsel you to fear Allah, and to listen and obey (the ruler), even if he is an Abyssinian slave; for whoever of you lives will see intense disagreement. So adhere to my Sunnah and the way of the rightly guided caliphs (al-Khulafa' al-Rashidun); hold on to it firmly and bite onto it with your molar teeth. And beware of new matters in the religion, for every new thing is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Irbad bin Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) that one morning the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood among us and gave us an admonition from which hearts trembled and eyes flowed with tears. We said: O Messenger of Allah! You have admonished us like one bidding farewell, so give us some counsel. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Fear of Allah is binding on you", and I think he (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: "and listening and obeying (the leader). After me people will see intense disagreement, so hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs (al-Khulafa' al-Rashidun); grip it firmly with your molar teeth, and beware of new matters, for every innovation is misguidance." I have made every effort, according to my ijtihad, in establishing the authenticity of this hadith, and my state regarding it is the same as that of Imam Shu'bah regarding a hadith which he searched for in Basrah, Kufah, Madinah and Makkah, and then said: If such a hadith were established for me from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), it would be dearer to me than my parents, my children and all people. And this hadith has indeed been established as sahih (authentic), and all praise is for Allah.

It is narrated from Yazid bin Amirah that when the time of death drew near for Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), the people said: O Abu Abd al-Rahman! Give us some counsel. He said: Sit me up. Then he said: Knowledge and faith are there in their place; whoever seeks them will find them. He repeated this three times, then said: Seek knowledge from four men: from Uwaymir Abu al-Darda', Salman al-Farisi, Abdullah bin Mas'ud and Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with them), for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Indeed he (Abdullah bin Salam) is the tenth of ten (people) in Paradise." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), and Yazid bin Amirah al-Saksaki is a student of Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him).

Makhul relates that one day Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) fell ill while Yazid bin Amirah al-Zubaydi was with him. Seeing his condition, Yazid began to weep. Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: Why are you weeping? He said: I am weeping at the cutting off of the knowledge that I used to acquire from you every day. Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Knowledge and faith are like a fragrance; get up and seek them. Yazid asked: With whom shall I seek them? Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: With four people: Uwaymir Abu al-Darda', Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Salman al-Farisi and Abdullah bin Salam, for it used to be said about him: "He is the tenth of the ten fortunate ones of Paradise." Yazid asked: And Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him)? He said: Do not ask him about anything (now), for he is occupied with your affairs (the responsibilities of the caliphate).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: Knowledge and faith are in their place; whoever seeks them will find them.