Note / Clarification: The text between the brackets had dropped out of our manuscripts; it has been added from "al-Talkhis" and "Ithaf al-Maharah" (3739).

Grading: Its chain is "very da'if" because Ubayd bin Kathir is "matruk al-hadith" (abandoned in hadith).
Technical note / Defect ('illah): Al-Dhahabi declared it defective in "al-Talkhis", saying: "I think it is fabricated, and the defect is from Ubayd." We say: No biography was found for his shaykh Yahya bin Muhammad. The narrators above are thiqah, but there is inconsistency (idtirab) in it because of Muhammad bin Suqah.

Reference / Source: This report is in "Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq" (2/ 199) via Sufyan, from Muhammad bin Suqah and Suhayl, from Ibn al-Munkadir, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as mursal, but at its end it has the words "my Companions" in place of "my household", and this is the preserved version (mahfuz).

Details of the narration: Abd Allah bin Amr bin Murrah narrated it from Muhammad bin Suqah (see later: 6039) and made it the chain of Ibn al-Munkadir from his father from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and mentioned "the household" in it. There will be discussion of this chain later.

Reference / Source: It was narrated by al-Sabbah bin Muharib in al-Tabarani's "al-Awsat" (4074) and also by al-Qasim bin Ghusn there (6687), via Muhammad bin Suqah, from Ali bin Abi Talhah, from Ibn Abbas, and both mentioned the word "my Companions".
Grading: Al-Qasim is da'if and al-Sabbah is saduq (truthful).

Technical note / Defect ('illah): Abd Allah bin al-Mubarak, an Imam and an authority (hujjah), contradicted them: he narrated it in "al-Zuhd" (569) from Muhammad bin Suqah, from Ali bin Abi Talhah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as mursal, and it too mentions "my Companions".

Important point: As you can see, through the route of Muhammad bin Suqah this narration is "mudtarib" (inconsistent).

Corroborating chains and supporting reports: On this topic there is a narration from Salamah bin al-Akwa', which al-Ruyani (1152 etc.), Ibn al-A'rabi (2079) and al-Tabarani (2260) narrated as marfu' via Musa bin Ubaydah: "The stars are a security for the people of the heaven, and my household are (a security) for the people of the earth." But there is agreement on the weakness of Musa bin Ubaydah and on his being munkar al-hadith.

Corroborating chains and supporting reports: Similarly, it is narrated as marfu' from Ali by Abd Allah bin Ahmad in "Fada'il al-Sahabah" (1145), but its chain contains Abd al-Malik bin Harun bin Antarah, who is accused of lying and fabrication.

Corroborating chains and supporting reports: Also, Abd al-Khaliq bin Asad narrated it in his "Mu'jam" (435) with a chain made up successively of the Abbasid caliphs, but it contains al-Husayn bin Ubayd Allah al-Abzari, who is also accused of lying.

Grading: The hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari suffices in place of these (preceding weak) hadiths: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his head towards the sky (and he often raised his head towards the sky) and said: "The stars are a security for the sky; when the stars go, there will come to the sky what it has been promised. I am a security for my Companions; when I go, there will come to my Companions the trials they have been promised. And my Companions are a security for my Ummah; when my Companions go, there will come to my Ummah (the innovations and disputes) that they have been promised."
Reference / Source: It was narrated by Ahmad (32/ 19566), Muslim (2531), Ibn Hibban (7249) and others.
Important point: This is the most sahih hadith on this topic, and it also mentions the story of their waiting for the Isha prayer, as will come in the narration of Muhammad bin al-Munkadir from his father.

Reference / Source: Like the hadith of Abu Musa, it was narrated by al-Tabarani in "al-Kabir" (11023) and "Musnad al-Shamiyyin" (1895) via Isa bin Yazid al-Shami, from Tawus, from Ibn Abbas, as marfu'.
Grading: Its chain is "da'if" because it contains weak and majhul (unknown) narrators.