this ḥadīth in terms of its isnād, and removing any doubt about it in terms of its matn. He is the One who grants success, there is no deity but Him. Then I came across a statement by a contemporary writer in his book "Adab al-Jāḥiẓ" (p. 90) denying the authenticity of this ḥadīth to defend his teacher al-Jāḥiẓ! He says: "If this ḥadīth were authentic, it would be a major calamity for the majority of the Islamic community. For it would record the majority of them as eternally in hellfire. If this ḥadīth were authentic, Abū Bakr would not have stood against those who withheld zakāh, considering them in a state of apostasy..." to the end of his statement, which is self-evidently refuted without needing a response, especially after reading the previous words of Shaykh al-Maqbulī. Moreover, his statement "eternally in hellfire" has no basis in the ḥadīth; rather, the aforementioned writer introduced it himself to use it as a pretext to criticize the ḥadīth. It is free from all of that, as we have clarified, and all praise is due to Allāh for His guidance.

- "When you see that people have broken their covenants, and their trusts are insecure, and they are like this"—and he interlaced his fingers—"the narrator said: I approached him and asked, 'What should I do at that time, may Allāh make me your ransom?' He said: 'Stay in your house, control your tongue, take what you recognize, leave what you disapprove of, and focus on your own personal matters, leaving aside the affairs of the general public.'" It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd (2/438), al-Ḥākim (4/525), and Aḥmad (2/212), with this wording from Hilāl ibn Khabbāb Abū al-ʿAlāʾ who said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr narrated to me, saying: "While we were around the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam), the fitnah was mentioned, or it was mentioned in his presence, and he said"—and he mentioned it. Al-Ḥākim said: "Its isnād is authentic." Al-Dhahabī agreed with him. Al-Mundhirī and al-ʿIrāqī said: