Ahmad 7970

Its isnad is sahih. This hadith and the one after it appear in Jami al-Masanid wal-Sunan, 338, drawn from this same passage. Haythami mentioned it in Majma al-Zawaid, vol. 8, p. 5, and said, "Ahmad narrated it with two chains, one marfu, which is this one, and one mawquf" [meaning the chain that follows it], "and the men of both chains are the men of the sahih." I say, the raising of the chain to the Prophet is an addition from a trustworthy narrator, so it is accepted. It is well known to anyone who has studied this field that Shuba often reports marfu hadiths as mawquf, out of caution on his part. The descent of Isa at the end of time is established with absolute certainty, through genuine and authentic multiple transmission, as we explained earlier at 7267, so see the hadiths we pointed to there. See also 7271, 9259, and 9630.