The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Shall I not tell you of the best houses of the Ansar?"They replied, "Yes, Messenger of Allah."He said, "The Banu Najjar, then those who follow them, the Banu Abd al-Ashhal, then those who follow them, the Banu Harith bin Khazraj, then those who follow them, the Banu Saidah."Then he gestured with his hand, closing his fingers and then opening them outward like one casting something forth, and said, "And in every house of the Ansar there is goodness."
قال رسول الله ﷺ: ألا أخبركم بخير دور الأنصار؟ قالوا: بلى يا رسول الله. قال: بنو النجار، الذين يلونهم بنو عبد الأشهل، ثم الذين يلونهم بنو الحارث بن الخزرج، ثم الذين يلونهم بنو ساعدة. ثم قال بيده، فقبض أصابعه ثم بسطهن كالرامي بيده، ثم قال: وفي كل دور الأنصار خير.
Narrated by Bukhari in the Book of Divorce (5300), and Muslim in the Book of the Virtues of the Companions (251:2511), both from Qutayba, who said, Layth bin Saad narrated to us, from Yahya bin Saeed Ansari, from Anas, who said, then he mentioned it.It is also narrated that Abu Hurairah said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, while in a large gathering of Muslims, "Shall I tell you which are the best households of the Ansar?" They said, "Yes, o Messenger of Allah." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Banu Abdul-Ashhal." They said, "Then who?" He said, "Then Banu Najjar." They said, "Then who, o Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Then Banu Harith bin Khazraj." They said, "Then who, o Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Then Banu Saaida." They said, "Then who, o Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Then there is good in every household of the Ansar."At that, Saad bin Ubada stood up angrily and said, "Are we the last of the four?" when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had named their households, and he wanted to speak to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it. But men from his own people said to him, "Sit down. Are you not satisfied that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ named your household among the four households he named? For those he left unnamed are more numerous than those he named." So Saad bin Ubada refrained from speaking to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it.Narrated by Muslim in the Book of the Virtues of the Companions (2515) through two routes from Yaqub, who is Ibn Ibrahim bin Saad, who said, my father narrated to us, from Salih, from Ibn Shihab, who said, Abu Salama and Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Utba bin Masud said that they heard Abu Hurairah say, then he mentioned it.It is also narrated by Ahmad (7628) from Abdul-Razzaq, from Mamar, from Zuhri, from Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman and Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Masud, that they both heard Abu Hurairah say, then he mentioned it in the same way. Then after it he mentioned, Mamar said, Thabit and Qatada informed me that they both heard Anas bin Malik relate this hadith, except that he said, "Banu Najjar, then Banu Abdul-Ashhal," that is, in the order found in the hadith of Anas as related from him in the Sahihayn and elsewhere, which is the correct order. For this reason, more than one scholar has preferred giving Banu Najjar precedence over Banu Abdul-Ashhal.On this subject there is also a hadith from Jabir bin Abdullah, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The best of the households of the Ansar are Banu Najjar." Narrated by Tirmidhi (3912) from Abu Saaib Salm bin Junada, who said, Ahmad bin Bashir narrated to us, from Mujalid, from Shaybi, from Jabir bin Abdullah, who said, then he mentioned it. Then he narrated it right after with the same chain, but with the wording, "The best of the Ansar are Banu Abdul-Ashhal." Mujalid is Ibn Saeed Hamadani, and he is daif. Tirmidhi said, "This is a hadith gharib."