We came to Irbaz bin Sariya, who was one of those concerning whom this verse was revealed, "Nor is there blame upon those who, when they came to you so that you might provide them with mounts, you said, 'I have nothing to mount you upon'" [Tawba 9:92]. We greeted him and said, "We have come to visit you, to check on your health, and to learn from you."Irbaz said, "One day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in the dawn prayer, then turned to us and delivered a stirring exhortation that brought tears to our eyes and struck fear into our hearts."Someone said, "Messenger of Allah, this sounds like the exhortation of a man bidding farewell. What instructions do you leave with us?"He replied, "I urge you to be mindful of Allah, and to listen and obey, even if the one who leads you is an Abyssinian slave. Whoever among you lives on after me will see a great deal of discord. So hold to my way and the way of the rightly guided, well guided caliphs. Cling to it and grip it with your teeth. And beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is a going astray."
أتينا العرباض بن سارية وهو ممن نزل فيه: {ولا على الذين إذا ما أتوك لتحملهم قلت لا أجد ما أحملكم عليه} [التوبة: ٩٢] فسلمنا، وقلنا: أتيناك زائرين وعائدين ومقتبسين. فقال عرباض: صلى بنا رسول الله ﷺ الصبح ذات يوم، ثم أقبل علينا، فوعظنا موعظة بليغة ذرفت منها العيون، ووجلت منها القلوب، فقال قائل: يا رسول الله كأن هذه موعظة مودع، فماذا تعهد إلينا؟ فقال: أوصيكم بتقوى الله، والسمع والطاعة، وإن عبدا حبشيا، فإنه من يعش منكم بعدي فسيرى اختلافا كثيرا، فعليكم بسنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدين المهديين، تمسكوا بها وعضوا عليها بالنواجذ، وإياكم ومحدثات الأمور، فإن كل محدثة بدعة، وكل بدعة ضلالة.
Narrated by Abu Dawud (4607) and Ahmad (17145), and Ibn Hibban (5) and Hakim (1/97) graded it sahih, all of them from the hadith of Walid bin Muslim, who said, Thawr bin Yazid told us, Khalid bin Madan told us, Abdul-Rahman bin Amr Sulami and Hujr bin Hujr told us, both of them saying, and then they related it.It was also narrated by Tirmidhi (2676), Ibn Majah (44), Ahmad (17144), and Hakim (1/95-96), all of them through routes from Khalid bin Madan, from Abdul-Rahman bin Amr Sulami alone, with similar wording, and this narration does not mention the revelation of the verse in connection with it.This chain is hasan, for a group of narrators related from Abdul-Rahman bin Amr Sulami, and Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators, and for that reason Ibn Hajar said in Taqrib, "acceptable," meaning when corroborated. He was corroborated by Hujr bin Hujr, who is likewise "acceptable," since Khalid bin Madan was the sole narrator from him, and Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators. As for Hakim, he counted him in Mustadrak (1/97) among the firmly trustworthy narrators.They were also corroborated by Yahya bin Abu Mitaa Qurashi, for it was narrated by Ibn Majah (42) and Hakim (1/97), both of them through the route of Abdullah bin Ala bin Zabr, who said, Yahya bin Abu Mitaa told me, he said, I heard Irbaz bin Sariya say, and then he related it similarly.There is disagreement over whether Yahya bin Abu Mitaa actually heard directly from Irbaz bin Sariya. Bukhari affirmed this in Tarikh al-Kabir (8/306), while others denied it. There are other routes for it from Irbaz bin Sariya, and for that reason a group of scholars graded it sahih.Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan sahih hadith." Bazzar said, as quoted from him by Ibn Abdul-Barr, "This hadith of Irbaz bin Sariya concerning the rightly guided caliphs is an established, sahih hadith." Jami Bayan Ilm (2/1165).Hakim said, "This is a sahih hadith, and it has no defect." Abu Naeem said, "This is a good hadith from the sahih hadiths of the Levantines." (Al-Musnad al-Mustadrak ala Sahih Muslim, 1/36).