The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Shall I not tell you of the best of witnesses? It is the one who comes forward with his testimony before being asked for it, or who gives his testimony before it is requested."
أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: ألا أخبركم بخير الشهداء؟ الذي يأتي بشهادته قبل أن يسألها، أو يخبر بشهادته قبل أن يسألها.
Malik related it in Aqdiyah (3) from Abdullah bin Abu Bakr bin Muhammad bin Amr bin Hazm, from his father, from Abdullah bin Amr bin Uthman, from Abu Amrah Ansari, from Zayd bin Khalid Juhani, and he related it.Muslim related it in Aqdiyah (1719) through the route of Malik, with the same wording, with the first wording. Ibn Abdul-Barr related it in Tamhid (17/295) through the route of Ibn Wahb from Malik, with the same wording, similarly.Then Ibn Wahb said, "I heard Malik say regarding the tafsir of this hadith, it refers to a man who holds testimony concerning a right belonging to another man who does not know about it beforehand. So he informs him of his testimony and brings it up to the ruler."Ibn Wahb said, "It has reached me from Yahya bin Saeed (he is Ansari, the teacher of Malik) that he said, whoever is called to give testimony he holds, must respond if he knows that the one for whom he is testifying will benefit from it, and he must deliver it. And whoever holds testimony that its owner does not know about, let him deliver it before he is asked about it, for he used to say, among the best of testimonies is a testimony that its owner delivers before he is asked for it."Ibn Abdul-Barr said, "The tafsir of Malik and Yahya bin Saeed for this hadith is the most fitting of what has been said about it."I say, in light of the tafsir of Malik and his teacher Yahya Ansari, this hadith and the preceding hadith of Imran bin Husayn, whose apparent meanings seem contradictory, can be reconciled. What is meant by this hadith of Zayd bin Khalid is one who holds testimony for a person concerning a right, which the owner of the right does not know about, so he comes to him and informs him of it, or informs the ruler of it.Hafiz said, "This is among the best of answers." Fath al-Bari (5/260).