Aqib and Sayyid, the two leaders of Najran, came intending to engage in mutual imprecation with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. One of them said to his companion, "Do not engage in mutual imprecation with him. By Allah, if he is truly a prophet and we curse one another," (Khalaf said in his version, "and we engage in mutual imprecation,") "neither we nor our descendants will ever prosper."So they came to him and said, "We will not engage in mutual imprecation with you. Instead, we will give you what you have asked for. Send with us a trustworthy man."The Prophet ﷺ said, "I shall send with you a man who is truly trustworthy, truly trustworthy."The companions of Muhammad eagerly hoped to be chosen for this task. Then he said, "Stand up, Abu Ubayda bin al-Jarrah."When Abu Ubayda turned to leave, the Prophet ﷺ said, "This is the trustworthy one of this nation."
جاء العاقب والسيد صاحبا نجران، قال: وأرادا أن يلاعنا رسول الله ﷺ، قال: فقال أحدهما لصاحبه: لا تلاعنه، فوالله لئن كان نبيا، فلعنا- قال خلف: فلاعنا- لا نفلح نحن ولا عقبنا أبدا، قال: فأتياه، فقالا: لا نلاعنك، ولكنا نعطيك ما سألت فابعث معنا رجلا أمينا، فقال النبي ﷺ: لأبعثن رجلا أمينا حق أمين، حق أمين قال: فاستشرف لها أصحاب محمد، قال: فقال: قم يا أبا عبيدة بن الجراح قال: فلما قفى، قال: هذا أمين هذه الأمة.
Ibn Majah (136), Nasai in Fadail al-Sahabah (93), and Ahmad (3930) all narrated it, and Hakim graded it sahih (3/267), all of them by the route of Israil, from Abu Ishaq, from Salah (that is, bin Zafar Absi), from Ibn Masud, and he related it. Hakim said, "The two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) agreed on extracting this hadith in abridged form in the Sahihayn from the hadith of Thawri and Shuba, from Abu Ishaq, from Salah bin Zafar, from Huzaifa, but Israil differed from them both, saying, from Salah bin Zafar, from Abdullah, and he related the hadith more fully than what is found with Thawri and Shuba, so I have extracted it because it meets their criteria." End of quote.I say, Bukhari narrated it in al-Maghazi (4380) by the route of Israil, from Abu Ishaq, from Salah bin Zafar, from Huzaifa with this wording, thus placing it among the narrations attributed to Huzaifa. Perhaps Abu Ishaq narrated the hadith by two routes, so neither route should be faulted on account of the other. Daraqutni mentioned that Thawri followed Israil in mentioning "Abdullah bin Masud" and graded it sahih, and Ibn Hajar said in al-Fath (8/92) that both routes are sahih.As-Sayyid's name was al-Ayham, though it was also said to be Shurahbil, and he was in charge of their mounts, while al-Aqib's name was Abdul-Masih, and he was in charge of their counsel.