The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The people of Illiyyin are seen by those below them just as a brilliant star is seen on the horizon of the sky. Indeed, Abu Bakr and Umar are among them, and how excellent they are."
قال رسول الله ﷺ: إن أهل عليين ليراهم من هو أسفل منهم كما يرى الكوكب الدري في أفق السماء، وإن أبا بكر وعمر لمنهم، وأنعما.
Narrated by Abu Dawud (3987), Tirmidhi (3658), Ibn Majah (96), and Ahmad (11467, 11882), all of them through various routes from Atiya bin Saad Awfi, from Abu Saeed Khudri, who said, then he related it. Atiya bin Saad Awfi is daif, except that he has a corroborating narrator. Abul-Wadak Jabr bin Nawf corroborated him, from Abu Saeed Khudri with the same wording, except that its chain is also daif.Ahmad (11206, 11588) and Abu Yaala (1278) both narrated it through various routes from Mujalid, that is, Ibn Saeed Hamdani, who said, Abul-Wadak told me, from Abu Saeed, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said, then he related it. Mujalid bin Saeed Hamdani is daif, except that some of these narrations strengthen one another.The first part of the hadith is sahih and firmly established, with the wording, "The people of Paradise will look upon those in the elevated chambers above them just as you look upon a radiant star lingering on the horizon in the east or the west, because of the great difference in rank between them." They said, "O Messenger of Allah, are those the dwelling places of the prophets, which no one else can attain?" He said, "Indeed, by the One in whose hand is my soul, they are men who believed and affirmed the truth of the messengers." Narrated by Bukhari (3256) and Muslim (2831), both through the route of Ata bin Yasar, from Abu Saeed Khudri, who said, then he related it.On this subject there is also a report from Anas that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to come out to his companions from the Muhajirin and Ansar while they were sitting, among them Abu Bakr and Umar, and none of them would raise his gaze at him except Abu Bakr and Umar, for the two of them would look at him and he would look at them, and they would smile at him and he would smile at them. Narrated by Tirmidhi (3668) and Ahmad (12516), both through the route of Abu Dawud Tayalisi, Sulayman bin Dawud, who said, Hakam bin Atiya told us, from Thabit, from Anas, then he related it.Hakam bin Atiya is Aishi. Ahmad said, "There is no harm in him, except that Abu Dawud (meaning Tayalisi) narrated from him some objectionable hadiths." Marwazi said, Ahmad said, "Hakam bin Atiya Basri, in my view, there was no harm in him, but then it reached me that he narrated objectionable hadiths," and it was as if he had weakened him. Daraqutni said, as recorded in his annotations on al-Majruhin by Ibn Hibban (p. 75), "Hakam bin Atiya Aishi narrates from Thabit Bunani hadiths that no one else corroborates." This hadith is from the narration of Abu Dawud Tayalisi, from Hakam bin Atiya, from Thabit. Tirmidhi said, "This is a gharib hadith, we do not know it except through the hadith of Hakam bin Atiya, and some scholars have criticized Hakam bin Atiya."It was also reported from Ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out one day and entered the masjid, with Abu Bakr and Umar, one of them on his right and the other on his left, holding both their hands, and he said, "This is how we will be raised on the Day of Resurrection." Narrated by Tirmidhi (3669), Ibn Majah (99), Ahmad in Fadail al-Sahabah (77), and Bazzar in his Musnad (5852), all of them through the route of Saeed bin Maslamah, from Ismail bin Umaya, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, then he related it. Tirmidhi said, "This is a gharib hadith, and Saeed bin Maslamah is not considered strong by them." I say, it is as he said, for Saeed bin Maslamah is Ibn Hisham Umawi, whom the majority of scholars have judged daif. Bazzar said, "We do not know this hadith to have been narrated except by Saeed bin Maslamah, from Ismail, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, and he has no corroborator for it." Abu Hatim was asked about this hadith and said, "Munkar." Ilal al-Hadith (2653).