Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2680
حَدَّثَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ الصَّبَّاحِ الْبَزَّارُ، وَإِسْحَاقُ بْنُ مُوسَى الأَنْصَارِيُّ، قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ جُرَيْجٍ، عَنْ أَبِي الزُّبَيْرِ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، رِوَايَةً " يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَضْرِبَ النَّاسُ، أَكْبَادَ الإِبِلِ يَطْلُبُونَ الْعِلْمَ فَلاَ يَجِدُونَ أَحَدًا أَعْلَمَ مِنْ عَالِمِ الْمَدِينَةِ " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ وَهُوَ حَدِيثُ ابْنِ عُيَيْنَةَ . وَقَدْ رُوِيَ عَنِ ابْنِ عُيَيْنَةَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ فِي هَذَا سُئِلَ مَنْ عَالِمُ الْمَدِينَةِ فَقَالَ إِنَّهُ مَالِكُ بْنُ أَنَسٍ . وَقَالَ إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ مُوسَى سَمِعْتُ ابْنَ عُيَيْنَةَ يَقُولُ هُوَ الْعُمَرِيُّ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزَ الزَّاهِدُ . وَسَمِعْتُ يَحْيَى بْنَ مُوسَى يَقُولُ قَالَ عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ هُوَ مَالِكُ بْنُ أَنَسٍ . وَالْعُمَرِيُّ هُوَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ مِنْ وَلَدِ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet said: ‘People will soon ride camels in pursuit of knowledge, but they will find no one more knowledgeable than the scholar of Madinah.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is hasan, and it is the hadith of Ibn ‘Uyaynah.’ Ibn ‘Uyaynah was reported to have identified the scholar of Madinah as Malik ibn Anas. Ishaq ibn Musa said he heard Ibn ‘Uyaynah identify him as al-‘Umari, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, the ascetic. Yahya ibn Musa reported that ‘Abd al-Razzaq identified him as Malik ibn Anas. Al-‘Umari was ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, a descendant of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The image of ‘striking the livers of camels’ means traveling by camel in pursuit of knowledge; the source itself explains the historical identity of the scholar of Madinah differently, preserving both Malik ibn Anas and the ascetic al-‘Umari as attributions.