Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3612
حَدَّثَنَا بُنْدَارٌ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَاصِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ الثَّوْرِيُّ، عَنْ لَيْثٍ، وَهُوَ ابْنُ أَبِي سُلَيْمٍ حَدَّثَنِي كَعْبٌ، حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " سَلُوا اللَّهَ لِيَ الْوَسِيلَةَ " . قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا الْوَسِيلَةُ قَالَ " أَعْلَى دَرَجَةٍ فِي الْجَنَّةِ لاَ يَنَالُهَا إِلاَّ رَجُلٌ وَاحِدٌ أَرْجُو أَنْ أَكُونَ أَنَا هُوَ " . قَالَ هَذَا حَدِيثٌ غَرِيبٌ إِسْنَادُهُ لَيْسَ بِالْقَوِيِّ . وَكَعْبٌ لَيْسَ هُوَ بِمَعْرُوفٍ وَلاَ نَعْلَمُ أَحَدًا رَوَى عَنْهُ غَيْرَ لَيْثِ بْنِ أَبِي سُلَيْمٍ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Ask Allah to grant me al-Wasilah.’ They asked: ‘Messenger of Allah, what is al-Wasilah?’ He replied: ‘The highest rank in Paradise, which only one man will attain. I hope that I will be that man.’ Abu ‘Isa said: This is a gharib hadith, and its chain is not strong. Ka‘b is unknown; we know no one who narrated from him other than Layth ibn Abi Sulaym.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
وَكَعْبٌ لَيْسَ هُوَ بِمَعْرُوفٍ وَلاَ نَعْلَمُ أَحَدًا رَوَى عَنْهُ غَيْرَ لَيْثِ بْنِ أَبِي سُلَيْمٍ .
The English witness omits Abu ‘Isa’s judgment that the chain is weak and that Ka‘b is unknown, with no known narrator from him except Layth ibn Abi Sulaym.
Should the compiler’s chain criticism and narrator note be retained?