Sunan Abi Dawud 3571
سنن أبي داود#3571Sahihحَدَّثَنَا نَصْرُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ، أَخْبَرَنَا فُضَيْلُ بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ، حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ أَبِي عَمْرٍو، عَنْ سَعِيدٍ الْمَقْبُرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " مَنْ وَلِيَ الْقَضَاءَ فَقَدْ ذُبِحَ بِغَيْرِ سِكِّينٍ " .
Narrated Abu Hurayrah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: He who has been appointed a judge has been killed without a knife
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Al-AlbaniSahih
Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul HamidSahih
Zubair Ali ZaiHasan
In-book reference: 25:1