Sunan Abi Dawud 3572
سنن أبي داود#3572Sahihحَدَّثَنَا نَصْرُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ، أَخْبَرَنَا بِشْرُ بْنُ عُمَرَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ جَعْفَرٍ، عَنْ عُثْمَانَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ الأَخْنَسِيِّ، عَنِ الْمَقْبُرِيِّ، وَالأَعْرَجِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " مَنْ جُعِلَ قَاضِيًا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ فَقَدْ ذُبِحَ بِغَيْرِ سِكِّينٍ " .
Narrated Abu Hurayrah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: He who has been appointed a judge among the people 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 ZaiIsnaad Hasan
In-book reference: 25:2