Sunan Abi Dawud 4641
سنن أبي داود#4641Hasan chainحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو ظَفَرٍ عَبْدُ السَّلاَمِ، حَدَّثَنَا جَعْفَرٌ، عَنْ عَوْفٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ الْحَجَّاجَ، يَخْطُبُ وَهُوَ يَقُولُ إِنَّ مَثَلَ عُثْمَانَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ عِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ ثُمَّ قَرَأَ هَذِهِ الآيَةَ يَقْرَؤُهَا وَيَفُسِّرُهَا { إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَىَّ وَمُطَهِّرُكَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا } يُشِيرُ إِلَيْنَا بِيَدِهِ وَإِلَى أَهْلِ الشَّامِ .
‘Awf said:I heard al-Hajjaj addressing the people say: The similitude of ‘Uthman with Allah is like the similitude of Jesus son of Mary. He then recited the following verse and explained it: “Behold! Allah said: O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehood) of those who blaspheme.” He was making a sign with his hand to us and to the people of Syria
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave, each scholar counted once — 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. When they judged only its chain of narrators (“Isnaad”), the label says “Sound chain”. Each scholar's own wording:
Our source also lists this ruling under Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid, the editor of the printed edition it was taken from. It is al-Albani's ruling printed again, so it is counted once.
In-book reference: 42:46