Sunan Abi Dawud 4715
سنن أبي داود#4715Sound chainقَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ قُرِئَ عَلَى الْحَارِثِ بْنِ مِسْكِينٍ وَأَنَا أَسْمَعُ، أَخْبَرَكَ يُوسُفُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو، أَخْبَرَنَا ابْنُ وَهْبٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ مَالِكًا، قِيلَ لَهُ إِنَّ أَهْلَ الأَهْوَاءِ يَحْتَجُّونَ عَلَيْنَا بِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ . قَالَ مَالِكٌ احْتَجَّ عَلَيْهِمْ بِآخِرِهِ . قَالُوا أَرَأَيْتَ مَنْ يَمُوتُ وَهُوَ صَغِيرٌ قَالَ " اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا كَانُوا عَامِلِينَ " .
Abu Dawud said :Malik was asked : The heretics argue from this tradition against us. Malik said : Argue against them from its last part which goes. The people asked : What do you think about the one who died while he was young? He replied : Allah knows best what he was going to do
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: 42:120