Sunan Ibn Majah 4038
سنن ابن ماجه#4038Da'ifحَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا طَلْحَةُ بْنُ يَحْيَى، عَنْ يُونُسَ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي حُمَيْدٍ، - يَعْنِي مَوْلَى مُسَافِعٍ - عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لَتُنْتَقَوُنَّ كَمَا يُنْتَقَى التَّمْرُ مِنْ أَغْفَالِهِ فَلْيَذْهَبَنَّ خِيَارُكُمْ وَلَيَبْقَيَنَّ شِرَارُكُمْ فَمُوتُوا إِنِ اسْتَطَعْتُمْ " .
It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:“You will be picked over just as (good) dates are selected (separated) from its bad ones. So the best of you will be taken and the worst of you will be left, so die if you can.”
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:
In-book reference: 36:113