Muwatta Malik 242
موطأ مالك#242SahihThese are the words of a Companion, not of the Prophet ﷺ. The chain is graded on its own terms.
حَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي بَكْرِ بْنِ حَزْمٍ، عَمَّنْ حَدَّثَهُ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ لأَنْ يُصَلِّيَ أَحَدُكُمْ بِظَهْرِ الْحَرَّةِ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَقْعُدَ حَتَّى إِذَا قَامَ الإِمَامُ يَخْطُبُ جَاءَ يَتَخَطَّى رِقَابَ النَّاسِ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ . قَالَ مَالِكٌ السُّنَّةُ عِنْدَنَا أَنْ يَسْتَقْبِلَ النَّاسُ الإِمَامَ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ إِذَا أَرَادَ أَنْ يَخْطُبَ مَنْ كَانَ مِنْهُمْ يَلِي الْقِبْلَةَ وَغَيْرَهَا .
Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hazm from whoever related it to him that Abu Hurayra used to say, "It is better for a man to pray on the surface of al Harra (a rocky area in Madina) than for him to wait until the imam stands to give the khutba and then come and step over people's necks." Malik said, "The sunna with us is that the people face the imam on the day of jumua when he intends to give the khutba, whether they are near the qibla or elsewhere
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: 5:18