Muwatta Malik 54
موطأ مالك#54SahihThese are the words of a Companion, not of the Prophet ﷺ. The chain is graded on its own terms.
وَحَدَّثَنِي يَحْيَى، عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ أَبِي نُعَيْمٍ، وَهْبِ بْنِ كَيْسَانَ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ جَابِرَ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الأَنْصَارِيَّ، يَقُولُ رَأَيْتُ أَبَا بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيقَ أَكَلَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ صَلَّى وَلَمْ يَتَوَضَّأْ .
Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Nuaym Wahb ibn Kaysan that he heard Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari saying, "I saw Abu Bakr as- Siddiq eat meat and then pray without doing wudu
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: 2:23