Muwatta Malik 63
موطأ مالك#63SahihThese are the words of a Companion, not of the Prophet ﷺ. The chain is graded on its own terms.
وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ نُعَيْمِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْمَدَنِيِّ الْمُجْمِرِ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، يَقُولُ مَنْ تَوَضَّأَ فَأَحْسَنَ وُضُوءَهُ ثُمَّ خَرَجَ عَامِدًا إِلَى الصَّلاَةِ فَإِنَّهُ فِي صَلاَةٍ مَادَامَ يَعْمِدُ إِلَى الصَّلاَةِ وَإِنَّهُ يُكْتَبُ لَهُ بِإِحْدَى خُطْوَتَيْهِ حَسَنَةٌ وَيُمْحَى عَنْهُ بِالأُخْرَى سَيِّئَةٌ فَإِذَا سَمِعَ أَحَدُكُمُ الإِقَامَةَ فَلاَ يَسْعَ فَإِنَّ أَعْظَمَكُمْ أَجْرًا أَبْعَدُكُمْ دَارًا . قَالُوا لِمَ يَا أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ مِنْ أَجْلِ كَثْرَةِ الْخُطَا .
Yahya related to me from Malik from Nuaym ibn Abdullah al-Madani al-Mujmir that he heard Abu Hurayra say, "If someone does wudu and does it correctly and then goes off intending to do the prayer, then he is in prayer as long as he intends to do the prayer. A good action is written for every alternate step he makes and a wrong action is erased for the second. When you hear the iqama do not lengthen your stride, and the one who has the greatest reward is the one whose house is farthest away." They said, "Why, Abu Hurayra?" He replied, "Because of the greater number of steps
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: 2:32