Muwatta Malik 866
موطأ مالك#866Da'ifThese are the words of a Companion, not of the Prophet ﷺ. The chain is graded on its own terms.
وَحَدَّثَنِي يَحْيَى، عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ، كَانَ يَقُولُ {مَا اسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ الْهَدْىِ} شَاةٌ .
Yahya related to me from Malik from Jafar ibn Muhammad from his father that Ali ibn Abi Talib used to say, "The least difficult thing acceptable as a sacrificial animal is a sheep
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:
Salim al-HilaliMauquf Daif
In-book reference: 20:162