Narrated Dawud ibn Rushayd: Al-Walid—meaning Ibn Muslim—narrated to us: Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Jabir narrated to us: The freed slave of Banu Fazara, who is Ruzaik ibn Hayyan, informed me that he heard Muslim ibn Qarazah, the cousin of Awf ibn Malik al-Ashja'i, say: I heard Awf ibn Malik al-Ashja'i say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: "The best of your rulers are those whom you love and who love you, and upon whom you invoke blessings and who invoke blessings upon you. The worst of your rulers are those whom you hate and who hate you, and whom you curse and who curse you." They said: We said, "O Messenger of Allah, shall we not confront them with hostility at that time?" He said: "No, as long as they establish prayer among you. No, as long as they establish prayer among you. Indeed, whoever has a ruler appointed over him and sees him committing an act of disobedience to Allah, let him detest the act of disobedience to Allah that he commits, but let him not withdraw his hand from obedience."

Ibn Jabir said: So I said—meaning to Ruzaik—when he narrated this hadith to me: "By Allah, O Abu al-Miqdam, did he narrate this to you, or did you hear this from Muslim ibn Qarazah saying, 'I heard Awf saying, I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him'?" He said: So he knelt on his knees, faced the qiblah, and said: "Yes, by Allah, there is no god but Him, I heard it from Muslim ibn Qarazah saying, 'I heard Awf ibn Malik saying, I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.'"