To what extent is the hadith sound that narrates the conversation of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, with Mu‘adh ibn Jabal when he sent him to Yemen, which clarified the sources of legislation starting with the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Messenger, then ijtihad, and concluded with the Prophet’s praise of God for guiding His Messenger to what He loves and is pleased with?

The wording of the Hadith "How will you judge, O Mu'adh?" is: On Al-Harith ibn Amr, from people of Homs, from the companions of Mu'adh ibn Jabal, that when the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, intended to send Mu'adh to Yemen, he said: "How will you judge if a case is presented to you?" He said: "I will judge by the Book of Allah." He said: "And if you do not find it in the Book of Allah?" He said: "Then by the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him." He said: "And if you do not find it in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, nor in the Book of Allah?" He said: "I will exert my own opinion and spare no effort." So the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, struck him on the chest and said: "Praise be to Allah who guided the messenger of the Messenger of Allah to that which pleases the Messenger of Allah."

This Hadith has a weak chain of narration despite its fame. Imam Ahmad and the compilers of the Sunan collections narrated it with different wordings. It was deemed weak by Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Bukhari, Shu'ayb Al-Arna'ut, Husayn Asad, and Al-Albani for reasons such as a disconnected chain of narration and the ambiguity and anonymity of some narrators. While some, like Ibn Abd Al-Barr and Ibn Al-Qayyim, deemed it authentic.