Verification of Several Hadith
by Sh. G. F. Haddad





The wording cited is part of a longer hadith narrated from ʿImran ibn Husayn: "O ʿImran, truly, Allah loves spending and detests miserliness. Spend and feed others, do not withhold your wealth lest obtaining it will be made difficult for you. Know that Allah loves a keen mind in the midst of ambiguities and a sharp mind when pleasures descend. He loves forbearance, even over a few dates, and he loves courage, even if only to kill a snake or a scorpion."

Narrated by Ibn ʿAsakir in Tarikh Dimashq (52:138) and al-Qudaʿi in Musnad al-Shihab (2:152 §1080).

As a rule such sources mean the hadith is weak, however, it is strengthened by the hadith from Ibn Masʿud in al-Nasa'i and Abu Dawud: "Kill all snakes, for whoever fear their revenge is not one of us."


Al-Bayhaqi in Shuʿab al-Iman (7:426 §10839) and al-Daylami in the Firdaws (2:199 §2989) narrated from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr that the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, said: "There are two traits Allah Most High loves: largess and bravery. There are two traits Allah Most High hates: miserliness and indecency."

In the famous "hadith of Umm Zarʿ" on the virtues of husbands in the Sahihayn and Shama'il, one of the wives mentions that her husband is "like a leopard at home and like a lion abroad," which is a respective reference to restfulness and bravery.

"Do not fear" is mentioned many times in the Qur'an and is also the meaning of the verse of the Cave: "Do not be sad."

GF Haddad
[SP 2007-02-04]

There are two grave mistranslations.

(1) It is not "(But bear in mind) that your reciting for a long time may not harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you" but rather "Do not let length of time harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you." This is a reference to Surat al-Hadid (57:16): { but the term was prolonged for them and so their hearts were hardened} . In other words, Abu Musa is saying, be patient and strive to your utmost until death without changing.

(2) Abu Musa's last sentence consists in only one quotation of Qur'an, not two. The phrase, "that is recorded in your necks as a witness (against you) and you would be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection" is not a quotation as claimed but a paraphrase or reference to xvii. 13 which states: { And every man's augury have We fastened to his own neck, and We shall bring forth for him on the Day of Resurrection a book which he will find wide open} . Abu Musa is saying: You know the Qur'an and therefore you must practice what you know - quoting verse 51:2 - and you will be held responsible on this point on the Day of Resurrection. And Allah knows best.

Concerning the words cited by Abu Musa as being part of the Qur;an:

Over five years ago on SRI in refutation of [an] article by S W I had replied that Ubay also held Abu Musa's opinion until he reached the opposite conclusion:

Bukhari 8:297 (#446): "We considered this as a saying from the Qur'an until the Sura of Mutual Rivalry (102) was revealed."

As von Denffer points out, first, Ubayy's codex was an undistinct compilation of Qur'an and hadith for his own personal use, and second, Ubayy's hadith in Bukhari shows that there was consensus among the Companions as to what definitely belonged in the Qur'an and what didn't. (von Denffer, ʿUlum al-Qur'an p. 48n.)

Anas and Ibn ʿAbbas in the very same chapter of Sahih Muslim report it as a saying of the Prophet ﷺ .

Note that the rest of the Sura to which Abu Musa considered those verses to belong does not necessarily share the same status.

And Allah knows best.

Hajj Gibril
GF Haddad

Al-Haythami said: "Al-Tabarani [in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir 10:67] narrates it and its chain contains Yahya ibn Yaʿla al-Aslami who is weak."

Ibn Hajar in al-Taqrib actually grades this narrator as "weak and Shiʿi." Since this particular narration promotes Shiʿism, it is categorically rejected until verified independently, but then it it not found anywhere else.

In addition, most of its narrators seem to be complete unknowns, as if they never narrated anything else in their lives except this report.

Note: one of its unknown one-report narrators is a certain "Abu Murra al-Sanʿani." I could not help but remember that Ibn Tulun in his encyclopedia of the merits of al-Sham cited a Prophetic report listing Sanʿa' among "the four cities that belong to Hell." And Ibn Hajar in Nuzhat al-Albab fi al-Alqab (#3078) defined Abu Murra as a nickname for Iblis.

Finally: In Sahih Muslim from ʿAlqama: I asked Ibn Masʿud if he was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the night of the Jinn and he said no.

WAllahu aʿlam.

Hajj Gibril

+

Both reports seem forged in light of the fact that none of the printed books of Sira, Dala'il, Shama'il, and Mawlid authored by the Imams of Hadith mention them, so the rarer the report, the likelier the forgery. And Allah knows best.

Hajj Gibril
GF Haddad

A question about the hadith: "I have left you two things, the Book of Allah and my Sunna..."

>Assalamu 'alaykum,

>Your claims that the hadith about the two weighty things which have
>been left to us is really the Qur'an and the Sunnah, is claimed to
>be false by Muhammad bin Yahya Ninowi in his "Satisfying the Need:
>Sharh Aqīdah Tahawiyyah", in which he states the following:
>
>"Please note, that some people are using an alleged Hadeeth (that
>I am leaving you with the book of Allah and my Sunnah.) Please be
>advised that this Hadeeth is extremely weak. Moreover, many
>leading scholars of Hadeeth have declared it as fabricated. The
>later Hadeeth that contains (my Sunnah) is narrated by Al Hakem
>in his "Mustadrak" by way of Ibn abi owais by way of his father
>by way of thawr by way of Zayd through Ikrima, through ibn abbas,
>however, ibn abi owais and his father are unreliable people and
>fabricators. See "tahtheeb al kamal" 3/127 by Imam Hafez Mizzy,
>and "Sharhh saheeh Al Bukhari" intro/391 by Imam Hafez Inb Hajr,
>also Imam Nasaaiy was among other scholars to denounce those
>narrators describing them as " weak and unreliable", similarly
>did Abu Hatem Arrazy in his book "aljarhh wat ta'deel in Elm
>Al hadeeth", others who also mentioned their unreliability are
>Llakaiy, Assideeq, Ibn Mueen, Ibn Habban,. ....etc. Even Imam Al
>Hakem himself who mentioned this hadeeth in his book, after he
>added another weak route to it, declared this Hadeeth immediately
>as a weak Hadeeth and admitted it's great weakness." [Quoted from
> ! xx was formerly on this site - http://www.ummah.net/ - aqeedah/satisfying_the_need
>What is your comment on such a claim?

Wa-alaykum as-Salam:

Thank you for the question. The hadith in question states that the Prophet said, upon him blessings and peace:

“I have left among you two matters by holding fast to which, you shall never be misguided: the Book of Allah and the Sunna of His Prophet.”

This is narrated from Anas by Abu al-Shaykh in Tabaqat al-Muhaddithin fi Asbahan (4:67 §549);

also from `Amr ibn `Awf by Ibn `Abd al-Barr in al-Tamhid (24:331);

and also from Ibn `Abbās by Ibn Nasr al-Marwazi (202-294) in al-Sunna (p. 25-26 §68), al-Hakim in his Mustadrak (1:93=1990 ed. 1:171 §318) who declared that all its narrators are “agreed upon” meaning in the two books of Sahih; al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra (10:114 §20108) and al-I`tiqad (p. 228), Malik – without chain – in his Muwatta’ but Ibn `Abd al-Barr narrated its chain in al-Tamhid (24:331) and describes it as “so famous and widespread as a Prophetic report among the people of knowledge” that it can be treated as mass-transmitted (mahfuz, ma`ruf, mashhur `an al-Nabi salla Allahu `alayhi wa-Sallam thamma ahl al-`ilm shuhratan yakadu yustaghna biha `an al-isnad); and Ibn Hazm who declared it sahih in al-Ihkam (6:243=6:810) although he is overly strict in his criterion for soundness as stated by Shaykh Ahmad al-Ghumari in his student `Abd Allah al-Talidi’s biographical notes, Darr al-Ghamam al-Raqiq.

Another version states:

“I have left among you two matters by holding fast to which, you shall never be misguided: the Book of Allah and my Sunna. And these two shall never part ways until they show up at the Pond.”

Narrated from Abu Hurayra by Ibn Shahin in al-Targhib fil-Dhikr (2:406 §528) as stated by Ahmad al-Ghumari in al-Mudawi (3:482 §3923), al-Hakim in the Mustadrak (1:93=1990 ed. 1:172 §319), al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra (10:114 §20109), al-Daraqutni in his Sunan (4:245 §149), Abu Bakr al-Shafi`i in the Ghaylaniyyat as stated by al-Suyuti in the Jami` al-Saghir (§3923), al-Lalika’i in Sharh Usul I`tiqad Ahl al-Sunna (1:80), al-Khatib in al-Jami` li-Akhlaq al-Rawi (1983 ed. 1:111=1991 ed. 2:165-166 §89) and al-Faqih wal-Mutafaqqih (1:94), Ibn `Abd al-Barr in al-Tamhid (24:331), and Ibn Hazm in al-Ihkam (6:243=6:810) while al-Suyuti declared it hasan in al-Jami` al-Saghir (§3923). (Since all these chains from Abu Hurayra contain Salih ibn Musa al-Tulahi who is discarded though honest, it is understood that al-Suyuti means the hadith in general, not this particular route.)

Also narrated mursal from `Urwa as cited by al-Suyuti in Miftah al-Janna (p. 29
Also narrated mursal through Ibn Ishaq from `Abd Allah ibn Abi Najih by al-Tabari in his Tarikh (2:205-206) and Ibn Hisham in his Sira (6:8-10).

So there are chains through at least four different Companions corresponding to two versions which have in common the wording: “I have left among you two matters by holding fast to which, you shall never be misguided: the Book of Allah and the Sunna or my Sunna.”

The fact that this wording in the Muwatta’ is enough proof that it is sahih, as further confirmed by Ibn `Abd al-barr's remarks. Both these sources actually reflect that there is more to hadith-grading than the mere documentation of chains of transmission. Namely, the practice of this mercied Umma as embodied in its authorities.

Nevertheless, let us look at the evidence forwarded by the denier of its sihha.
He says:

<<Please note, that some people are using an alleged Hadeeth (that I am leaving you with the book of Allah and my Sunnah.) Please be advised that this Hadeeth is extremely weak. Moreover, many leading scholars of Hadeeth have declared it as fabricated.>>

What scholar(s) of hadith declared this hadith “extremely weak”? What scholars(s) declared it “fabricated”?

I have listed over two dozen dictionaries of forgeries in an article titled “The ‘famous hadith’ and forgery compilations” available in full at: link

Surely if “many leading scholars of Hadeeth have declared it as fabricated” it should be easy to say where, in any of those books, one of those supposedly “many leading scholars” can be seen declaring such a thing.

Then he states that the hadith <<is narrated by Al Hakem in his "Mustadrak" by way of Ibn abi owais by way of his father by way of thawr by way of Zayd through Ikrima, through ibn abbas, however, ibn abi owais and his father are unreliable people and fabricators.>>

Says who exactly? Imam al-Bukhari narrates over 200 hadiths from Ibn Abi Uways. Over 170 of those are hadiths Ibn Abi Uways narrates from his maternal uncle, Imam Malik. As for his father `Abd Allah Abu Uways, he is one of the narrators of the Sunan and Muslim also uses him in his Sahih.

<< See "tahtheeb al kamal" 3/127 by Imam Hafez Mizzy, and "Sharhh saheeh Al Bukhari" intro/391 by Imam Hafez Inb Hajr, also Imam Nasaaiy was among other scholars to denounce those narrators describing them as " weak and unreliable", similarly did Abu Hatem Arrazy in his book "aljarhh wat ta'deel in Elm Al hadeeth", others who also mentioned their unreliability are Llakaiy, Assideeq, Ibn Mueen, Ibn Habban,. ....etc.>>

None of the above called these two narrators “unreliable people and fabricators.” On the contrary, Ibn Hajar, Abu Hatim, and Ibn Ma`in all called him truthful (saduq).

<< Even Imam Al Hakem himself who mentioned this hadeeth in his book, after he added another weak route to it, declared this Hadeeth immediately as a weak Hadeeth and admitted it's great weakness.">>

Actually, al-Hakim followed up with another route because it came through another Companion, which strengthens the hadith. Nowhere does he declare the first hadith weak.

The webpage cited above says that the critic of this hadith, Shaykh Muhammad bin Yahya Ninowi (Allah reward him for his translation of the Tahawiyya), narrates the Tahawiyya with the following chain:

>I, narrate it through and with the permission of, my Shaykh and
>Father Sayyedi As-Sayyed Yahya bin Muhammad bin Sa'eed bin Muhammad
>an-Ninowy Al-Musawy Al-Husayny - May Allah forgive him and raise
>his rank in paradise- [ also in the same way and through the same
>honorable chain of scholars, I narrate it through Sayyedi Abdullah
>bin Assideeq, and Sayyedi Ibrahim bin Assideeq] and they narrated
>it by way of, Al-Hafedh Al-Mujtahed As-Sayyed Abul-Fayd Ahmad bin
>Assideeq Al-Ghumari Al-Hasany -may Allah bless his soul....

Note that Shaykh Abu al-Fadl Ahmad al-Ghumari in his book al-Mudawi li-`Ilal al-Munawi (3:482 §3923) supports the authenticity of this hadith and that his brother, Shaykh `Abd Allah ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari, Allah have mercy on both of them, included this hadith among the sound hadiths in his compilation of the sahih and hasan hadiths of Imam al-Suyuti’s al-Jami` al-Saghir which he titled al-Kanz al-Thamin fi Ahadith al-Nabi al-Amin salla Allahu `alayhi wa Sallam. And Allah knows best.

GF Haddad
Mon Feb 21, 2005