The Life of the PROPHET ﷺ

A sound (sahih) tradition related on the authority of Aws ibn Aws al-Thaqafi by: Ahmad in his Musnad, Ibn Abi Shaybah in the Musannaf, Abu Dawud in the Sunan, Nisa'i in his Sunan, Ibn Majah in his Sunan, Darimi in his Musnad, Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih, ibn Hibban in his Sahih, Hakim in the Mustadrak, Tabarani in his Kabir, Bayhaqi in Hayat al-anbiya', Suyuti in Anba' al-adkhiya, Dhahabi who confirmed Hākim's grading, and Nawawi in the Adhkar.

Another version in Ibn Maja has this addition:

fa nabiyyallahi Hayyun yurzaq
Bayhaqi mentions it also in the Sunan al-kubra.

{ الأنبياء أحياء في قبورهم يصلون }

A sound (sahih) tradition related on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (r) by: al-Bazzar in his Musnad, Abu Yaʿla in his Musnad, Ibn ʿAdi in al-Kamil fi al-duʿafa', Tammam al-Razi in al-Fawa'id, al-Bayhaqi in Hayat al-anbiya' fi quburihim, Abu Nuʿaym in Akhbar Asbahan, Ibn ʿAsakir in Tāreekh Dimashq, al-Haythami in Majmaʿ al-zawa'id (8:211), al-Suyuti in Anbā' al-adhkiya' bi-hayat al-anbiya' (#5), and al-Albani, in Silsilat al-ahadith al-sahihah (#621).

Suyuti adds: "The life of the Prophet, ﷺ may Allah bless him and give him peace, in his grave, and [also] that of the rest of the prophets is known to us as definitive knowledge (ʿilman qatʿiyyan)."

I have used the above information from a post on MSA-Net on that particular hadith by Brother Akram Y. Safadi, for which I thank him.

{ مَرَرْتُ عَلَى مُوسَى لَيْلَةَ أُسْرِيَ بِي عِنْدَ الْكَثِيبِ الْأَحْمَرِ وَهُوَ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي فِي قَبْرِهِ }

A sound (sahih) tradition related on the authority of Anas and others by Muslim, Nasa'i, and Bayhaqi in the dala'il al-nubuwwa and the Hayāt. Some mention the beginning (in parentheses), while others omit it. Nawawi said in his explanation of this hadith: "The work of the next world is all dhikr and duʿa" (sharH SaHeeH Muslim 1/73/267).

{ مَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ يُسَلِّمُ عَلَيَّ إِلَّا رَدَّ اللهُ عَلَيَّ رُوحِي حَتَّى أَرُدَّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامَ }

From Abu Hurayra, in Abu Dawud with a sound (SaHeeH) chain. This hadith has been adduced by the scholars as the legal proof for the validity and modality of visiting and greeting the Prophet ﷺ, although the hadith does not mention the necessity of physically visiting the Prophet ﷺ in Madina.

A note about the translation of "has returned": Suyuti said that "radda" means ʿala al-dawām," i.e. permanently, and not temporarily: in other words, Allah does not return the rūH and take it back, then return it again and then take it back again, but He returned it to the Prophet ﷺ permanently, and the Prophet ﷺ is alive permanently.

Sakhawi, Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalāni's student, said: "As for us (Muslims) we believe and we confirm that he ﷺ is alive and provided for IN HIS GRAVE" (al-qawl al-badeeʿ p. 161). Ibn al-Qayyim said in al-RūH p. 58: "It is obligatory knowledge to know that his body ﷺ is in the earth tender and humid (i.e. as in life), and when the Companions asked him: 'How is our greeting presented to you after you have turned to dust' he replied:

{ إِنَّ اللہَ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى حَرَّمَ عَلَى الأَرْضِ أَجْسَادَ الأَنْبِيَاءِ صَلَّى اللہُ عَلَيْهِمْ }

and if his body was not in his grave he would not have given this answer."

Ibn Hajar al-Haythami wrote in al-jawhar al-munaZZam (?):

"tawātarat al-adillatu wa al-nuqūlu bi anna al-MuSTafa Hayyun Tariyyu... wa Sawmun thumma Hajjun kulla ʿāmin yaTTahhiru li al-Salāti bi mā'i ghaythi" which means:

"The proofs and the transmitted texts have been established as authentic in the highest degree that the Prophet ﷺ is alive and tender... that he fasts and performs pilgrimage every year, and that he purifies himself with water which rains on him."

{ حَياتِي خير لكم وموتي خير لكم، أما حَياتِي فأسن لكم السّنَن وأشرع لكم الشَّرَائِع. وَأما موتِي فَإِن أَعمالكُم تعرض عَلّي فَمَا رَأَيْت مِنْهَا حسنا حمدت الله عَلَيْهِ، وَمَا رَأَيْت مِنْهَا سَيِّئًا استغفرت الله تَعَالَى لكم }

Hayāti khayrun lakum… ^[1]

The Arabic variant above was narrated by Imam al-Bazzār, ḥasan, hadith
‘My life is good for you and my death is good for you. As for my life, I set sunnas and legislate laws for you. As for my death, your deeds are presented to me; I praise Allah for the good I see of them, and ask Allah to forgive you for the bad that I see.’

Qadi ʿIyad cites it in "al-Shifa" (1:56 of the Amman edition) and Suyuti said in his "Manahil al-safa fi takhrij ahadith al-shifa" (Beirut 1988/1408) p. 31 (#8): "Ibn Abi Usama cites it in his Musnad from the hadith of Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Mazni, and al-Bazzar from the hadith of Ibn Masʿud with a sound (sahih) chain."

It is cited in Subki's Shifa' al-siqām fi ziyarat khayr al-anām
[The Healing of the Sick Concerning the Visit of the Best of Creation],
where he mentions that Bakr ibn Abd Allah al-Mazini reported it, and Ibn al-Jawzi mentions it through Bakr and then again through Anas ibn Malik in the penultimate chapter of the penultimate section of al-Wafa, both huffaz without giving the isnad. However, Ibn al-Jawzi specifies in the introduction of al-Wafa that he only included sound traditions in his book. He also mentions the version through Aws ibn Aws: "The actions of human beings are shown to me every Thursday on the night of (i.e. preceding) Friday." See also FatH al-Bāri 10:415, al-Mundhiri's Targheeb wa al-Tarheeb 3:343, and Ahmad 4:484.

{ مَنْ صَلَّى عَلَيَّ عِنْدَ قَبْرِي سَمِعْتُهُ ، وَمَنْ صَلَّى عَلَيَّ نَائِيًا مِنْهُ أُبْلِغْتُهُ }

Ibn Hajar says in FatH al-Bāri 6:379: "Abu al-Shaykh cites it with a good chain (sanad jayyid)," and Bayhaqi mentions it in Hayāt al-anbiyā with "ublightuhu" in the end.

{ من زار قبري وجبت له شفاعتي }

Narrated by al-Daraqutni, al-Dulabi, al-Bayhaqi, Khatib al-Baghdadi, al-ʿUqayli, Ibn ʿAdiy, Tabarani, and Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih, all through various chains going back to Musa ibn Hilal al-ʿAbdiyy from Ubayd Allah Ibn Umar, both from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar.

Dhahabi declared this chain hasan (fair) as narrated, in "Mizan al- iʿtidal," vol. 4, p. 226: "Huwa salih al-hadith" which means:"He -- Musa ibn Hilal -- is good in his narrations." Al-Sakhawi confirmed him in the "Maqasid al-hasana", while al-Subki declared it sahih according to Samhudi in Saʿadat al-dārayn 1:77.
Ibn ʿAdiyy said: "He [Musa ibn Hilal] is most likely acceptable; other people have called him 'unknown' and this is not true... He is one of the shuyukhs of Imam Ahmad and most of them are trustworthy." al-Kamil fi al-Duʿafa (6:2350).
Albani declared him "thabit al-riwaya" (of established reliability) in his Irwa' 4:338. About ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar al-ʿUmari: - Dhahabi calls him "saduq hasan al-hadith" [truthful, of fair narrations] al-Mughni 1:348;
- Sakhawi says of him "salih al-hadith" [of sound narrations] al-tuhfat al-latifat 3:366;
- Ibn Muʿin said to Darimi about him: "salih thiqat" [sound and reliable] al-kamil 4:1459.

This is one of the proof-texts adduced by the ulama of Islam to derive the obligation or recommendation of visiting the Prophet's grave and seeking him as "wasilat" (intermediary/means). See the chapter on visiting the Prophet's grave in Nawawi's book "al-Adhkar" and in Qadi ʿIyad's book "al-Shifa." Sakhawi said in "al-qawl al-badeeʿ" p. 160: "The emphasis and encouragement on visiting his noble grave is mentioned in numerous ahadith, and it would suffice to show this if there was only the hadith whereby the truthful and God-confirmed Prophet ﷺ promises that his intercession among other things becomes obligatory for whoever visits him, and the Imams are in complete agreement from the time directly after his passing until our own time that this is among the best acts of drawing near to Allah."

Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions.

Dawud ibn Salih says: "[The Umayyad Caliph] Marwan [ibn al-Hakam] one day saw a man placing his face on top of the grave of the Prophet ﷺ. He said: "Do you know what you are doing?" When he came near him, he realized it was Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. The latter said: "Yes; I came to the Prophet ﷺ, not to a stone. I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: Ahmad 5:422, Hakim (Mustadrak 4:515); both the latter and al-Dhahabi said it was sahih. It is thus cited by as-Subki (Shifa' as-siqam p. 126), Ibn Taymiyya (al-Muntaqa 2:261f.), and al-Haythami (al-Zawa'id 4:2).

Brother Audah is right if his point is to show that kissing the grave, rubbing or hugging it is neither haram nor an innovation, although it is disliked that people should be permitted to do it.

Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions. ﷺ

GF Haddad ©
[ Feb. 1996]