Reports on statues and images

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was attending a funeral. He said: "Which of you will go to Madinah and break every idol there, level every grave, and deface every image?" A man said: "O Messenger of Allah, I will." The narrator says: But he became afraid of the people of Madinah and came back. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah, I will go." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go." So Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) went. When he came back, he said: "O Messenger of Allah, I have broken every idol there, levelled every grave and defaced every image." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever goes back to making any of these things has disbelieved in what was revealed to Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not be arrogant, nor one who puts people to trial, nor a trader, except a trader in good, for those are the ones who keep postponing deeds (saying: I will soon do it)."

In one narration the wording is: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a man of the Ansar to level every grave and to deface every idol. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I dislike entering the houses of my people." Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me. After this, the narrator mentioned a hadith similar to the previous one. Imam Ahmad recorded the first narration, and his son Abdullah recorded the second.

In one narration the wording is: This narration is reported from a man of the people of Basrah. The people of Basrah give his kunyah as Abu Muwarri', while the people of Kufah give his kunyah as Abu Muhammad. That man narrates about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); after this, the narrator recorded a narration similar to the first narration recorded by Imam Ahmad. In it he did not state that this narration is reported from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and in it he reported the word "talakhaha" in place of the word "lattakhaha" (defaced it). (Allamah Haythami says:) I say: Part of it is reported in the Sahih.
Imam Ahmad and his son recorded it. Its chain contains Abu Muhammad al-Hudhali, whose kunyah, according to one view, is Abu Muwarri'. I have not found anyone who declared him trustworthy; a group narrated from him, and no one declared him weak. The rest of its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Stay seated. Jibril will come to me; you greet him with salam, and he will make a prayer of goodness for you." Sayyiduna Jibril came, stood at the door, and went back without coming in. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What is the matter with Jibril, that he went back without coming in?" Then, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) met him another time, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Jibril, Aishah was sitting to greet you with salam so that you would make a prayer of goodness for her, and you went back from our door and did not come in to us." Sayyiduna Jibril said: "I had come precisely in order to come in to you, but I found that small animal (the narrator is unsure whether the words were: that statue), (so I did not come in)."
(Allamah Haythami says:) I say: Imam Ibn Majah has recorded part of this narration.
Imam Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains Isma'il bin Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sa'id bin Abi Maryam; Ibn Abi Hatim said: "He is majhul (unknown)." There is mastur-ness (concealed status) in him (or: in this narration a narrator is mastur), and the rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Jibril promised to meet me, and he was late in coming to me." After this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "(Later Jibril said to me:) 'I was unable to come in because of the sound of a bell (the narrator is unsure whether the words were:) because of an image present in the house.'"
Imam Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains Amr bin Dinar, the steward of the family of Zubayr, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) reports this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "The angels do not enter a house in which there is an image or a dog."
Imam Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat and al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the house and saw an image. He called for water and began to wipe it away, saying: "May Allah Almighty destroy a people who make images of what they cannot create."
Imam Tabarani recorded it. Its chain contains Khalid bin Yazid al-Umari, whom I do not know, and the rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyidah Safiyyah bint Shaybah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) have a cloth moistened while he was inside the Ka'bah, and then he began to rub that cloth over the images that were in the Ka'bah.
Imam Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "The angels do not enter a house in which there is any image. On the Day of Resurrection, the image-makers will be punished in Hell. The Most Merciful will say to them: 'Get up and go to the images you made.' And they will continue to be punished until those images speak, and they will not be able to speak (that is, they will be punished forever)." (Allamah Haythami says:) I say: Part of it is reported in the Sahih.
Imam Tabarani recorded it. Its chain contains Muhammad bin Abi al-Zu'ayzi'ah, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: I had a deer made of gold. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded me to give it away in charity, so I did so.
Imam Tabarani recorded it. Its chain contains a narrator whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports, as a hadith traced back (marfu') to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), regarding figures (tamathil): the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted those figures that come underfoot, and disliked those that are hung up.
Imam Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains Sulayman bin Arqam, who is da'if (weak).