Mustadrak al-Hakim — Hadith 7988

(1) تحرف في النسخ الخطية إلى: عمرو.
Note / Clarification: In the manuscripts there is a distortion here and it was mistakenly written as "Amr".

(2) إسناده ضعيف جدًّا من أجل عبد الجبار بن عمر الأيلي، قال أبو حاتم: حديث منكر، وضعّف عبدَ الجبار، وجعله ابن حبان من منكراته في كتابه "المجروحين"، وقال: كان رديء الحفظ ممن يأتي بالمعضلات عن الثقات، لا يجوز الاحتجاج به إلَّا فيما وافق الثقات، وبه أعلَّه الذهبي في "التلخيص" فقال: عبد الجبار تالف.
Grading: Its chain is "very weak" on account of Abd al-Jabbar bin Umar al-Ayli.
Technical note / Defect ('illah): Imam Abu Hatim declared it "munkar" and called Abd al-Jabbar weak. Ibn Hibban counted it among Abd al-Jabbar's munkar narrations in "al-Majruhin" and said that he had poor memory and brought "mu'dal" (severely broken) narrations from thiqah narrators, so only what agrees with other thiqah narrators is to be taken from him. Imam al-Dhahabi declared him "talif" (utterly worthless / severely weak) in "al-Talkhis".
وأخرجه ابن سعد في الطبقات 1/ 326، والحكيم الترمذي في "نوادر الأصول" (89)، وابن أبي حاتم في "العلل" (2235)، وابن حبان في "المجروحين" 2/ 159، والطبراني في "الأوسط" (3216) و (9014) من طرق عن عبد الجبار بن عمر بهذا الإسناد. وزادوا فيه وكان ربما تعلَّق رداؤه في الشجرة أو الشيء فلا يلتفتُ حتى يرفعوه عليه، وكانوا يضحكون ويمزحون، وكانوا قد أمِنوا التفاتَه.
Reference / Source: Ibn Sa'd (al-Tabaqat 1/ 326), al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi (Nawadir al-Usul: 89), Ibn Abi Hatim (al-Ilal: 2235), Ibn Hibban (al-Majruhin 2/ 159) and al-Tabarani (al-Awsat: 3216, 9014) narrated it with this same chain of Abd al-Jabbar bin Umar.
Details of the narration: These narrations also contain the addition that sometimes his (peace and blessings be upon him) cloak would catch on a tree or something, and he would not turn to look back until the Companions removed it themselves, and the Companions would laugh and joke (among themselves) because they felt sure that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would not turn round.
وفي الباب عن أبي هريرة عند البخاري (155)، وفيه: اتبعت النبي ﷺ وخرج لحاجته فكان لا يلتفت فدنوت منه. وعن ابن عباس عند البزار (2391 - كشف الأستار) بلفظ: أنَّ رسول الله ﷺ إذا مشى لم يلتفت، يعرف في مشيته أنه غير كَسِل ولا وَهِن وسنده ضعيف، فقد خالف أحد رواته وهو محمدُ بن راشد من هو أحفظ منه وأكثر عددًا، خالفهم في السند والمتن، والصواب فيه: عن رجل عن ابن عباس، كما أنَّ الصواب في متنه: وإذا مشى مشى مجتمعًا.
Corroborating chains and supporting reports: On this topic there is a narration from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in Sahih al-Bukhari (155): "I followed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he went out to relieve himself; he (peace and blessings be upon him) was not turning to look back, so I drew near to him."
Technical note / Defect ('illah): The narration of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) in al-Bazzar (2391), "When he (peace and blessings be upon him) walked he did not turn to look back, and briskness showed in his gait", has a weak chain. One of its narrators, Muhammad bin Rashid, contradicted narrators who had better memory and were more numerous. The correct form is "from a man from Ibn Abbas", and in the text the correct wording is "mashā mujtami'an" (he walked with vigour).
هذا وليس عدم التفاته ﷺ على إطلاقه، بل كان يلتفت ﷺ أحيانًا، لكن كان إذا التفت التفت جميعًا، كما في حديث علي بن أبي طالب عند أحمد 2/ (684) وغيره، ورواه جمع من الصحابة لا يخلو إسناد منها من ضعف.
Important point: His (peace and blessings be upon him) not turning to look back was not absolute (for all times); rather he (peace and blessings be upon him) sometimes did turn, but when he turned, he turned with his whole body (i.e. he did not merely turn his neck).
Reference / Source: This is narrated in the hadith of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) (Musnad Ahmad 2/ 684) and from other Companions, although none of these chains is free of weakness.