❖ Question: What is the Authenticity of the Hadith: “Allah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets”?
(إِنَّ اللَّهَ حَرَّمَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ أَنْ تَأْكُلَ أَجْسَادَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ)
📚 Source: Fatāwā Amaanpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amaanpuri
❖ The Answer:
This narration is reported as a marfūʿ (attributed to the Prophet ﷺ) hadith from Sayyidunā Aws bin Aws رضي الله عنه.
It is found in the following sources:
- Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad: 8/4
- Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 1047, 1531
- Sunan al-Nasāʾī: 1375
- Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1085, 1636
- Faḍl al-Ṣalāh ʿala al-Nabī ﷺ by al-Qāḍī Ismāʿīl: p. 22
❖ Chain of Transmission:
The narration is weak (ḍaʿīf) due to the presence of:
✦ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān bin Yazīd bin Tamīm
Status:
- Weak and narrator of munkar ahādīth (منكر الحديث)
- Declared weak by major scholars of ḥadīth:
| Scholar | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Imām al-Bukhārī | Declared him weak |
| Imām Abū Ḥātim | Called him munkar al-ḥadīth |
| Imām Abū Zurʿah | Criticized his reliability |
| Imām Ibn Ḥibbān | Rejected his narrations |
Note:
He should not be confused with ʿAbd al-Raḥmān bin Yazīd bin Jābir, who is trustworthy (thiqah). Confusing the two is a mistake.
❖ Statement of Imām Abū Ḥātim رحمه الله:
❝This narration is munkar.❞
(ʿIlal al-Ḥadīth by Ibn Abī Ḥātim: 2/529)
❖ Verdict:
Though the hadith is widely quoted, its chain is weak due to a problematic narrator.
Hence, the narration is not authentic.
📌 Beliefs should not be established on weak or munkar ahādīth, especially when the matter concerns unseen realities like the preservation of the Prophets’ bodies.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
