Investigation of a Fabricated Tradition
Question:
Common preachers and orators often narrate in detail an incident about a person whose mother was displeased with him. This incident is also written in a similar manner in Khawaja Muhammad Islam Sahib’s book “The Scene of Death”:
“The worldly punishment for disobedience to the mother:
Hazrat Abdullah bin Abi Awfaؓ narrates that a noble man named ‘Alqamah’, who was very strict in prayer and fasting, when his time of death approached, despite exhortations, the words of the testimony of faith did not come from his mouth. Alqamah’s wife sent a man to the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to inform him of this incident. He inquired:
Are Alqamah’s parents alive or not? It was found that only his mother is alive and she is upset with Alqamah. The Prophet ﷺ informed Alqamah’s mother that he wanted to meet her and asked whether she would come to him or he should come to her. Alqamah’s mother said, “My parents are devoted to you; I do not want to trouble you, rather I will come myself.” Accordingly, the old woman came to the presence of the Prophet ﷺ. When you inquired about Alqamah, she said, “Alqamah is a very pious man, but he always disobeys me compared to his wife. That is why I am upset with him.” You said:
If you forgive his fault, it will be better for him, but she refused. Then you ordered Hazrat Bilal to gather firewood and burn Alqamah. The old woman became frightened upon hearing this and asked in surprise, “Will my child be burned in the fire?” You said:
Yes! Compared to the punishment of Allah, this punishment of ours is light. By God, as long as you are displeased with him, neither his prayer is accepted nor any charity is accepted. The old woman said:
I bear witness to you and the people that I have forgiven Alqamah’s faults. You addressed the people and said:
“Look, did the testimony of faith (Kalima Shahadat) come from Alqamah’s tongue or not?”
The people narrated, “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the testimony of faith came from Alqamah’s tongue, and he passed away with the testimony of faith.” You ordered the washing and shrouding of Alqamah and personally accompanied the funeral. After burying Alqamah, you said:
“Whoever among the Muhajireen and Ansar disobeys his mother or causes her distress, then upon him is the curse of Allah, the curse of the angels, and the curse of all people. Allah neither accepts his obligatory deeds nor his voluntary deeds until he repents to Allah and treats his mother kindly and, as much as possible, pleases her. His acceptance depends on the pleasure of his mother, and Allah’s anger is hidden in her anger.”
Please analyze this incident according to the principles of Hadith authentication and research, and determine whether it is authentic or weak.
جزاکم اللہ خیراً۔
(Questioner: Syed Tanwar Shah, Haripur Hazara)
Answer:
This incident is narrated by
and Ibn Jawzi narrated it in Kitab al-Mawdu’at (Book of Fabricated Hadiths, Vol. 3, p. 87) on the authority of Abu al-Waraqa Fa’id ibn Abd al-Rahman from Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa.
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal had cut this hadith of Fa’id from his copy (book) because Fa’id al-Attar was considered by him as a rejected narrator.
This narration is fabricated in terms of its chain of transmission. Its narrator Abu al-Waraqa Qa’id al-Attar is severely criticized. This narration is not transmitted from any other person besides this narrator. Regarding this narrator, (Imam) Ibn Ma’in said:
” ضعیف ”
Abu Hatim al-Razi said:
” و أحاديثه عن ابن أبي أوفى بواطيل ، لاتكاد ترى لها اصلاً كأنه لا يشبه حديث ابن أبي أوفى و لو أن رجلاً حلف ان عامة حديثه كذب لم يحنث . ”
And his hadiths from Ibn Abi Awfa are false. So his origin will not be found, as if these narrations are not similar to the hadiths of Ibn Abi Awfa, and if a person swears that his common hadiths are false, his oath will not be broken.
Imam Bukhari said:
“منکر الحدیث .”
Meaning, he used to narrate fabricated hadiths.
Imam Bukhari states:
I do not consider it permissible to narrate from one whom I call a denier of hadith.
Hafiz Nasai said:
“متروك الحديث .”
His hadith is abandoned.
In the principles of hadith, it is established that narration from an abandoned narrator is not permissible even in follow-ups.
Hakim Nishapuri said about this narrator:
“يـــروي عــــن ابـن أبـي أوفــى أحاديث موضوعة .”
He narrates fabricated hadiths from Ibn Abi Awfa.
Hafiz Ibn Hibban said:
’’كان ممن يروي المناكير عن المشاهير .‘‘
He used to narrate rejected traditions from famous people.
Hafiz Ibn Hajar wrote in Taqreeb al-Tahdheeb (5393):
” متروك ، اتهموه“
It is abandoned; the hadith scholars have labeled it as accused (liar).
In the Deobandi books
, Fa’id mentions it as abandoned with reference to Majma’ al-Zawa’id.
The summary is that this narration is fabricated and concocted due to being abandoned, accused, and from a narrator of fabricated hadiths; therefore, narrating such a hadith without warning and rejection is not permissible.
وما علينا إلا البلاغ
