✿ Investigation: Was the Name of a Companion’s Dog “Rashid”? Authenticity of the Narration ✿
📚 Source: Fatāwā ‘Ilmiyyah – Volume 3 – Principles, Hadith Authentication, and Rulings – Page 266
❖ Question
Sarfraz Khan Safdar (Deobandi scholar) stated:
“If a Companion had a wrong or inappropriate name, the Prophet ﷺ would change it. Once, a strong villager came to the Prophet ﷺ with his dog. The Prophet ﷺ asked, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Ẓālim (Oppressor), and my dog’s name is Rāshid (Rightly Guided).’ The Prophet ﷺ responded, ‘You are a human but called Ẓālim, and your dog is called Rāshid?! Go back to your people and inform them.’ The man, being upright and pure-hearted, simply accepted this correction without argument.”
📖 Source: Dhakheerat al-Jinān fī Fahm al-Qur’ān, Vol. 3, pp. 162–163
The question is:
Is it authentic that a Companion’s dog was named Rāshid? Please provide a verified response.
– Aḥmad ibn Faḍl Mālik, Hasan Zai
❖ Answer
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد
✦ Reference of the Story
Sarfraz Safdar did not cite any source for this narration in his book. However, the incident does appear (with different wording) in the following classical works:
◈ Dalā’il al-Nubuwwah by Imām Abū Nu‘aym al-Aṣbahānī (1/35, Ḥadīth 68)
◈ Ma‘rifat al-Ṣaḥābah by Abū Nu‘aym (Vol. 2, p. 1120, Ḥadīth 2814)
The narration appears in both detailed and abbreviated forms with the following chain:
“Ḥaddathanā ‘Umar ibn Muḥammad ibn Ja‘far, thana Ibrāhīm ibn al-Sindī, thana al-Naḍr ibn Salamah, thana Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Makhzūmī, ḥaddathanī Yaḥyā ibn Sulaymān, ‘an Ḥakīm ibn ‘Aṭā’ al-Ẓufarī, from the descendants of Rāshid ibn ‘Abd Rabbih…”
This narration is also referenced by:
◈ Imām Ibn Kathīr in al-Bidāyah wa’l-Nihāyah (3/177–178)
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-‘Asqalānī in al-Iṣābah fī Tamyīz al-Ṣaḥābah (1/495, T2517; also see 2/140, T2512)
❖ Detailed Authentication of the Chain
Let’s analyze the chain of narrators:
➊ Ḥakīm ibn ‘Aṭā’ al-Ẓufarī, his father ‘Aṭā’, and his grandfather:
⛔ All three are unknown (majhūl) narrators.
➤ Their credibility is not established in the science of ḥadīth.
➋ Yaḥyā ibn Sulaymān:
⛔ Unidentified narrator (ghayr mu‘ayyan).
➤ His exact identity is unclear, making the narration unreliable.
➌ Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Makhzūmī:
📌 Some manuscripts mistakenly mention him as Muḥammad ibn Salamah, but correct is Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Makhzūmī.
🛑 Severely criticized:
- Imām Yaḥyā ibn Ma‘īn said:
“He was a liar and worthless. He was from Madinah.”
📖 Tārīkh Ibn Ma‘īn (Riwayah al-Dūrī) no. 1060 - Also said:
“He is not trustworthy. He used to steal ḥadīths.”
📖 ibid: 799 - Furthermore:
“By Allah, he is not trustworthy. The enemy of Allah narrated falsely from Mālik.”
📖 al-Jarḥ wa’l-Ta‘dīl (7/288) — Authentic isnād - Imām al-Dāraqutnī said:
“Matrūk” (Abandoned narrator)
📖 Su’ālāt al-Burqānī: 427 - Ibn Ḥajar al-‘Asqalānī said:
“Kadhdhabūh – The ḥadīth scholars declared him a liar.”
➍ Naḍr ibn Salamah:
⛔ Also unidentified.
There is a known liar from this category: Naḍr ibn Salamah Shādhān al-Marwazī, a fabricator (kadhdhāb).
➎ ‘Umar ibn Muḥammad ibn Ja‘far:
🛑 Needs authentication.
His reliability is not established, and no major scholars have validated him.
❖ Conclusion of the Research
The narration mentioned by Sarfraz Khan Safdar regarding a Companion whose dog was named Rāshid is fabricated (mawḍū‘).
⚠️ It is ḥarām (unlawful) to narrate such stories without exposing their falsity.
It is astonishing how some individuals, even while bearing titles like “Shaykh al-Ḥadīth”, present fabricated, baseless, or chainless stories to the public without any scholarly fear—even though the Prophet ﷺ warned:
“Whoever narrates a ḥadīth from me knowing it to be false, he is one of the liars.”
📖 Sahih Muslim: Book 1, Ḥadīth 1
Do such people not fear Allah’s accountability?
🗓️ (5th December 2010)
هٰذَا مَا عِنْدِي وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
