Source: Monthly Al-Hadith, Hazro
Dr. Ashraf Asif Jalali (Barelvi) and the Fabricated Narration
الحمد لله ربّ العالمين والصلوة والسلام على رسوله الأمين، أما بعد:
Dr. Ashraf Asif Jalali, who belongs to the Barelvi school of thought, has presented a narration from the book Tārīkh al-Madīnah by Ibn Shabbah in support of constructing structures over graves. In this narration, Yazīd ibn Sāʾib says:
My grandfather informed me that when ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib dug a well in his house, a carved stone appeared at the bottom, inscribed with the words: “The grave of Umm Ḥabībah bint Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb.”
So ʿAqīl covered up the well and built a structure over it. Yazīd ibn Sāʾib says: I entered that structure and saw the grave in that room.
Having narrated this, Dr. Jalali stated:
“This proves that Ahl al-Sunnah do not fabricate their school of thought on their own; rather, this is from the era of the Companions, and this action was performed by a Companion.”
Let us examine the authenticity of this narration.
In Tārīkh al-Madīnah, the chain of narration is as follows:
“حدثنا محمد بن يحيى قال : أخبرني عبد العزيز بن عمران عن يزيد بن السائب قال : أخبرني جدي.” (1/120)
In this chain, there is a narrator named ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿImrān, who is abandoned (matrūk).
❶ Imām al-Bukhārī said:
“منكر الحديث، لا يكتب حديثه”
(Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ: 225; al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr by al-Bukhārī 6/29)
❷ Imām al-Dāraquṭnī said:
“ضعیف”
(Under Ḥadīth 4158; al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn: 349)
❸ Imām ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim al-Rāzī said:
I asked my father about him; he replied:
“متروك الحديث، ضعيف الحديث منكر الحديث جدا” etc.
(Kitāb al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl 5/391, no. 1817)
❹ Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī abandoned his narrations.
(al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, also)
❺ Imām Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn said:
“ليس بثقة.”
(ibid.)
❻ Imām al-ʿUqaylī said:
“حديثه غير محفوظ”
His ḥadīths are not preserved.
(al-Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Kabīr 3/13, no. 969)
❼ Imām al-Tirmidhī said:
“ضعيف فى الحديث”
He is weak in ḥadīth.
(Tirmidhī under Ḥadīth: 870)
❽ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥibbān said:
“يروي المناكير عن المشاهير”
He narrates rejected (munkar) reports from well-known narrators.
(Kitāb al-Majrūḥīn 2/139; second edition 2/122)
❾ Imām al-Nasāʾī said:
“مشروك الحديث.”
(al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn 393)
❿ Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said:
“تركوه”
The ḥadīth scholars abandoned him.
(al-Mughnī fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ 20/622, no. 3747)
⓫ Ibn al-Jawzī mentioned him in al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn.
(also see: 1957)
Furthermore, the teacher of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿImrān—Yazīd ibn Sāʾib—is unknown (majhūl), and he is certainly not Yazīd ibn Sāʾib, the Companion. It is impossible that Ibn ʿImrān could have met the Companion.
This is the false narration that Dr. Jalali presented in support of constructing domes and buildings over graves, thereby misleading the public. Dr. Jalali should either authenticate this narration or seek forgiveness from Allah and refrain from misleading people with such fabricated narrations, as it is impermissible to narrate false ḥadīths without criticism, let alone derive rulings and issues from them!
May Allah grant us all the ability to narrate authentic ḥadīths, to act upon them, and to avoid weak and rejected narrations. Āmīn.
(31st July, 2013)
Dr. Ashraf Asif Jalali (Barelvi) and the Fabricated Narration
الحمد لله ربّ العالمين والصلوة والسلام على رسوله الأمين، أما بعد:
Dr. Ashraf Asif Jalali, who belongs to the Barelvi school of thought, has presented a narration from the book Tārīkh al-Madīnah by Ibn Shabbah in support of constructing structures over graves. In this narration, Yazīd ibn Sāʾib says:
My grandfather informed me that when ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib dug a well in his house, a carved stone appeared at the bottom, inscribed with the words: “The grave of Umm Ḥabībah bint Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb.”
So ʿAqīl covered up the well and built a structure over it. Yazīd ibn Sāʾib says: I entered that structure and saw the grave in that room.
Having narrated this, Dr. Jalali stated:
“This proves that Ahl al-Sunnah do not fabricate their school of thought on their own; rather, this is from the era of the Companions, and this action was performed by a Companion.”
Let us examine the authenticity of this narration.
In Tārīkh al-Madīnah, the chain of narration is as follows:
“حدثنا محمد بن يحيى قال : أخبرني عبد العزيز بن عمران عن يزيد بن السائب قال : أخبرني جدي.” (1/120)
In this chain, there is a narrator named ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿImrān, who is abandoned (matrūk).
❶ Imām al-Bukhārī said:
“منكر الحديث، لا يكتب حديثه”
(Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ: 225; al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr by al-Bukhārī 6/29)
❷ Imām al-Dāraquṭnī said:
“ضعیف”
(Under Ḥadīth 4158; al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn: 349)
❸ Imām ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim al-Rāzī said:
I asked my father about him; he replied:
“متروك الحديث، ضعيف الحديث منكر الحديث جدا” etc.
(Kitāb al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl 5/391, no. 1817)
❹ Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī abandoned his narrations.
(al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, also)
❺ Imām Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn said:
“ليس بثقة.”
(ibid.)
❻ Imām al-ʿUqaylī said:
“حديثه غير محفوظ”
His ḥadīths are not preserved.
(al-Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Kabīr 3/13, no. 969)
❼ Imām al-Tirmidhī said:
“ضعيف فى الحديث”
He is weak in ḥadīth.
(Tirmidhī under Ḥadīth: 870)
❽ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥibbān said:
“يروي المناكير عن المشاهير”
He narrates rejected (munkar) reports from well-known narrators.
(Kitāb al-Majrūḥīn 2/139; second edition 2/122)
❾ Imām al-Nasāʾī said:
“مشروك الحديث.”
(al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn 393)
❿ Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said:
“تركوه”
The ḥadīth scholars abandoned him.
(al-Mughnī fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ 20/622, no. 3747)
⓫ Ibn al-Jawzī mentioned him in al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn.
(also see: 1957)
Furthermore, the teacher of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿImrān—Yazīd ibn Sāʾib—is unknown (majhūl), and he is certainly not Yazīd ibn Sāʾib, the Companion. It is impossible that Ibn ʿImrān could have met the Companion.
This is the false narration that Dr. Jalali presented in support of constructing domes and buildings over graves, thereby misleading the public. Dr. Jalali should either authenticate this narration or seek forgiveness from Allah and refrain from misleading people with such fabricated narrations, as it is impermissible to narrate false ḥadīths without criticism, let alone derive rulings and issues from them!
May Allah grant us all the ability to narrate authentic ḥadīths, to act upon them, and to avoid weak and rejected narrations. Āmīn.
(31st July, 2013)
