Investigation of the Ḥadīth Regarding ʿAlī (RA) Bathing the Prophet ﷺ
Author: Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad Anwar Zāhid (ḥafiẓahullāh)
Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bazzār in his Musnad narrates from ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه):
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed me: ‘Let no one bathe me except you, O ʿAlī, for whoever sees my private part will be struck blind.’”
ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) adds:
“Al-ʿAbbās and Usāmah (رضي الله عنهما) were handing me water from behind a curtain.”
References:
Ibn Kathīr notes that al-Bayhaqī also narrates it from Kaysān Abū ʿAmr, but calls it extremely strange (gharīb jiddan).
[al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 5/261]
Ibn Saʿd in al-Ṭabaqāt transmits a similar version with added detail:
Al-Faḍl (رضي الله عنه) and Usāmah (رضي الله عنه) were handing water from behind a curtain with cloth over their eyes, while ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) was bathing the Prophet ﷺ.
It is authentically established that ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) did bathe the Prophet ﷺ, but:
Narrators in al-Bazzār’s chain:
Final Ruling: Weak (ḍaʿīf), and the blindness clause is likely fabricated.
Author: Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad Anwar Zāhid (ḥafiẓahullāh)
Text of the Report
Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bazzār in his Musnad narrates from ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه):
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed me: ‘Let no one bathe me except you, O ʿAlī, for whoever sees my private part will be struck blind.’”
ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) adds:
“Al-ʿAbbās and Usāmah (رضي الله عنهما) were handing me water from behind a curtain.”
References:
- Al-ʿUqaylī, al-Ḍuʿafāʾ 4/13
- Al-Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah 7/244
- Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 5/505
Ibn Kathīr notes that al-Bayhaqī also narrates it from Kaysān Abū ʿAmr, but calls it extremely strange (gharīb jiddan).
[al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 5/261]
Ibn Saʿd in al-Ṭabaqāt transmits a similar version with added detail:
Al-Faḍl (رضي الله عنه) and Usāmah (رضي الله عنه) were handing water from behind a curtain with cloth over their eyes, while ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) was bathing the Prophet ﷺ.
Historical Facts
It is authentically established that ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) did bathe the Prophet ﷺ, but:
- Al-Faḍl bin al-ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه) was turning the Prophet ﷺ’s body.
- Al-ʿAbbās, Usāmah bin Zayd, and Shuqrān (رضي الله عنهم) were pouring water.
- Some historians mention that Qutham bin al-ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه) may have been involved instead of al-ʿAbbās.
Chain Analysis
Narrators in al-Bazzār’s chain:
- ʿAbd al-Ṣamad bin al-Nuʿmān
- From Baghdād; not narrated in Ṣiḥāḥ Sittah.
- Yaḥyā bin Maʿīn, al-ʿAjlī: thiqah.
- Al-Dāraqutnī & al-Nasāʾī: “Not strong.”
- Ibn Ḥibbān listed in al-Thiqāt.
[Mīzān 4/356; al-Mughnī 2/396; al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl 6/51; Lisān al-Mīzān 4/23]
- Kaysān Abū ʿAmr (al-Qaṣṣār)
- Narrated from Yazīd bin Bilāl.
- Yaḥyā bin Maʿīn: ḍaʿīf.
- Imām Aḥmad: ḍaʿīf al-ḥadīth.
- Abū Ḥātim: “Weak.”
- This specific narration is munkar jiddan.
[Mīzān 5/505; Taqrīb 2/137; al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl 7/166]
- Yazīd bin Bilāl
- Considered among the associates of ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه).
- Mughammal in jarḥ: “All associates of ʿAlī were considered liars by hadith critics in isnād matters.”
- Ibn Abī Ḥātim: Narrates only via Kaysān Abū ʿAmr; no other student.
- Al-Dhahabī: His reports from ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) are not ṣaḥīḥ.
- Al-Bukhārī: Objectionable in his narrations from ʿAlī.
Authenticity Verdict
- The report’s chain contains two weak narrators (Kaysān & Yazīd bin Bilāl).
- The matn (content) includes an unsubstantiated claim about blindness upon seeing the Prophet’s ﷺ private part, which is unsupported in ṣaḥīḥ narrations.
- Established historical reports of the bathing do not mention this “blindness” condition, but rather the presence of multiple helpers and a curtain for modesty.
Final Ruling: Weak (ḍaʿīf), and the blindness clause is likely fabricated.
