Historical and Chain Analysis of the Poem “Ṭalaʿa al-Badru ʿAlaynā”
(Excerpt: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah – Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām, Vol. 2, p. 481)
What is the authenticity of the incident and the verses of the poem “Ṭalaʿa al-Badru ʿAlaynā”?
Some scholars have mentioned that when the Prophet ﷺ migrated from Makkah and arrived in Madinah, the young girls of Madinah sang the following verses:
أشرق البدر علینا من ثنیات الوداع
وجب الشکر علینا ما دعا لله داع
أیها المبعوث فینا جئت بالأمر المطاع
Translated:
"From the southern mountain passes, the full moon has risen upon us.
We owe thanks to Allah as long as there is one calling to Him.
O you who have been sent among us, you have come with a command to be obeyed."
These verses are cited in Raḥmat lil-ʿĀlamīn (Vol. 1, p. 93) and Al-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm Urdu edition (pp. 240–241).
Alḥamdulillāh, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
It appears in various sources either without a chain or with a disconnected (munqaṭiʿ) chain:
He stated:
"We have narrated in al-Ḥalabiyyāt with a disconnected chain that the women said, when the Prophet ﷺ arrived: Ṭalaʿa al-Badru ʿAlaynā min Thaniyyāt al-Wadāʿ. It is said this occurred upon his arrival at the time of migration, and it is also said it occurred upon his return from the Battle of Tabuk."
(Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 8, p. 129, ḥadīth no. 4427)
As Ibn al-Qayyim stated in Zād al-Maʿād (Vol. 3, p. 551):
“This is a clear error, because Thaniyyāt al-Wadāʿ is situated towards the north of Madinah (towards al-Shām). A person coming from Makkah to Madinah would not pass through it. It is only on the route for one heading towards al-Shām.”
In one manuscript of Mawārid al-Ẓamʾān (ḥadīth 2015), an unknown scribe added these verses to the end of an authentic narration:
“وقالت: أشرق البدر علینا من ثنیات الوداع، وجب الشکر علینا ما دعا للہ داع”
This addition does not exist in the authentic printed copies of Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān (Al-Iḥsān, ḥadīth nos. 4371 and 4386) and is therefore also fabricated and rejected.
Allah knows best.
(Excerpt: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah – Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām, Vol. 2, p. 481)
Question:
What is the authenticity of the incident and the verses of the poem “Ṭalaʿa al-Badru ʿAlaynā”?
Some scholars have mentioned that when the Prophet ﷺ migrated from Makkah and arrived in Madinah, the young girls of Madinah sang the following verses:
أشرق البدر علینا من ثنیات الوداع
وجب الشکر علینا ما دعا لله داع
أیها المبعوث فینا جئت بالأمر المطاع
Translated:
"From the southern mountain passes, the full moon has risen upon us.
We owe thanks to Allah as long as there is one calling to Him.
O you who have been sent among us, you have come with a command to be obeyed."
These verses are cited in Raḥmat lil-ʿĀlamīn (Vol. 1, p. 93) and Al-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm Urdu edition (pp. 240–241).
Answer:
Alḥamdulillāh, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
Authenticity of the Report and Its Chains:
- The incident is mentioned in Raḥmat lil-ʿĀlamīn without any chain of narration or reference.
- Qāḍī Muḥammad Sulaymān Manṣūr Pūrī presented no irrefutable proof for its authenticity.
- The author of Al-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm copied it from Raḥmat lil-ʿĀlamīn without verification.
Sources of the Report:
It appears in various sources either without a chain or with a disconnected (munqaṭiʿ) chain:
- Al-Tamhīd by Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (14/82)
- Kitāb al-Thiqāt by Ibn Ḥibbān (1/131)
- Majmūʿ Fatāwā of Ibn Taymiyyah (18/377)
- Al-Ḍaʿīfah of al-Albānī (ḥadīth no. 488)
Analysis by Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī:
He stated:
"We have narrated in al-Ḥalabiyyāt with a disconnected chain that the women said, when the Prophet ﷺ arrived: Ṭalaʿa al-Badru ʿAlaynā min Thaniyyāt al-Wadāʿ. It is said this occurred upon his arrival at the time of migration, and it is also said it occurred upon his return from the Battle of Tabuk."
(Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 8, p. 129, ḥadīth no. 4427)
Location in the Original Sources:
- Al-Bayhaqī narrated it in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah (Vol. 2, pp. 506–507) with an authentic chain from Ibn ʿĀʾishah.
- In some printed copies of Al-Khaṣāʾiṣ al-Kubrā by al-Suyūṭī (Vol. 1, p. 190), it is mistakenly printed “ʿAn ʿĀʾishah” — this is a scribal or printing error.
- Ibn ʿĀʾishah refers to ʿUbaydullāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĀʾishah (d. 228 AH).
Nature of the Chain:
- The same report appears in Al-Riyāḍ al-Naḍrah (1/480, ḥadīth 393) with: “From Ibn ʿĀʾishah, and I think from his father.”
- His father, Muḥammad ibn Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar ibn Mūsā, is majhūl (unknown), and only Ibn Ḥibbān declared him reliable.
- Both Ibn ʿĀʾishah and his father were born years after the death of the Prophet ﷺ, making the chain severely disconnected (munqaṭiʿ) and unacceptable (mardūd).
Geographical Reality of “Thaniyyāt al-Wadāʿ”:
As Ibn al-Qayyim stated in Zād al-Maʿād (Vol. 3, p. 551):
“This is a clear error, because Thaniyyāt al-Wadāʿ is situated towards the north of Madinah (towards al-Shām). A person coming from Makkah to Madinah would not pass through it. It is only on the route for one heading towards al-Shām.”
Conclusion of the Research:
- The incident and the verses are not established through any authentic, connected chain, hence they are rejected (mardūd).
Additional Note:
In one manuscript of Mawārid al-Ẓamʾān (ḥadīth 2015), an unknown scribe added these verses to the end of an authentic narration:
“وقالت: أشرق البدر علینا من ثنیات الوداع، وجب الشکر علینا ما دعا للہ داع”
This addition does not exist in the authentic printed copies of Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān (Al-Iḥsān, ḥadīth nos. 4371 and 4386) and is therefore also fabricated and rejected.
Allah knows best.
