✦ Investigation of the Ḥadīth Regarding Angels Appointed Over the Prophet’s Grave ✦
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1 – Kitāb al-ʿAqāʾid, p. 182
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
This analysis addresses the authenticity of the ḥadīth which claims that a specific angel is stationed at the grave of the Prophet ﷺ, responsible for conveying the names of those who send blessings upon him.
Narration:
"عن محمد بن عبد الله بن صالح المروزي، حدّثنا بكر بن خداش، عن فطر بن خليفة، عن أبي الطفيل، عن أبي بكر الصديق رضي الله عنه، مرفوعاً إلى النبي ﷺ..."
Narrated by Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Marwazī, from Bakr ibn Khaddāsh, from Fiṭr ibn Khalīfah, from Abū al-Ṭufayl, from Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه, reported as marfūʿ to the Prophet ﷺ.
Reference: al-Daylamī 1/1/31, al-Ṣaḥīḥah 4/44
✔ Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Ṣāliḥ is a majhūl (unknown) narrator.
✔ Shaykh al-Albānī himself wrote: “لم أعرفه” – “I do not know him.”
✔ The chain to al-Daylamī is unknown and untraceable, making it incomplete and unreliable.
⟹ Verdict: This chain is not authentic.
“Indeed, Allah has appointed an angel who has been given the names of all creation. He stands at my grave from the time of my death until the Day of Judgment. Whenever someone from my Ummah sends ṣalāh upon me, he says: O Muḥammad ﷺ, so-and-so the son of so-and-so has sent blessings upon you…”
Sources Cited: Abū al-Shaykh ibn Ḥayyān, al-Ṭabarānī, al-Qawl al-Badīʿ by al-Sakhāwī, p. 112, al-Ṣaḥīḥah 4/44
Despite the weaknesses, al-Albānī رحمه الله cautiously stated:
"فالحديث بهذا الشاهد وغيره مما في معناه حسن إن شاء الله تعالى"
“With this supporting narration and others of similar meaning, the ḥadīth is ḥasan (acceptable), if Allah wills.”
(al-Ṣaḥīḥah 4/45)
⚠ However, scholars agree that weak + weak narration does not result in a ḥasan grade unless the chains are independent and slightly weak—not containing majhūl or matrūk narrators.
"إِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَلَائِكَةً سَيَّاحِينَ يُبَلِّغُونِي مِنْ أُمَّتِي السَّلَامَ"
“Indeed, Allah has angels who roam the earth and convey to me the greetings of my Ummah.”
— Sunan al-Nasāʾī 3/43 (Ḥadīth 1283)
— Musnad Aḥmad 1/387, 452; Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Ḥākim 2/431, Ḥadīth 3576
This narration is authentic, supported by multiple strong chains.
✔ Imām Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Qāḍī clarified in Faḍl al-Ṣalāh ʿala al-Nabī ﷺ (p. 11, Ḥadīth 21) that Sufyān al-Thawrī explicitly stated hearing (samaʿ).
✔ Sulaimān ibn Mihrān al-Aʿmash, another strong narrator, also corroborated him.
⟹ The objection is invalid.
✘ There is no credible evidence that Zādān was a Shīʿī.
✔ Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nuʿaym al-Aṣbahānī listed him among the pious Ahl al-Sunnah in Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ (4/199–204).
✔ The majority of ḥadīth scholars declared him thiqah (trustworthy) and ṣadūq (reliable).
⟹ Any criticism against him is baseless and rejected.
(Further details can be found in: “al-Yāqūt wa al-Marjān fī Tawthīq Abī ʿUmar Zādān”)
✔ The narration regarding a specific angel stationed at the Prophet’s ﷺ grave conveying names of those who send ṣalāh upon him is weak and unacceptable.
✘ It is built upon chains with majhūl narrators, and therefore not suitable as a Sharʿī proof.
✔ In contrast, authentic and sound ḥadīths confirm that roaming angels convey the salām of the Ummah to the Prophet ﷺ, with fully verified chains.
والله أعلم بالصواب
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1 – Kitāb al-ʿAqāʾid, p. 182
❖ Introduction:
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
This analysis addresses the authenticity of the ḥadīth which claims that a specific angel is stationed at the grave of the Prophet ﷺ, responsible for conveying the names of those who send blessings upon him.
✦ Chain #1: Cited by Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله
Narration:
"عن محمد بن عبد الله بن صالح المروزي، حدّثنا بكر بن خداش، عن فطر بن خليفة، عن أبي الطفيل، عن أبي بكر الصديق رضي الله عنه، مرفوعاً إلى النبي ﷺ..."
Narrated by Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Marwazī, from Bakr ibn Khaddāsh, from Fiṭr ibn Khalīfah, from Abū al-Ṭufayl, from Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه, reported as marfūʿ to the Prophet ﷺ.
Reference: al-Daylamī 1/1/31, al-Ṣaḥīḥah 4/44
✦ Critical Analysis:
✔ Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Ṣāliḥ is a majhūl (unknown) narrator.
✔ Shaykh al-Albānī himself wrote: “لم أعرفه” – “I do not know him.”
✔ The chain to al-Daylamī is unknown and untraceable, making it incomplete and unreliable.
⟹ Verdict: This chain is not authentic.
✦ Chain #2: Content of the Ḥadīth
“Indeed, Allah has appointed an angel who has been given the names of all creation. He stands at my grave from the time of my death until the Day of Judgment. Whenever someone from my Ummah sends ṣalāh upon me, he says: O Muḥammad ﷺ, so-and-so the son of so-and-so has sent blessings upon you…”
Sources Cited: Abū al-Shaykh ibn Ḥayyān, al-Ṭabarānī, al-Qawl al-Badīʿ by al-Sakhāwī, p. 112, al-Ṣaḥīḥah 4/44
✦ Critical Analysis of Narrators:
- Naʿīm ibn Ḍamḍam is majhūl (unknown). No major ḥadīth scholar has authenticated him.
(Lisān al-Mīzān 6/169, new edition 7/213) - ʿImrān ibn al-Ḥimyarī is also majhūl. Only Ibn Ḥibbān regarded him as trustworthy, which is not sufficient on its own.
(Lisān al-Mīzān 4/345, other version 5/264) - Imām al-Bukhārī noted this narration in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (6/416) and remarked:
"لا يُتَابَعُ عَلَى حَدِيثِهِ" – “His ḥadīth is not supported by others.”
✦ Opinion of Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله:
Despite the weaknesses, al-Albānī رحمه الله cautiously stated:
"فالحديث بهذا الشاهد وغيره مما في معناه حسن إن شاء الله تعالى"
“With this supporting narration and others of similar meaning, the ḥadīth is ḥasan (acceptable), if Allah wills.”
(al-Ṣaḥīḥah 4/45)
⚠ However, scholars agree that weak + weak narration does not result in a ḥasan grade unless the chains are independent and slightly weak—not containing majhūl or matrūk narrators.
✦ Conflict with an Established Ṣaḥīḥ Ḥadīth:
"إِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَلَائِكَةً سَيَّاحِينَ يُبَلِّغُونِي مِنْ أُمَّتِي السَّلَامَ"
“Indeed, Allah has angels who roam the earth and convey to me the greetings of my Ummah.”
— Sunan al-Nasāʾī 3/43 (Ḥadīth 1283)
— Musnad Aḥmad 1/387, 452; Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Ḥākim 2/431, Ḥadīth 3576
This narration is authentic, supported by multiple strong chains.✦ Responses to Objections:
➊ Objection: Isn’t Sufyān al-Thawrī a mudallis in the chain?
✔ Imām Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Qāḍī clarified in Faḍl al-Ṣalāh ʿala al-Nabī ﷺ (p. 11, Ḥadīth 21) that Sufyān al-Thawrī explicitly stated hearing (samaʿ).
✔ Sulaimān ibn Mihrān al-Aʿmash, another strong narrator, also corroborated him.
⟹ The objection is invalid.
➋ Objection: Isn't Zādān (Abū ʿUmar) a Shīʿī?
✘ There is no credible evidence that Zādān was a Shīʿī.
✔ Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nuʿaym al-Aṣbahānī listed him among the pious Ahl al-Sunnah in Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ (4/199–204).
✔ The majority of ḥadīth scholars declared him thiqah (trustworthy) and ṣadūq (reliable).
⟹ Any criticism against him is baseless and rejected.
(Further details can be found in: “al-Yāqūt wa al-Marjān fī Tawthīq Abī ʿUmar Zādān”)
❖ Conclusion:
✔ The narration regarding a specific angel stationed at the Prophet’s ﷺ grave conveying names of those who send ṣalāh upon him is weak and unacceptable.
✘ It is built upon chains with majhūl narrators, and therefore not suitable as a Sharʿī proof.
✔ In contrast, authentic and sound ḥadīths confirm that roaming angels convey the salām of the Ummah to the Prophet ﷺ, with fully verified chains.
والله أعلم بالصواب
