Analysis of the Chain of the Ḥadīth: Prohibition of Peeking Like a Crow, Sitting Like Beasts, and Fixing a Place in the Mosque
Source: Fatāwā Aminpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Aminpuri
Question
What is the authenticity of the following narration?
❀ Narrated from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Shibl (RA):
نهى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن نقرة الغراب، وافتراش السبع، وأن يوطن الرجل المكان فى المسجد كما يوطن البعير.
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade pecking like a crow, spreading the arms like a beast, and fixing a spot in the mosque as a camel fixes a place.”
(Musnad Aḥmad 3/428, Sunan Abī Dāwūd 862, Sunan al-Nasā’ī 1112, Sunan Ibn Mājah 1429)
Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
Chain Analysis of the First Report (ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Shibl RA)
✿ The chain is weak because of Tamīm b. Maḥmūd.
- Imam al-Bukhārī (RA): “في حديثه نظر” – “His ḥadīth is questionable.”
(al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr 2/154) - Imam al-ʿUqaylī (RA): “لا يتابع عليه” – “He is not followed up in his narrations.”
(al-Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Kabīr 1/170)
Second Report (Abū Hurayrah RA)
❀ Narrated:
نهاني عن نقرة كنقرة الديك، وإفعاء كإفعاء الكلب، والتفات كالتفات الثعلب.
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade me from pecking like a rooster, sitting like a dog, and turning like a fox.”
(Musnad Aḥmad 2/311)
- The chain is weak due to Yazīd b. Abī Ziyād.
Criticism on Yazīd b. Abī Ziyād:
- Declared ḍaʿīf and poor in memory by the majority.
- Mudallis, mukhtaḷiṭ, and accepted talqīn (prompting).
- Ibn Ḥajar (RA): “ضعيف، كبر، فتغير وصار يتلقن وكان شيعيا.”
– “Weak; in old age his memory deteriorated, he began accepting prompting, and he was a Shīʿī.”
(Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb 7717) - He also said: “الجمهور على تضعيف حديثه” – “The majority declare his ḥadīth weak.”
(Hady al-Sārī p. 459) - Imam al-Nawawī (RA):
– “مجمع على ضعفه لا سيما وقد خالف بروايته الثقات.”
– “There is consensus on his weakness, especially when he opposes trustworthy narrators.”
(Sharḥ Muslim 1/306, 7/8)
– “هو ضعيف باتفاق المحدثين.”
– “He is weak by agreement of the ḥadīth scholars.”
(al-Majmūʿ 7/195)
Third Report (al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ 5275)
- The chain is weak.
① Layth b. Abī Sulaym – declared weak and mukhtaḷiṭ.
- Imam al-Nawawī (RA):
“اتفق العلماء على ضعفه، واضطراب حديثه، واختلال ضبطه.”
– “The scholars agree on his weakness, his ḥadīth being inconsistent, and his poor memory.”
(Tahdhīb al-Asmāʾ waʾl-Lughāt 2/75)
② Ḥabīb b. Abī Thābit – narrates with ʿanʿanah.
Fourth Report (Musnad Abī Yaʿlā 2619)
- The chain is severely weak.
① Muḥammad b. ʿUbayd Allāh b. Abī Sulaymān al-ʿArzamī al-Fazārī al-Kūfī – ḍaʿīf and matrūk.
② Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf – regarded weak by the majority.
Conclusion
All the chains presented for these narrations are weak due to problematic narrators such as Tamīm b. Maḥmūd, Yazīd b. Abī Ziyād, Layth b. Abī Sulaym, Muḥammad b. ʿUbayd Allāh al-ʿArzamī, and others.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
