The Reality of the Narration About Khidr عليه السلام in ʿArafāt
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 464
Did Khidr عليه السلام come to ʿArafāt?
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī رحمه الله wrote that Sayyidunā Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما narrated:
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Every year, those from the land and the sea gather in Makkah. By ‘those from the land and the sea’ are meant Ilyās عليه السلام and Khidr عليه السلام. The two shave each other’s heads."
(Ghuniyat al-Ṭālibīn, p. 406)
“Akhbaranā Nāhbah Allāh ibn al-Mubārak, qāl: anbaʾanā al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muqriʾ, qāl: akhbaranā al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿImrān al-Muʾadhdhin, qāl: ḥaddathanā Abū al-Qāsim al-Fāmī, qāl: ḥaddathanā Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, qāl: ḥaddathanā Aḥmad ibn ʿAmmār, anbaʾanā Muḥammad ibn Mahdī, qāl: ḥaddathanī Ibn Jurayj, ʿan ʿAṭāʾ, ʿan Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما.”
(al-Ghuniyah Ṭarīq al-Ḥaqq, Arabic vol. 2, p. 39; Ghuniyat al-Ṭālibīn Arabic–Urdu, vol. 2, pp. 446–447)
This narration is fabricated (mawḍūʿ).
According to Ibn Ḥajar, between Muḥammad ibn Mahdī and Ibn Jurayj, there is an additional link — Mahdī ibn Hilāl.
(See: al-Iṣābah, 1/438, biography of Khidr; al-Laʾālī al-Maṣnūʿah, 1/167)
This narration is fabricated (mawḍūʿ).
For other fabricated and objectionable chains related to this report, see:
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 464Question:
Did Khidr عليه السلام come to ʿArafāt?
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī رحمه الله wrote that Sayyidunā Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما narrated:
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Every year, those from the land and the sea gather in Makkah. By ‘those from the land and the sea’ are meant Ilyās عليه السلام and Khidr عليه السلام. The two shave each other’s heads."
(Ghuniyat al-Ṭālibīn, p. 406)
Chain of Narration Quoted:
“Akhbaranā Nāhbah Allāh ibn al-Mubārak, qāl: anbaʾanā al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muqriʾ, qāl: akhbaranā al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿImrān al-Muʾadhdhin, qāl: ḥaddathanā Abū al-Qāsim al-Fāmī, qāl: ḥaddathanā Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, qāl: ḥaddathanā Aḥmad ibn ʿAmmār, anbaʾanā Muḥammad ibn Mahdī, qāl: ḥaddathanī Ibn Jurayj, ʿan ʿAṭāʾ, ʿan Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما.”
(al-Ghuniyah Ṭarīq al-Ḥaqq, Arabic vol. 2, p. 39; Ghuniyat al-Ṭālibīn Arabic–Urdu, vol. 2, pp. 446–447)
Authenticity of the Narration:
This narration is fabricated (mawḍūʿ).
Comments on the First Narrator – Hibatullāh ibn al-Mubārak al-Saqṭī:
- Muḥaddith Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir رحمه الله was asked if he was trustworthy. He replied:
“Lā wallāh, ḥaddatha bi-Wāsiṭ ʿan shuyūkh lam yarahum fa-ẓahara kadhibuhu ʿindahum”
“No, by Allah! He narrated in Wāsiṭ from shaykhs he had never seen, so his lying became apparent to them.”
(al-Muntaẓim of Ibn al-Jawzī, 17/144) - al-Samʿānī said:
“Wa lam yakun mawthūqan bihi fīmā yanqul” — “He was not reliable in what he transmitted.”
(al-Ansāb, vol. 3, p. 264) - Shujāʿ al-Dhuhalī graded him extremely weak.
- Ibn al-Najjār described him as “muthāhaf… ḍaʿīf” — “confused… weak.”
(al-Mustafād min Dhayl Tārīkh Baghdād, 19/250) - Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir considered him “fallen” like his title al-Saqṭī:
“al-Saqṭī lā shayʾ, huwa mithla nasabihi min saqṭ al-matāʿ”
“al-Saqṭī is nothing; he is like his name — discarded goods.”
(al-Mustafād, p. 250)
Other Narrators in the Chain:
- al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muqriʾ, Abū al-Qāsim al-Fāmī, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAmmār — Require further identification and research.
- al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿImrān al-Muʾadhdhin and Muḥammad ibn Mahdī — Unknown status; this adds majhūl narrators to the chain.
Analysis by Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله:
According to Ibn Ḥajar, between Muḥammad ibn Mahdī and Ibn Jurayj, there is an additional link — Mahdī ibn Hilāl.
(See: al-Iṣābah, 1/438, biography of Khidr; al-Laʾālī al-Maṣnūʿah, 1/167)
- Regarding Mahdī ibn Hilāl:
- Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān said: “Yakdhib fī al-ḥadīth” — “He lies in ḥadīth.”
(al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, 8/336 — authentic chain) - Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn said: “Mahdī ibn Hilāl kadhdhāb” — “Mahdī ibn Hilāl is a liar.”
(Tārīkh Ibn Maʿīn, narration of al-Dūrī, 3491)
- Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān said: “Yakdhib fī al-ḥadīth” — “He lies in ḥadīth.”
Regarding Aḥmad ibn ʿAmmār:
- Ibn Ḥajar quoted:
“Qāla Ibn al-Jawzī: Aḥmad ibn ʿAmmār matrūk ʿinda al-Dāraquṭnī”
“Aḥmad ibn ʿAmmār is abandoned according to al-Dāraquṭnī.”
(al-Iṣābah, 1/438)
Conclusion:
This narration is fabricated (mawḍūʿ).
For other fabricated and objectionable chains related to this report, see:
- al-Mawḍūʿāt by Ibn al-Jawzī (1/195–196)
- al-Kāmil by Ibn ʿAdī (2/740; other ed. 3/175)
- al-Laʾālī al-Maṣnūʿah (1/167)
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
