❖ Question: What is the Authenticity of the Hadith: “Allah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets”?
(إِنَّ اللَّهَ حَرَّمَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ أَنْ تَأْكُلَ أَجْسَادَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ)
Source: Fatāwā Amaanpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amaanpuri
This narration is reported as a marfūʿ (attributed to the Prophet ﷺ) hadith from Sayyidunā Aws bin Aws رضي الله عنه.
It is found in the following sources:
The narration is weak (ḍaʿīf) due to the presence of:
Status:
Note:
He should not be confused with ʿAbd al-Raḥmān bin Yazīd bin Jābir, who is trustworthy (thiqah). Confusing the two is a mistake.
❝This narration is munkar.❞
(ʿIlal al-Ḥadīth by Ibn Abī Ḥātim: 2/529)
Though the hadith is widely quoted, its chain is weak due to a problematic narrator.
Hence, the narration is not authentic.
Beliefs should not be established on weak or munkar ahādīth, especially when the matter concerns unseen realities like the preservation of the Prophets’ bodies.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
(إِنَّ اللَّهَ حَرَّمَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ أَنْ تَأْكُلَ أَجْسَادَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ)

❖ The Answer:
This narration is reported as a marfūʿ (attributed to the Prophet ﷺ) hadith from Sayyidunā Aws bin Aws رضي الله عنه.
It is found in the following sources:
- Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad: 8/4
- Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 1047, 1531
- Sunan al-Nasāʾī: 1375
- Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1085, 1636
- Faḍl al-Ṣalāh ʿala al-Nabī ﷺ by al-Qāḍī Ismāʿīl: p. 22
❖ Chain of Transmission:
The narration is weak (ḍaʿīf) due to the presence of:
✦ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān bin Yazīd bin Tamīm
Status:
- Weak and narrator of munkar ahādīth (منكر الحديث)
- Declared weak by major scholars of ḥadīth:
Scholar | Verdict |
---|---|
Imām al-Bukhārī | Declared him weak |
Imām Abū Ḥātim | Called him munkar al-ḥadīth |
Imām Abū Zurʿah | Criticized his reliability |
Imām Ibn Ḥibbān | Rejected his narrations |
Note:
He should not be confused with ʿAbd al-Raḥmān bin Yazīd bin Jābir, who is trustworthy (thiqah). Confusing the two is a mistake.
❖ Statement of Imām Abū Ḥātim رحمه الله:
❝This narration is munkar.❞
(ʿIlal al-Ḥadīth by Ibn Abī Ḥātim: 2/529)
❖ Verdict:
Though the hadith is widely quoted, its chain is weak due to a problematic narrator.
Hence, the narration is not authentic.

وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ