Authored by: Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad Anwar Zāhid ḥafiẓahullāh
Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr ibn al-Bazzār narrated in his Musnad from ʿAlī (RA) that the Noble Prophet ﷺ made a will to him saying:
❝O ʿAlī (RA), let no one give me ghusl (ritual washing) except you, for whoever sees my private part will become blind.❞
[Reported by al-ʿUqaylī in al-Ḍuʿafāʾ: 4/13, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Dalāʾil: 7/244. See also Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 5/505]
ʿAlī (RA) stated: “ʿAbbās (RA) and Usāmah (RA) were passing me water from behind a screen.”
The chain presented by al-Bazzār includes:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm → ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn al-Nuʿmān → Kaysān Abū ʿAmr → Yazīd ibn Bilāl → ʿAlī (RA).
Ibn Kathīr notes that al-Bayhaqī also narrated this report from Kaysān Abū ʿAmr, but states that it is an extremely rare narration.
[al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah: 5/261]
Ibn Saʿd also narrated from ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn al-Nuʿmān in his Ṭabaqāt with slightly different wording:
The Prophet ﷺ willed to ʿAlī (RA):
❝No one should bathe me except you. Whoever sets his eyes on my private part will become blind.❞
ʿAlī (RA) further stated:
“Faḍl (RA) and Usāmah (RA) were passing water from behind a curtain. Their eyes were covered with cloth. Whenever I would move any limb, I would feel as though the strength of thirty men had been given to me—until I completed the ghusl of the Prophet ﷺ.”
[Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd: 4/94]
Dear readers, indeed it was ʿAlī (RA) who performed the ghusl of the Prophet ﷺ. However, Faḍl (RA) helped in turning the body, while ʿAbbās, Usāmah, and Shaqrān (RA)—who was a servant of the Prophet ﷺ—poured the water.
Some historians report that instead of ʿAbbās (RA), his son Qutham (RA) participated.
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar wrote: Ibn Ḥibbān counted him among the thiqāt.
Ibrāhīm al-Junayd stated that when he asked Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn about him, he replied: “I do not consider him a liar.”
ʿAjlī said he is thiqah.
[Lisān al-Mīzān: 4/23]
Narrated by: ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Nuʿmān, Muḥammad ibn Rabīʿ, and ʿUbaydullāh ibn Mūsá.
This narrator is criticized, and this narration is considered extremely munkar (rejected).
[Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 5/505, Taqrīb: 2/137]
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim wrote: Kaysān narrated from Yazīd ibn Bilāl, who was his master. Several narrators reported from him. When I asked Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, he said: Ḍaʿīf al-ḥadīth.
[al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl: 7/166]
Imām al-Dhahabī wrote: He narrated from ʿAlī (RA) what is not authentic.
Imām al-Bukhārī said: The narration from ʿAlī (RA) by Yazīd ibn Bilāl is criticized. It is narrated through Kaysān Abū ʿAmr al-Hijrī, which is not authentic.
❖ The Prophet’s ﷺ Bequest to ʿAlī (RA)
Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr ibn al-Bazzār narrated in his Musnad from ʿAlī (RA) that the Noble Prophet ﷺ made a will to him saying:
❝O ʿAlī (RA), let no one give me ghusl (ritual washing) except you, for whoever sees my private part will become blind.❞
[Reported by al-ʿUqaylī in al-Ḍuʿafāʾ: 4/13, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Dalāʾil: 7/244. See also Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 5/505]
ʿAlī (RA) stated: “ʿAbbās (RA) and Usāmah (RA) were passing me water from behind a screen.”
❖ Chain of Narrators as Presented by al-Bazzār
The chain presented by al-Bazzār includes:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm → ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn al-Nuʿmān → Kaysān Abū ʿAmr → Yazīd ibn Bilāl → ʿAlī (RA).
Ibn Kathīr notes that al-Bayhaqī also narrated this report from Kaysān Abū ʿAmr, but states that it is an extremely rare narration.
[al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah: 5/261]
❖ Parallel Narration by Ibn Saʿd in
Ibn Saʿd also narrated from ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn al-Nuʿmān in his Ṭabaqāt with slightly different wording:
The Prophet ﷺ willed to ʿAlī (RA):
❝No one should bathe me except you. Whoever sets his eyes on my private part will become blind.❞
ʿAlī (RA) further stated:
“Faḍl (RA) and Usāmah (RA) were passing water from behind a curtain. Their eyes were covered with cloth. Whenever I would move any limb, I would feel as though the strength of thirty men had been given to me—until I completed the ghusl of the Prophet ﷺ.”
[Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd: 4/94]
❖ Summary of the Event According to Historians
Dear readers, indeed it was ʿAlī (RA) who performed the ghusl of the Prophet ﷺ. However, Faḍl (RA) helped in turning the body, while ʿAbbās, Usāmah, and Shaqrān (RA)—who was a servant of the Prophet ﷺ—poured the water.
Some historians report that instead of ʿAbbās (RA), his son Qutham (RA) participated.
❖ Criticism of Three Narrators in the Chain
✿ 1. ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn al-Nuʿmān
- Resident of Baghdād and a cloth merchant.
- None of the compilers of the Ṣiḥāḥ Sittah accepted narrations from him.
- According to Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn and others: Thiqah (reliable).
- According to al-Dāraqutnī and al-Nasāʾī: Not strong.
[Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 4/356, al-Mughnī: 2/396, al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl: 6/51]
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar wrote: Ibn Ḥibbān counted him among the thiqāt.
Ibrāhīm al-Junayd stated that when he asked Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn about him, he replied: “I do not consider him a liar.”
ʿAjlī said he is thiqah.
[Lisān al-Mīzān: 4/23]
✿ 2. Kaysān Abū ʿAmr
- Also known as al-Qaṣṣār.
- Narrated from Yazīd ibn Bilāl.
- Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn said: Ḍaʿīf (weak).
- ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad asked his father, Imām Aḥmad, who also deemed him ḍaʿīf al-ḥadīth.
Narrated by: ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Nuʿmān, Muḥammad ibn Rabīʿ, and ʿUbaydullāh ibn Mūsá.
This narrator is criticized, and this narration is considered extremely munkar (rejected).
[Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 5/505, Taqrīb: 2/137]
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim wrote: Kaysān narrated from Yazīd ibn Bilāl, who was his master. Several narrators reported from him. When I asked Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, he said: Ḍaʿīf al-ḥadīth.
[al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl: 7/166]
✿ 3. Yazīd ibn Bilāl
- Said to be among the companions of ʿAlī (RA).
- Many ḥadīth scholars considered all partisans of ʿAlī (RA) as liars.
- ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim wrote: Yazīd ibn Bilāl ibn al-Ḥārith al-Farārī narrated from ʿAlī (RA). No one besides Kaysān Abū ʿAmr narrated from him. My father told me this same detail.
[al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl: 9/254]
Imām al-Dhahabī wrote: He narrated from ʿAlī (RA) what is not authentic.
Imām al-Bukhārī said: The narration from ʿAlī (RA) by Yazīd ibn Bilāl is criticized. It is narrated through Kaysān Abū ʿAmr al-Hijrī, which is not authentic.
