Research Analysis on the Hadith Regarding Reciting Surah Al-Baqarah After Burial

Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 3 – Issues Related to Funeral Prayer, p. 137

Question​

A friend sent me a message containing the meaning of a Hadith, which states:


ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما said: I heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ say:
“When one of you dies, do not keep him confined, rather hasten to carry him to the grave. After burial, recite the beginning of Surah Al-Baqarah at his head and its ending at his feet.”
(Mishkāt, Hadith no. 1625, Vol. 1)


My question is: What is your opinion regarding this Hadith? Is it authentic or weak?
(Question by: Muhammad Yaʿqūb Mahlo, Tehsil Fateh Jang, District Attock)

Answer​

Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. Ammā baʿd:


This narration, mentioned in Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, is cited from Shuʿab al-Īmān by al-Bayhaqī:


Reference: Shuʿab al-Īmān, Vol. 1, p. 559, Hadith no. 1717

Chain of Narration in Shuʿab al-Īmān:​

ḥaddathanā Abū Shuʿayb al-Ḥarrānī, thannā Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbdillāh al-Bābaltī, thannā Ayyūb ibn Nuhayyik, qāl: samiʿtu ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ yaqūl: samiʿtu ibn ʿUmar yaqūl: samiʿtu an-Nabī ﷺ yaqūl…
(Shuʿab al-Īmān, Hadith no. 9294 — in the newer verified edition: Hadith no. 8854)


This same narration is also found in:
◈ al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī (Vol. 11, p. 444, Hadith no. 13613)
◈ al-Qirāʾah ʿinda al-Qubūr by al-Khallāl (Hadith no. 2)

Criticism of the Narrators​

① Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk al-Bābaltī​

Multiple Muḥaddithūn have criticised him:

• Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī رحمه الله: “Ḍaʿīf” (weak) — Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, no. 7585
• Imām al-Bayhaqī رحمه الله: “Ḍaʿīf” — as-Sunan al-Kubrā, Vol. 4, p. 295
• al-Ḥāfiẓ adh-Dhahabī رحمه الله: “Wāh” (feeble/weak) — al-Mughnī fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ, Vol. 2, p. 521, no. 7003
• al-Haythamī رحمه الله: “Wa huwa ḍaʿīf” — Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid, Vol. 3, p. 44

Also declared weak by Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī, Ibn ʿAdī, and other eminent scholars.

② Ayyūb ibn Nuhayyik al-Ḥalabī​

He has been severely criticised:

• Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī: “He is weak in Hadith”
• Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī: “He is munkar al-ḥadīth” — Kitāb al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, Vol. 2, p. 259, no. 930
• Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله: “He is munkar al-ḥadīth, not strong” — Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 2, p. 409, under Hadith no. 930
• adh-Dhahabī رحمه الله: “They abandoned him” (matrūk) — Dīwān al-Ḍuʿafāʾ, p. 106, no. 535; al-Mughnī fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ, p. 151, no. 837
• al-Haythamī رحمه الله: “In the chain is Ayyūb ibn Nuhayyik, who is matrūk; many have declared him weak. Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him among the trustworthy but said: he makes mistakes” — Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid, Vol. 2, p. 184

Although Ibn Ḥibbān included him in al-Thiqāt, this is considered weak and odd compared to the majority’s criticism.

Conclusion​

From the above details, it is clear that:


◈ This narration you mentioned is severely weak and rejected.
◈ Even the mawqūf version in this regard is weak because ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Lajlāj is majhūl (unknown).


Therefore: The Hadith about reciting the beginning of Surah Al-Baqarah at the head and its ending at the feet after burial is not acceptable, as its chain contains two narrators who are weak and criticised.


ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب


(Date: 11 August 2012)