Research on Hadiths and Reports Regarding Earthquakes – Authentic or Weak?

Source: Fatāwā ‘Ilmiyyah (Tawdīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 501


Question:
In Monthly Muhaddith Lahore (Vol. 37, Issue 11, November 2005, p. 8), Ḥāfiẓ Ḥasan Madanī Sahib quoted several narrations about earthquakes, claiming that:


“When people begin to regard fornication as permissible, drinking wine becomes widespread, and they become involved in music and dancing, Allah commands the earth to bring an earthquake upon them. If they repent, they are spared; otherwise, the earth is turned upside down upon them.”


It was also reported that:

• The Prophet ﷺ commanded the earth to stop during an earthquake and said that it is a warning.
• ʿUmar رضي الله عنه considered an earthquake the result of the spread of innovations.
• Kaʿb described earthquakes as Allah’s wrath against sin.
• ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz considered earthquakes a sign of divine displeasure and instructed people to repent and give charity.

The question is: What is the status of these narrations from the perspective of isnād (chain of narration) and dirāyah (content)? Are all these narrations authentic?


Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ‘alā Rasūlillāh. Amā baʿd!

Investigation of the Narrations​

Narration 1: Report from ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها and Anas رضي الله عنه about details of an earthquake​

• Source: Al-Mustadrak al-Ḥākim: Ḥadīth 8575
• Chain: Baqiyyah ibn al-Walīd → Yazīd ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Juhanī → Abū al-ʿĀliyah → Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه

Chain Analysis:

• Baqiyyah ibn al-Walīd – truthful (ṣadūq) but a mudallis narrator; this narration is muʿanʿan (uses “ʿan” without explicit proof of hearing).
• Yazīd ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Juhanī – majhūl al-ḥāl (unknown condition). Only al-Ḥākim declared him reliable, which is an isolated opinion.
• Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said about one of his reports: “lā yaṣiḥḥu khabaruhu” (his report is not authentic).
• Al-Ḥākim graded it “ṣaḥīḥ according to the conditions of Muslim,” but al-Dhahabī refuted this, saying: “I suspect it is fabricated against Anas, and Nuʿaym is extremely weak.”

Conclusion: Weak and rejected narration.

Narration 2: The Prophet ﷺ addressing the earth during an earthquake​

• Status: Mursal (missing the Companion in the chain) → Weak.
• Source: Al-Dāʾ wa-al-Dawāʾ, p. 66

Narration 3: Earthquake during the Caliphate of ʿUmar رضي الله عنه and his statement​

• Source: Cited from Manāqib ʿUmar by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, but without chain.
• Ruling: Without a sound or ḥasan chain, such a narration cannot be used as evidence.

Narration 4: Report from Ṣafiyyah رضي الله عنها as quoted from Aḥmad​

• Status: Found neither in Musnad Aḥmad nor in Kitāb al-Zuhd, and is without chain.
• Ruling: Rejected.

Narration 5: Statement of Kaʿb al-Aḥbār​

• Status: Without reference or chain → Unacceptable.

Narration 6: Statement of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz​

• Status: Without reference or chain, as clarified in Al-Jawāb al-Kāfī (also known as Al-Dāʾ wa-al-Dawāʾ, ed. Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad Āl Nabatḥah, pp. 66–67).

Source Review:​

All these narrations collectively originate from Al-Dāʾ wa-al-Dawāʾ by Ibn al-Qayyim.
However, in both the Monthly Muhaddith version (pp. 63–64) and the verified edition (pp. 66–67), their chains are either weak, disconnected, or missing entirely.

Summary of Research Findings​

◈ All the quoted narrations regarding earthquakes are weak (ḍaʿīf) or rejected (mardūd).
◈ None of them is graded ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan.
◈ Some consist of fabricated statements, sayings of the Tābiʿīn, or statements without any chain.
◈ Scholars, preachers, and writers should not base admonitions, sermons, or beliefs upon weak or rejected reports.
◈ Only authentic and established aḥādīth and āthār should be presented as evidence.


Hādhā mā ʿindī, wallāhu aʿlam biṣ-ṣawāb.