This excerpt is taken from the book of Sheikh al-Islam Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, Al-Jawab al-Bahir fi Zuwar al-Maqabir, translated by Sheikh Ataullah Saqib.
Salutation upon the Messenger of Allah and its Response
When the Imams of Islam intended to follow the Prophet in sending salutations and peace upon the honored grave and upon the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, they sought the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Accordingly, Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, relied on a narration from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, which is found in the books of Sunan, in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
ما من أحد يسلم على إلا رد الله على روحى حتى أرد عليه السلام
"If anyone sends salutations upon me, Allah will return the soul to my body so that I may respond to his salutation."
Reference: (Sunan Abi Dawood, Book of Manasik: Chapter on Visiting Graves, Hadith: 2041, Virtue of Sending Salutations on the Prophet: 3020)
هذا خبر باطل لا يتعلق به فإن عبد الرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم هالك جدا ضعفه أحمد وابن المدينى وابن معين وأبو زرعة وأبو حاتم والنسائى وغيرهم وقال الساجى منكر الحديث وقال الطحاوى حديثه عند أهل العلم بالحديث فى النهاية من الضعف وقال الحاكم روى عن أبيه أحاديث موضوعة وقال ابن الجوزى أجمعوا على ضعفه كذا فى التهذيب لابن حجر العسقلانى
Reference: (pp. 178 - 179, Vol. 1)
"This narration is false and not worthy of attention. Because ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn Zaid ibn Aslam is very weak to the extent that he has been declared destructive in matters of hadith. Imams of Jarh wa Ta'dil such as Ahmad, Ibn al-Madini, Ibn Mu'in, Abu Zur'ah, Abu Hatim, and An-Nasa'i, may Allah have mercy on them, have declared him weak. Allama Saji says: This is a rejected hadith. Allama Tahawi says: His hadith is extremely weak according to the scholars of hadith. Hakim says: He narrates fabricated hadiths from his father. Ibn Jauzi says: There is consensus on his weakness. Similarly, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, may Allah have mercy on him, has also written this in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib."
وقال شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية فى كتاب التوسل والوسيلة ص 89 عبد الرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم ضعيف باتفاقهم يغلط كثيرا وضعفه أحمد بن حنبل وأبو زرعة وأبو حاتم والنسائى والدارقطنى وغيرهم وقال أبو حاتم وابن حبان كان يقلب الأخبار وهو لا يعلم حتى كثر ذلك فى روايته من رفع المراسيل وإسناد الموقوف فاستحق الترك فلا شك فى كون الخبر موضوعا لاسيما وقد رواه عن أبيه على ما نص عليه الحاكم وقد ذكر الذهبى فى ميزان الاعتدال ص 535 جلد 1 فى ترجمة عبد الرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم هذا الحديث فى منكراته
"Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, writes in his book Al-Tawassul wal-Waseelah
Reference: p. 89
: ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn Zaid ibn Aslam is unanimously weak, he makes many mistakes. He has been declared weak by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Zur'ah, Abu Hatim, An-Nasa'i, Al-Daraqutni, and other hadith scholars. Abu Hatim and Ibn Hibban say: He used to distort narrations and was unaware of it, so his narrations contain the defect of mursal (missing the companion) and attributing the sayings of companions as if from the Messenger ﷺ. Therefore, it is to be abandoned. There is no doubt that this narration is fabricated, especially since he narrated it from his father, as Hakim clearly stated. Al-Dhahabi mentioned this hadith among his rejected narrations in Mizan al-I'tidal
Reference: Vol. 1, p. 535
in the biography of Abdur-Rahman ibn Zaid ibn Aslam.’"Allama Al-Dhahabi declared this hadith rejected while describing the life of Abdur-Rahman ibn Zaid ibn Aslam in Mizan al-I'tidal
Reference: Vol. 2, p. 525
.وهذه الرواية أيضا فى صحتها نظر فقال الحافظ ابن القيم فى جلاء الأفهام ص 44 طبع منيرية سألت شيخنا يعنى ابن تيمية عن سماع زيد بن عبد الله عن أبى هريرة قال ما كان أدركه وهو ضعيف ففى سماعه منه نظر انتهى
"The authenticity of this narration is also questionable because Hafiz Ibn Qayyim said in Jala’ al-Afham
Reference: p. 44
, printed by Maktabah Muniriyah: ‘I asked my Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, about this narration whether Zaid ibn Abdullah heard it from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him? He replied: He never met him, how could he have heard it? It is weak and its hearing from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah is doubtful.’" (End)In Mar’ah al-Mafatih, its chain is graded Hasan, and this narration appears in Mishkat in the chapter on sending salutations on the Prophet, referenced from Abu Dawood and Bayhaqi. In that narration, Abdur-Rahman ibn Zaid ibn Aslam is not a narrator; rather, it is narrated from other narrators. Regarding the objection to the meaning of this hadith that the soul leaving and returning would cause distress to the Noble Prophet ﷺ, the answer given is that this concerns the Barzakh (intermediate state), which is hidden from the eyes. It is not correct to compare it to worldly death and life, and believing in it is better for us. Rational minds fail and become helpless in this field.
Reference: (Vol. 3, p. 512 by Muhammad Abbas Anjum Gondalwi)
ثم فى المتن إشكال من حيث المعنى بل إعضال لأن الرد يستلزم خروج الروح والذهاب عن الجسد والرد معلق بسلام مسلم عليه صلى الله عليه وسلم
"Then there is a difficulty in the meaning of the text, rather a great complexity. It is that returning the soul requires the soul to have left. The separation and return of the soul from the body is linked to the salutation sent upon the Noble Prophet ﷺ."
والحال أن المسلمين يسلمون عليه صلى الله عليه وسلم فى جميع ساعات الليل والنهار فمتى يخرج الروح ومتى يرجع أو يرد اللهم إلا أن يكون ضبط متن هذه الرواية بلفظ إلا رد الله إلى روحى أى بحرف الجار ومجروره قوله روحى فلا إشكال أصلا وأما القراءة بإلى بالياء المشددة المجرورة بحرف إلى فلا يستقيم المعنى ولا يصلح انتسابه إلى النبى المعصوم صلى الله عليه وسلم وشأنه أجل من ذلك وبطل تعلق المخالفين بهذه الرواية والله أعلم
"And the situation is that there is no hour or moment in day or night when some Muslim is not sending salutations. Now tell me, in such a state, when did the soul leave? When did it return? And when did it come back? However, this meaning can be understood if the words of this narration were ”إلا رد الله إلى روحى“, meaning Allah returns it to my soul, i.e., if the preposition ‘ila’ (to) was used with the soul in the genitive case, then this difficulty and complexity would be resolved. And if it is read as ‘ilayya’ (with a stressed ya), then the meaning does not fit. Also, attributing the return of the salutation to the noble person of the Prophet ﷺ is above his dignity. Consequently, the argument used by opponents based on this narration is invalid. And Allah knows best." (End)
Abu Dawood, may Allah have mercy on him, narrated this hadith from Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, but he did not mention any other hadith for visiting the honored grave. He established the chapter on this hadith ”باب زيارة القبور“.
Nevertheless, there is disagreement among the hadith scholars regarding the meaning of this hadith. The Imams of Islam agree that the common practice known as visiting graves does not fall under this hadith.
Now the question arises: does this mean sending salutations from outside the blessed chamber?
The scholars who have discussed this hadith include it in both cases, and this hadith is their final proof. That is, the Prophet ﷺ hears salutations from nearby, and the salutations of those far away are conveyed to him ﷺ through the angels. A hadith narrated in Sunan An-Nasa'i supports this, in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إن لله ملائكة سياحين يبلغونى عن أمتى السلام
"Some angels of Allah roam the earth, conveying the salutations of my Ummah to me."
Reference: (Sunan An-Nasa'i, Book of Forgetfulness: Chapter on Salutations on the Prophet ﷺ, Hadith: 1383)
In the books of Sunan, it is narrated from Aws ibn Aws, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
أكثروا على من الصلاة يوم الجمعة وليلة الجمعة فإن صلاتكم معروضة على قالوا وكيف تعرض صلاتنا عليك وقد أرمت فقال إن الله حرم على الأرض أن تأكل لحوم الأنبياء
"On Friday day and night, send abundant salutations upon me, for your salutations are presented before me." The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, asked: "O Messenger of Allah! How will our salutations be presented before you when you will have passed away?" The Prophet ﷺ replied: "Allah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets, peace be upon them."
Reference: (Sunan Abi Dawood, Book of Prayer: Chapter on the Virtue of Friday and Friday Night, Hadith: 1047; Sunan An-Nasa'i, Book of Friday: Chapter on Increasing Salutations on the Prophet on Friday, Hadith: 1373; Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Establishing Prayers: Chapter on the Virtue of Friday, Hadith: 1085)
