Ḥadīth: Two Rakʿahs for the One in the Grave are Better than the Entire World – Authentication, Chain, and Narrators’ Details
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1 – Principles, Takhrīj, and Authentication of Narrations – p. 610
❖ The Original Ḥadīth
"عن أبي هريرة، أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم مر بقبر، فقال: من صاحب هذا القبر؟ فقالوا: فلان، فقال: ركعتان أحب إلى هذا من بقية دنياكم"
Translation:
Narrated by Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by a grave and asked, “Whose grave is this?” They replied, “It belongs to such and such person.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Two rakʿahs (of prayer) are dearer to this person than all that remains of your worldly life.”
(Reported by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ. Its narrators are thiqāt, as mentioned in Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 2/516)
❖ Chain of the Narration
Imām al-Ṭabarānī recorded this narration in al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ:
"حدثنا احمد قال: حدثنا حفص بن عبد الله الحلواني قال: حدثنا حفص بن غياث عن أبي مالك الأشجعي عن أبي حازم عن أبي هريرة…"
(al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ, vol. 1, pp. 502–503, ḥadīth no. 924)
Al-Ṭabarānī explained:
"لم يرو هذا الحديث عن أبي مالك، إلا حفص بن غياث، تفرد به: حفص بن عبد الله"
Meaning: This ḥadīth was narrated from Abū Mālik only by Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth, and uniquely transmitted through him by Ḥafṣ ibn ʿAbd Allāh.
❖ Investigation of the Narrators
① Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Ḥalwānī
– Mentioned in Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (13/578) without explicit authentication.
– Dr. Muḥammad Saʿīd al-Bukhārī (in Kitāb al-Duʿāʾ, 1/153) said: “I did not find any further mention about him.”
② Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth
– He was a mudallis (one who practices tadlīs).
– Ibn Saʿd: “He was thiqah, trustworthy, except that he practiced tadlīs.” (al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā, 6/390)
– Al-Athram narrates from Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal: “Indeed Ḥafṣ used to practice tadlīs.” (Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, 2/359)
– Listed among mudallisīn by: al-Dāraquṭnī (Ṭabaqāt al-Mudallisīn, rank 1), al-ʿAlāʾī (Jāmiʿ al-Taḥṣīl, 106), Abū Zurʿah ibn al-ʿIrāqī (Kitāb al-Mudallisīn, 13), al-Suyūṭī, al-Maqdisī, al-Damīnī (al-Tadlīs fī al-Ḥadīth, 1/21).
Ruling of the scholars on mudallis narrations:
– Imām al-Shāfiʿī:
"We do not accept a ḥadīth from a mudallis until he explicitly states ‘ḥaddathanī’ (he narrated to me) or ‘samiʿtu’ (I heard from him)." (al-Risālah, 380, no. 1035)
– Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ:
"This ruling applies even if tadlīs is proven from a narrator only once." (ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth, 35, section 12)
Ibn Ḥajar’s opinion:
– He listed Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth among non-mudallis in Naẓar al-Nukat ʿalā Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ (2/637).
– However, he also placed him in the first category of mudallisīn (marṭabah ūlā), which is inconsistent and without solid proof.
❖ Summary of Authentication
This narration is ḍaʿīf (weak and rejected) due to two key defects:
① Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth’s tadlīs (without explicit declaration of hearing in this isnād).
② Absence of authentication for Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Ḥalwānī.
Certification: April 2003ھذا ما عندي، واللہ أعلم بالصواب
(This is what I have, and Allah knows best what is correct.)
