Authored by: Hafiz Muhammad Anwar Zahid (ḥafiẓahullāh)
Hazrat Anas (رضي الله عنه) narrates:
I and Ali ibn Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) once accompanied the Messenger of Allah ﷺ toward the orchards of Madinah. We happened to pass by a garden. Upon seeing it, Hazrat Ali (رضي الله عنه) remarked, “How beautiful this garden is!”
The Prophet ﷺ responded, “The garden you will receive in Paradise will be better than this one.”
This exchange repeated itself as they passed by seven gardens, and each time the Prophet ﷺ said the same words.
Then, the Prophet ﷺ began to weep.
Hazrat Ali (رضي الله عنه) asked, “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, why are you weeping?”
He replied, “There is malice concealed within the hearts of a people against you, which they will not reveal until after my passing.”
[Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: Vol. 7, pp. 314–315 | Also narrated by Ibn al-Jawzī in al-ʿIlal, Vol. 1, pp. 243–244]
This narration is transmitted by Yūnus ibn Khabbāb, about whom the scholars of ḥadīth have expressed serious criticism:
✔ His narrations are found in Tirmidhī, Nasā’ī, Abū Dāwūd, and Ibn Mājah.
✔ Ibn ʿAdī stated: He was a Rāfiḍī (extreme Shīʿī).
ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbbād reports:
I visited Yūnus ibn Khabbāb and asked him about the ḥadīth regarding the punishment of the grave.
He narrated a ḥadīth and then said:
“There is an additional phrase in this ḥadīth that I have hidden from the Nāṣibīs (those who oppose the Ahl al-Bayt).”
I asked, “What is that phrase?”
He said: “There will be a question in the grave: ‘Who is your Walī?’ If the deceased answers, ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه)’, he will be saved.”
(Perhaps this is why, nowadays, some of our Sunni brothers say: “He who has no pīr, his pīr is Shayṭān.”)
ʿAbbād continues:
I responded, “We have never heard such a thing from our forefathers.”
He asked, “Where are you from?”
I answered, “Basra.”
He retorted, “Then you are a filthy ʿUthmānī, a lover of ʿUthmān (رضي الله عنه), whereas he killed two daughters of the Prophet ﷺ!”
I replied, “If he had killed one, then why did the Prophet ﷺ marry his second daughter to him?”
At that, he fell silent.
✔ Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān: Yūnus is a liar (kadhdhāb).
✔ Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn: He was the worst of men.
✔ Ibn Ḥibbān: It is ḥarām to narrate from him.
✔ Al-Nasā’ī: He is ḍaʿīf (weak).
✔ Al-Dāraquṭnī: He was among the worst of people—a ghālī (extremist) Shīʿī.
✔ Imām al-Bukhārī: He is munkar al-ḥadīth (narrates highly rejected narrations).
[Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, Vol. 4, p. 479 | Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn by al-Nasā’ī, p. 107 | Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn by al-Dāraquṭnī, p. 181]
❖ The Narration of Hazrat Anas (رضي الله عنه)
Hazrat Anas (رضي الله عنه) narrates:
I and Ali ibn Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) once accompanied the Messenger of Allah ﷺ toward the orchards of Madinah. We happened to pass by a garden. Upon seeing it, Hazrat Ali (رضي الله عنه) remarked, “How beautiful this garden is!”
The Prophet ﷺ responded, “The garden you will receive in Paradise will be better than this one.”
This exchange repeated itself as they passed by seven gardens, and each time the Prophet ﷺ said the same words.
Then, the Prophet ﷺ began to weep.
Hazrat Ali (رضي الله عنه) asked, “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, why are you weeping?”
He replied, “There is malice concealed within the hearts of a people against you, which they will not reveal until after my passing.”
[Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: Vol. 7, pp. 314–315 | Also narrated by Ibn al-Jawzī in al-ʿIlal, Vol. 1, pp. 243–244]
❖ The Narrator:
This narration is transmitted by Yūnus ibn Khabbāb, about whom the scholars of ḥadīth have expressed serious criticism:
✔ His narrations are found in Tirmidhī, Nasā’ī, Abū Dāwūd, and Ibn Mājah.
✔ Ibn ʿAdī stated: He was a Rāfiḍī (extreme Shīʿī).
❖ An Incident Involving Him
ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbbād reports:
I visited Yūnus ibn Khabbāb and asked him about the ḥadīth regarding the punishment of the grave.
He narrated a ḥadīth and then said:
“There is an additional phrase in this ḥadīth that I have hidden from the Nāṣibīs (those who oppose the Ahl al-Bayt).”
I asked, “What is that phrase?”
He said: “There will be a question in the grave: ‘Who is your Walī?’ If the deceased answers, ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه)’, he will be saved.”
(Perhaps this is why, nowadays, some of our Sunni brothers say: “He who has no pīr, his pīr is Shayṭān.”)
ʿAbbād continues:
I responded, “We have never heard such a thing from our forefathers.”
He asked, “Where are you from?”
I answered, “Basra.”
He retorted, “Then you are a filthy ʿUthmānī, a lover of ʿUthmān (رضي الله عنه), whereas he killed two daughters of the Prophet ﷺ!”
I replied, “If he had killed one, then why did the Prophet ﷺ marry his second daughter to him?”
At that, he fell silent.
❖ Scholars’ Verdict on Yūnus ibn Khabbāb
✔ Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān: Yūnus is a liar (kadhdhāb).
✔ Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn: He was the worst of men.
✔ Ibn Ḥibbān: It is ḥarām to narrate from him.
✔ Al-Nasā’ī: He is ḍaʿīf (weak).
✔ Al-Dāraquṭnī: He was among the worst of people—a ghālī (extremist) Shīʿī.
✔ Imām al-Bukhārī: He is munkar al-ḥadīth (narrates highly rejected narrations).
[Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, Vol. 4, p. 479 | Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn by al-Nasā’ī, p. 107 | Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn by al-Dāraquṭnī, p. 181]
