A narrator whom Imām al-Dhahabī did not recognize due to his reliance on a chain containing an error in Ibn ʿAsākir!
Ḥadīth: “Whoever is occupied by My remembrance from asking Me, I will give him better than what I give to those who ask.”
Al-Dhahabī said in Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ (3/996):
It was read to Abū al-Faḍl Yaḥyā ibn ʿAlī al-Tamīmī and he authorized it for me, from Abū al-Qāsim ibn Ṣaṣrī. He said: Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥāfiẓ informed us; he said: ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm informed us; he said: Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAdl informed us; he said: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Miṣrī al-Ḥāfiẓ narrated to us—from memory—he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; he said: Yaḥyā al-Ḥammānī narrated to us; he said: al-Faḍl ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ narrated to us, from Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq, from Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from his father, from ʿUmar: that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Whoever is occupied by My remembrance from asking Me, I will give him better than what I give to those who ask.”
Al-Dhahabī said:
“Bukayr is Kūfan; his position is truthfulness. And al-Faḍl—I do not know him.”
I say: Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī took this ḥadīth from Tārīkh Dimashq, and an error had occurred in its chain!
Ibn ʿAsākir said (5/436):
Abū al-Muẓaffar ibn al-Qushayrī informed us; he said: Abū ʿUthmān al-Buḥayrī informed us; he said: Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Miṣrī al-Ḥāfiẓ narrated to us—from memory—he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Baghawī narrated to us; he said: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Ḥammānī narrated to us; he said: al-Faḍl ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ narrated to us, from Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq, from Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from his father, from ʿUmar: that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Whoever is occupied by My remembrance from asking Me, I will give him better than what I give to those who ask.”
I say: Imām al-Dhahabī did not recognize him because his name came incorrectly in Ibn ʿAsākir as “al-Faḍl ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ”!!
The correct name is Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ, who is known. Either a distortion occurred in Ibn ʿAsākir’s book, or al-Ḥāfiẓ Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Miṣrī erred in it when narrating from memory—Allāh knows best.
Al-Mizzī narrated the ḥadīth correctly in Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (13/196) via al-Baghawī.
Al-Mizzī said:
Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-Bukhārī informed us; he said: Abū al-Qāsim Hibat Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Sibt informed us; he said: Abū al-ʿIzz Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Kādash al-ʿUkbarī informed us; he said: Abū Ṭālib al-ʿAshārī informed us; he said: Abū Ḥafṣ ibn Shāhīn informed us; he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Baghawī narrated to us; he said: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Ḥammānī narrated to us; he said: Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ narrated to us, from Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq, from Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from his father, from ʿUmar—likewise.
Biography of Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ
Ibn Ḥibbān first mentioned Ṣafwān in al-Thiqāt (8/321):
“Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ al-Taymī: he narrates from Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq; Abū Nuʿaym Ḍirār ibn Ṣard narrated from him.”
Then he mentioned him again in al-Majrūḥīn (1/376):
“Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ: a shaykh who narrates from Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq; ʿUthmān ibn Zafar narrated from him. Munkar al-ḥadīth—he narrates from reliable narrators things that have no basis in the narrations of the trustworthy. It is not permissible to use him as proof except where he agrees with the trustworthy. He narrated from Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq, from Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from his father, from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allāh be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘Whoever is occupied by My remembrance from asking Me, I will give him better than what I give to those who ask.’ ʿUthmān ibn Zafar narrated it from him. This is fabricated; no one narrated it with this chain except this shaykh, and ʿAṭiyyah from Ibn Saʿīd.”
I say: It is Ibn Ḥibbān’s habit—may Allāh have mercy on him—to mention some narrators in al-Thiqāt when he has not yet encountered a criticism of them or some of their ḥadīths; then, when he later encounters their narrations and finds them objectionable, he includes them among the weak.
Al-Mizzī—may Allāh have mercy on him—mentioned in his biography: “Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him in al-Thiqāt.” Since al-Mizzī usually only notes those whom Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned in al-Thiqāt and does not usually attend to his book on the weak, Mughaltāy corrected him in al-Ikmāl (6/383) by noting that Ibn Ḥibbān also mentioned him among the weak and cited his statement.
In Ibn Khalafūn’s book, when he mentioned him among the trustworthy following Ibn Ḥibbān, he said: “Very objectionable in ḥadīth.” Ibn Khalafūn then said: “I hope he is truthful in ḥadīth.”
Ibn al-Aʿrābī and others narrated from ʿAbbās al-Dūrī, from Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, that he said: “Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ: trustworthy.”
Ibn Shāhīn also mentioned him among the trustworthy.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said after mentioning the ḥadīth of al-sāʾilīn in al-Tamhīd (6/46): “Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ and Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq are two righteous men.”
Ibn Ḥajar said in al-Fatḥ (9/66): “Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ: differed about.”
And he said in al-Taqrīb (p. 277): “Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ al-Taymī al-Kūfī: maqbūl, from the seventh tier; Ibn Ḥibbān’s view regarding him differed.”
I say: He is a righteous man, and perhaps from this angle come the objectionable narrations he reports from reliable, established narrators—as Ibn Ḥibbān indicated. The critics warned against people like these righteous individuals who narrate such reports expressing states of piety and asceticism which are originally fabricated, then elevate them to the Prophet ﷺ.
It seems that Ibn Maʿīn’s authentication of him is from this angle—that he is trustworthy in himself—whereas in ḥadīth he is as Ibn Ḥibbān said: “munkar al-ḥadīth.” This ḥadīth is his sole narration and is known only through his route. Where are the companions of Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh transmitting it from him?!
Thus his ḥadīth is not used as proof because it is objectionable.
Takhrīj of the ḥadīth, its origin, and other benefits
Al-Bazzār narrated it in his Musnad (1/247):
al-Faḍl ibn Sahl narrated to us; he said: ʿUthmān ibn Zafar narrated to us, from Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ—so he said!—from Sālim, from his father, from ʿUmar, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said:
“Allāh the Exalted says: If My servant is occupied by My remembrance from asking Me, I will give him better than what I give to those who ask.”
I say: Al-Bazzār indicates that there is an omission in the chain, because Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ did not hear from Sālim. Hence he said, “so he said,” i.e., this is how his shaykh narrated it—because the ḥadīth was narrated by another route from ʿUthmān ibn Zafar correctly.
Al-Bayhaqī narrated it in Shuʿab al-Īmān (1/413):
From Abū ʿAmr Aḥmad ibn al-Mubārak al-Mustamlī, who said: Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā narrated to us; he said: ʿUthmān ibn Zafar narrated to us; he said: Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ narrated to us, from Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq, from Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, from his father, from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.
Al-Bukhārī narrated it likewise in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (2/115) in the biography of “Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq,” from Ḍirār ibn Ṣard Abū Nuʿaym.
He also narrated it in Khalq Afʿāl al-ʿIbād (p. 109):
Ḍirār narrated to us; he said: Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ narrated to us, from Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq, from Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, from his father, from his grandfather, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said:
“Allāh the Exalted says: Whoever is occupied by My remembrance from asking Me, I will give him better than what I give to those who ask.”
He added:
“And the Prophet ﷺ said: While I was in Paradise, I heard the voice of a man reciting the Qurʾān.”
It was also narrated by another route with a story:
Al-Bayhaqī narrated it in Shuʿab al-Īmān (3/466):
From Abū ʿUbaydah al-Sarī ibn Yaḥyā al-Tamīmī, who said: ʿUthmān ibn Zafar narrated to us; he said: Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ narrated to us, from Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq, who said:
“I performed ḥajj and sought out a man to follow. I saw a man with a yellowed beard, and it was Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh. At the standing place he was saying:
Lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu lā sharīka lah, lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-ḥamd, bi-yadihi al-khayr wa huwa ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr…
He continued until the sun set. Then he looked at me and said: ‘I saw you clinging to me today.’ Then he said:
‘My father narrated to me from his father ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allāh be pleased with him), from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: Allāh, Blessed and Exalted, says: Whoever is occupied by My remembrance from asking Me, I will give him better than what I give to those who ask.’”
I say: Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ alone narrated this story and this ḥadīth. Bukayr is truthful and there is no objection to his meeting Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh; it is mentioned that Bukayr performed ḥajj sixty times. The responsibility in this ḥadīth lies with Ṣafwān. Perhaps he heard from Bukayr the story of his meeting with Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh, then mistakenly added this marfūʿ ḥadīth!
In any case, Ibn Ḥibbān judged this ḥadīth to be fabricated, as previously cited.
Ibn Ḥajar said in al-Fatḥ (11/134):
“The ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar raised: Allāh says: Whoever is occupied by My remembrance from asking Me…—al-Ṭabarānī narrated it with a weak chain.”
I say: So it is—from Ibn ʿUmar from ʿUmar!!
Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said in al-Tamhīd (6/46):
“To my knowledge, this ḥadīth does not come marfūʿ except by this chain; Ṣafwān ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ and Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq are two righteous men.”
I say: The ḥadīth is not sound as marfūʿ; the correct form is that it is mursal.
Ibn Abī Shaybah narrated it in al-Muṣannaf (6/34):
Abū Muʿāwiyah narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Mālik ibn al-Ḥārith, who said:
“Allāh says: Whoever is occupied by My remembrance from asking Me, I will give him above what I give to those who ask.”
Ibn al-Mubārak narrated it in al-Zuhd (p. 326), and ʿAbd al-Razzāq in al-Muṣannaf (2/238), both from Sufyān al-Thawrī, from Manṣūr ibn al-Muʿtamir, from Mālik ibn al-Ḥārith, who said:
“Allāh the Exalted says: If My servant’s praise of Me occupies him from asking Me, I will give him better than what I give to those who ask.”
I say: This is mursal; Mālik ibn al-Ḥārith is a trustworthy tābiʿī.
Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah also narrated it and used it as proof, even though it is mursal!!
Ibn ʿAsākir narrated it in Tārīkhih (9/274):
From al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥasan al-Marwazī—who resided in Mecca until he died there—who said: I asked Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah about the interpretation of the Prophet’s ﷺ statement:
“The most abundant of my supplication and that of the prophets before me on ʿArafah is: Lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu lā sharīka lah…”
It is remembrance, not supplication?
He said: Have you heard the ḥadīth of Manṣūr from Mālik ibn al-Ḥārith? I said: Yes. He said: That is its interpretation. Then he said: Do you know what Umayyah ibn Abī al-Ṣalt said when he came to Ibn Judʿān seeking his generosity? I said: No. He said: When he came to him, he said:
Should I mention my need, or has your modesty sufficed me—
for modesty is your trait.
When a man praises you one day,
his praise suffices him from presenting his need.
Sufyān said: “This is a created being—when generosity is attributed to him—he says: praising you suffices us until you fulfill our need. So what of the Creator?!”
He also narrated it via al-Ḥumaydī:
Al-Ḥumaydī said: Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us one day the ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ: ‘It is the best of what I said—and the prophets before me—on the Day of ʿArafah: Lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu lā sharīka lah.’
It was said to Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah: Does this occupy people from asking? He said: Yes. And he narrated to us from Manṣūr, from Mālik ibn al-Ḥārith, who said: Allāh, Blessed and Exalted, says: Whoever is occupied by praising Me from asking Me, I will give him better than what I give to those who ask.
Then Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah turned to us and said: Have you not heard the saying of Umayyah ibn Abī al-Ṣalt… (then he recited the poem).
He said: “So he gave him and honored him. This is a created being who sufficed with praise instead of asking—so what of the Creator, Exalted and Glorious, to whom nothing is comparable?!”
I say: Using it as proof does not mean it is authentic. This is a method among some scholars: they cite weak reports in explaining other ḥadīths. The ḥadīth remains weak and is not authentic from the Prophet ﷺ.
Ibn Abī Shaybah also narrated:
Ibn Numayr narrated to us, from Mūsā ibn Muslim—the younger miller—from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, raising it, who said:
“Whoever is occupied by My remembrance from asking Me, I will give him above what I give to those who ask—meaning the Lord, Blessed and Exalted.”
I say: This is muʿḍal. ʿAmr ibn Murrah (d. 118 AH) was trustworthy, devout, and ascetic, and he narrated such mursal reports appealing to worshippers and the pious.
Name-tadlīs among later scholars
It is noticeable among many later scholars—from the time of al-Khaṭīb onward—that they often disguise the names of some narrators under the heading of tadlīs al-shuyūkh. Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī does this frequently in his Tārīkh.
Imām al-Dhahabī did the same here. The ḥadīth is from Ibn ʿAsākir’s book, yet he did not mention him by the name for which he is well known. Instead he said:
“Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥāfiẓ… ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm… Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAdl…”
Abū al-Qāsim is Ibn ʿAsākir.
He did the same with his shaykh and his shaykh’s shaykh: ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm is Abū al-Muẓaffar ibn al-Qushayrī, and Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAdl is Abū ʿUthmān al-Buḥayrī.
These imams may do this by way of variation—or in reality as a form of tadlīs toward students of knowledge. May Allāh forgive them and have mercy on them.
Written by: Khālid al-Ḥāyik
15/6/2011