The story of the Bedouin who urinated in a corner of the mosque and supplicated for himself and the Prophet ﷺ only

The story of the Bedouin who urinated in the mosque is an authentic and well-known narration. In some routes of the ḥadīth, it is mentioned that the Bedouin supplicated for himself and for the Prophet ﷺ only.

The ḥadīth is known from az-Zuhrī, and it has been narrated from him with both versions of the story — and each story has also been transmitted from him separately.

Az-Zuhrī narrated it from three of Abū Hurayrah’s students: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn ʿUtbah, and Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān.

As for the narration of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib — Abū Dāwūd narrated it in full, at-Tirmidhī also narrated it and declared it Ṣaḥīḥ, while an-Nasāʾī narrated only the first part of the ḥadīth without mentioning the urination incident.

As for the narration of ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn ʿUtbah — al-Bukhārī narrated it in two separate places: he mentioned the urination story in the Book of Purification (aṭ-Ṭahārah) and again in the Book of Manners (al-Adab), and he mentioned the beginning of the ḥadīth also in al-Adab.

As for the narration of Abū Salamah — al-Bukhārī, Abū Dāwūd, and an-Nasāʾī narrated it, all of them mentioning only the story of the supplication, without the urination incident. Ibn Mājah, however, narrated it including the story of the urination as well.

Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim, along with an-Nasāʾī and Ibn Mājah, narrated the story of the urination from the ḥadīth of Anas; and Ibn Mājah narrated it in full from the ḥadīth of Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ.

The well-known version is that the Bedouin first made the supplication and then urinated in a corner of the mosque. This narration indicates that it was a single story involving the same Bedouin. Whoever separates them seems to hold that they were two separate incidents.

However, the Bedouin beginning with supplicating for himself and the Prophet ﷺ alone, and asking that no one else be shown mercy, has no logical context! Rationally, it makes more sense that this occurred after the urination incident — meaning: when he urinated, and the Companions rebuked and scolded him, and the Prophet ﷺ forbade them from doing so — this supplication would then make sense in that context, not before it. Indeed, this has come in a mursal narration.

So, is it one story? Or two separate ones? And was the supplication made before he urinated in a corner of the mosque — or after it?!

The Story of the Supplication

Muḥammad ibn Shihāb az-Zuhrī narrated from Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:

“The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ stood in prayer, and we stood with him. Then a Bedouin, while in the prayer, said: ‘O Allāh, have mercy on me and Muḥammad, and do not have mercy on anyone else along with us!’ When the Prophet ﷺ gave salām (ended the prayer), he said to the Bedouin: ‘You have restricted something vast,’ meaning the mercy of Allāh.”

In some narrations, it is worded: ‘You have indeed confined something vast.’

This was narrated by al-Bukhārī in his Ṣaḥīḥ, in the Chapter on Mercy towards People and Animals (no. 6010), from Abū al-Yamān, from Shuʿayb ibn Abī Ḥamzah.

It was also narrated by aṭ-Ṭabarānī in Musnad ash-Shāmiyyīn (no. 3035) from Mūsá ibn ʿĪsá ibn al-Mundhir, from Abū al-Yamān, from Shuʿayb.

It was narrated by Abū Dāwūd in his Sunan (no. 882) from Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ,
and by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Ṣaḥīḥ (no. 864) from Yūnus.
It was narrated by Ibn Mandah in at-Tawḥīd (no. 192) from Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr Abū Ṭāhir, from Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlá,
and by Ibn Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ (no. 987) from Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Qutaybah, from Ḥarmalah ibn Yaḥyá.
All three (Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ, Yūnus, and Ḥarmalah) narrated from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb, from Yūnus ibn Yazīd al-Aylī.

It was also narrated by Aḥmad in his Musnad (no. 7802) from Ibrāhīm ibn Khālid, from Rabāḥ, from Maʿmar,
and by an-Nasāʾī in as-Sunan al-Kubrā (no. 559) from Kathīr ibn ʿUbayd al-Ḥimṣī, from Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb, from Muḥammad ibn al-Walīd az-Zubaydī.

All of them — Shuʿayb, Yūnus, Maʿmar, and az-Zubaydī — narrate it from az-Zuhrī with this same isnād, mentioning only the story of the supplication.

However, it has also been narrated from az-Zuhrī, from Abū Salamah, including both the story of the supplication and the urination together!

It was narrated by Abū Bakr ash-Shāfiʿī in al-Ghaylāniyyāt (no. 713) through the chain of Khālid ibn Nizār al-Ublī, from Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭahmān, who said: “Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥafṣah narrated to me, from Muḥammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihāb (az-Zuhrī), from Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:

‘A man from among the Bedouins said: “O Allāh, have mercy on me and Muḥammad, and do not have mercy on anyone else along with us.”
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “You have indeed confined something vast.”
Then the Bedouin urinated in a corner of the mosque, and some people rushed toward him, so the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
“Pour water over it, for you have been sent as facilitators, not as those who make things difficult.”’

I (the author) say: Combining the two stories in the narration of az-Zuhrī from Abū Salamah is not authentic. The correct version from him mentions only the story of the supplication.

The mistake in this narration must be either from Khālid ibn Nizār or Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥafṣah.

As for Khālid ibn Nizār — he narrated from Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭahmān a collection (nuskhah). Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him in ath-Thiqāt (8/223–224) and said: “He narrates rare and mistaken reports.”
Ibn Ḥajar said in at-Taqrīb (p.191): “He is truthful but makes mistakes.”

As for Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥafṣah — Ibn Maʿīn said about him once: “Thiqah (trustworthy),” and another time: “Ṣāliḥ (acceptable),” meaning his ḥadīth can be considered.
Abū Dāwūd declared him trustworthy, while an-Nasāʾī said: “Weak.”
Ibn Ḥibbān included him in ath-Thiqāt but said: “He makes mistakes.”

Therefore, the preserved version from Abū Salamah through az-Zuhrī is the story of the supplication only.

So — did Abū Salamah actually narrate it from Abū Hurayrah?

It has also been narrated from Abū Salamah mentioning both stories (the supplication and urination) but not through az-Zuhrī.

It was narrated by Ibn Mājah in his Sunan (no. 529):
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Mushir narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, from Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah — who said:

“A Bedouin entered the mosque while the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ was sitting. The Bedouin said: ‘O Allāh, forgive me and Muḥammad, and do not forgive anyone else along with us.’
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ laughed and said: ‘You have indeed restricted something vast.’
Then the Bedouin turned away, and when he reached a corner of the mosque, he began to urinate there.
Afterwards, when he understood (the matter), he came toward me, may my father and mother be sacrificed for him, but he neither rebuked nor insulted me.
He said: ‘Indeed, this mosque is not for urination; it was only built for the remembrance of Allāh and for prayer.’
Then he ordered a bucket of water, which was poured over the urine.”

It was also narrated by al-Kharāʾiṭī in Makārim al-Akhlāq (no. 74) from Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyá as-Sūsī, from Yazīd ibn Hārūn, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr with this same chain.

Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAlqamah ibn Waqāṣ al-Laythī was in Madīnah, where he heard ḥadīth, but he was not among the strong memorizers. When asked, “Who narrated to you?” he would reply, “Our elders — so-and-so and so-and-so,” meaning that he would refer vaguely to them, whether that was correct or not.

For this reason, when Ibn Maʿīn said, “People have always avoided the ḥadīth of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr,” he was asked, “What is the reason for that?” He replied:
“Because Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr would sometimes narrate something from Abū Salamah as his own opinion, and then later narrate it again from Abū Salamah from Abū Hurayrah — meaning he did not know what he was narrating.”

For this reason, Imām Aḥmad preferred al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān over him, because al-ʿAlāʾ, when asked “From whom?” would name the person specifically and know what he was saying, unlike Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr who would vaguely say “Our elders — so-and-so and so-and-so,” not even knowing whether they had actually said it.

ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī said: I asked Yaḥyá — meaning al-Qaṭṭān — about Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAlqamah, “What is his status?”
He said: “Do you want the lenient view or the strict one?”
I said: “The strict one.”
He said: “Then he is not among those you should rely upon. He used to say, ‘Our elders: Abū Salamah and Yaḥyá ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Ḥāṭib.’”

Yaḥyá said: “I asked Mālik ibn Anas about him, and Mālik said to me something similar to what I just told you.”

Therefore, considering the variations in what az-Zuhrī narrated in this ḥadīth from Abū Salamah, I do not authenticate the narration of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr in this matter — since he narrated both stories together from Abū Salamah, while this is not preserved from him (if it is even proven that he narrated it).

The solitary report of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr from Abū Salamah is not accepted, because he used to make mistakes in his ḥadīth from him.
And Allāh knows best.

Story of the Bedouin Urinating in the Mosque

Al-Zuhrī narrated from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn ʿUtbah ibn Masʿūd, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:

A Bedouin stood up and urinated in the mosque. The people rushed toward him, but the Prophet ﷺ said to them:
“Leave him alone and pour over his urine a bucket of water, or a pail of water. Indeed, you were sent as those who make things easy, not as those who make things difficult.”

In another narration:

“The people leapt toward him to attack him.”

It was recorded by al-Bukhārī in his Ṣaḥīḥ (220) and (6128), through Abū al-Yamān al-Ḥakam ibn Nāfiʿ, from Shuʿayb ibn Abī Ḥamzah, with this chain.

It was also recorded by al-Bazzār in his Musnad (14/355) (8053) from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and by al-Ṭabarānī in Musnad al-Shāmiyyīn (4/210) (3119) from Abū Zurʿah, and by al-Bayhaqī in al-Sunan al-Kubrā (2/601) (4239) through Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥusayn — all three from Abū al-Yamān al-Ḥakam ibn Nāfiʿ, from Shuʿayb.

It was also recorded by al-Bukhārī in his Ṣaḥīḥ (6128) in a muʿallaq (suspended) form from al-Layth, and by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Ṣaḥīḥ (1/150) (297) through ʿUtbah ibn ʿAbdillāh al-Yaḥmadī, from Ibn al-Mubārak, and by Ibn Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ (4/245) (1400) through Ḥarmalah ibn Yaḥyá, from Ibn Wahb.

All three (al-Layth, Ibn al-Mubārak, and Ibn Wahb) narrated from Yūnus.

It was also recorded by Aḥmad in his Musnad (13/209) (7799) through Ibrāhīm ibn Khālid, from Rabāḥ, from Maʿmar.

And by al-Nasāʾī in his Sunan al-Kubrā (1/92) (54), and by al-Ṭabarānī in Musnad al-Shāmiyyīn (3/34) (1755) through Ibrāhīm ibn Duḥaym al-Dimashqī, and by Ibn Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ (4/244) (1399) through ʿAbdullāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Salm — all three from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ibrāhīm (Duḥaym), from ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Dimashqī, from al-Awzāʿī, from Muḥammad ibn al-Walīd al-Zubaydī.

It was also narrated by al-Dāraquṭnī in al-ʿIlal (7/293) through Abū Mūsá Muḥammad ibn al-Muthanná, from Wahb ibn Jarīr, from his father, from al-Nuʿmān ibn Rāshid.

All five — Shuʿayb, Yūnus, Maʿmar, al-Zubaydī, and al-Nuʿmān — narrated from Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī with this same chain.

Therefore, there is no disagreement that the story of the Bedouin urinating alone was narrated by al-Zuhrī from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn ʿUtbah ibn Masʿūd from Abū Hurayrah.

And the four (Shuʿayb, Yūnus, Maʿmar, and al-Zubaydī) narrated from al-Zuhrī the story of the supplication only, but from Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān from Abū Hurayrah, as mentioned earlier.

The narration of al-Nuʿmān ibn Rāshid was also reported by al-Bazzār in his Musnad (14/354) (8051), from al-Nuʿmān ibn Rāshid, and in it he mentioned both stories!

He said:

Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar narrated to us, saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr narrated to us, saying: I heard my father narrate from al-Nuʿmān — meaning Ibn Rāshid — from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh, from Abū Hurayrah, that “A Bedouin came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: ‘O Allāh, have mercy on me and Muḥammad, and do not have mercy on anyone else with us.’ So the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘You have restricted something vast.’ Then the Bedouin stood and urinated in the mosque, so the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘Pour a bucket of water over his urine.’”

Al-Bazzār said:

“Al-Zuhrī narrated it from Saʿīd from Abū Hurayrah. Ibn ʿUyaynah narrated it from him. Ibn Abī Ḥafṣah narrated it from al-Zuhrī from Saʿīd and Abū Salamah from Abū Hurayrah. And we do not know anyone who said ‘from ʿUbaydullāh from Abū Hurayrah’ except al-Nuʿmān and Shuʿayb.”

I (the author) say: The preserved (maḥfūẓ) version in the narration of al-Zuhrī from ʿUbaydullāh is only the story of the urine, as explained previously.

As for al-Bazzār’s statement that “none narrated it from ʿUbaydullāh from Abū Hurayrah except al-Nuʿmān and Shuʿayb,” that is incorrect! For three others narrated it with this same chain — they are Yūnus, Maʿmar, and al-Zubaydī — and their narrations have already been cited.

The Story of the Supplication and the Bedouin’s Urination Together

Az-Zuhrī narrated from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Abū Hurayrah (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu), who said:

“A Bedouin entered the mosque and said: ‘O Allāh, have mercy on me and Muḥammad, and do not have mercy on anyone else along with us.’
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘You have restricted something vast.’
Then it was not long before he urinated in one corner of the mosque. The people hastened towards him, but the Prophet ﷺ forbade them, then ordered that a bucket of water—or a large container of water—be poured over it.
Then the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Teach (people), make things easy, and do not make things difficult.’”

In another narration:

“Indeed, you have been sent as ones who make things easy, and you have not been sent as ones who make things difficult.”

It was reported by ash-Shāfiʿī in his Musnad (p. 20), al-Ḥumaydī in his Musnad (2/178, no. 967), and Aḥmad in his Musnad (12/197, no. 7255), all through Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah from az-Zuhrī with this chain.

It was also narrated by at-Tirmidhī in his Jāmiʿ (1/215, no. 147) through Ibn Abī ʿUmar and Saʿīd ibn ʿAbdir-Raḥmān al-Makhzūmī;
by Abū Dāwūd in his Sunan (1/282, no. 380) through Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr ibn as-Saraḥ and Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdah aḍ-Ḍabbī;
by Ibn al-Jārūd in al-Muntaqā (no. 141) through Maḥmūd ibn Ādam;
by Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī in his Musnad (10/278, no. 5876) through ʿAmr an-Nāqid;
and by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Ṣaḥīḥ (1/150, no. 298) through ʿAbdul-Jabbār ibn al-ʿAlāʾ and al-Makhzūmī — all of them through Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah.

Ibn Khuzaymah also narrated it in his Ṣaḥīḥ (1/150, no. 298) through al-Faḍl ibn Yaʿqūb al-Jazarī, from Ibrāhīm ibn Ṣadaqah, from Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn — both (Ibn ʿUyaynah and Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn) narrating from az-Zuhrī, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Abū Hurayrah.

At-Tirmidhī said:

“And in this topic there are also reports from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd, Ibn ʿAbbās, and Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ.”

Then he said:

“This ḥadīth is Ḥasan Ṣaḥīḥ, and the practice is upon this among some of the people of knowledge, and it is the saying of Aḥmad and Isḥāq.”

When an-Nasāʾī (no. 559) narrated the ḥadīth of az-Zubaydī from az-Zuhrī, from Abū Salamah, that Abū Hurayrah said:

“The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ stood up to pray, and we stood with him. A Bedouin said during the prayer: ‘O Allāh, have mercy on me and Muḥammad, and do not have mercy on anyone else along with us.’
When the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ finished the prayer and gave salām, he said to the Bedouin: ‘You have restricted something vast,’ meaning the mercy of Allāh.”

He (an-Nasāʾī) said:

“Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah disagreed with him.”

Then he cited his version from ʿAbdullāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdir-Raḥmān az-Zuhrī al-Baṣrī, from Sufyān, from az-Zuhrī, from Saʿīd, from Abū Hurayrah.

(Ibn Mandah said:) I say: The ḥadīth of Sufyān has a chain that differs from the chain of az-Zubaydī. And az-Zubaydī was supported (mutābiʿ) in his narration, as was mentioned earlier in the narration of the supplication story — he was followed by Shuʿayb, Yūnus, and Maʿmar.

And ad-Dāraquṭnī was asked in his ʿIlal (no. 1363) about a ḥadīth narrated from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Abū Hurayrah, that a Bedouin entered the mosque, prayed, then said: ‘Have mercy on me and Muḥammad’ — (is this) the ḥadīth that includes the story of urination?

He replied:

“It is narrated by Ibn ʿUyaynah from az-Zuhrī, from Saʿīd, from Abū Hurayrah.
Ṣāliḥ ibn Abī al-Akhḍar followed him, narrated by an-Nadhr ibn Shumayl from him.
ʿAbdul-Ghaffār ibn ʿUbayd al-Karīzī differed, and narrated it from Ṣāliḥ from az-Zuhrī, from Saʿīd and Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah.

And there is disagreement over Yūnus ibn Yazīd:
Ibn Wahb narrated it from Yūnus, from az-Zuhrī, from Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah.
Ibn al-Mubārak disagreed and narrated it from Yūnus, from az-Zuhrī, from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn ʿUtbah, from Abū Hurayrah.
Likewise, an-Nuʿmān ibn Rāshid said (the same): from az-Zuhrī, from ʿUbaydullāh, from Abū Hurayrah.

Maʿmar narrated it from az-Zuhrī, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib mursal (with the Companion omitted).
And it was said: from Maʿmar, from az-Zuhrī, from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh — or Abū Salamah — mursal.”

And he (ad-Dāraquṭnī) ended his words there.

Then he narrated it through the route of Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr al-Ṭūsī, from ʿAbd al-Ghaffār ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, from Ṣāliḥ ibn Abī al-Akhḍar, from az-Zuhrī, from Saʿīd and Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah:

“The Prophet ﷺ stood up to pray, and a Bedouin said: ‘O Allāh, have mercy on me and Muḥammad, and do not have mercy on anyone else besides us.’ When he (the Prophet ﷺ) finished, he said: ‘You have confined something vast,’ meaning the mercy of Allāh.”

Then he narrated it through the route of Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyá and al-Ḥasan ibn Abī ar-Rabīʿ, both from ʿAbd ar-Razzāq, from Maʿmar, from az-Zuhrī, from Ibn al-Musayyib, that a Bedouin urinated in the masjid — the ḥadīth — mursal (i.e. with a missing link).

Then he narrated it through the route of Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr, from ʿAbd ar-Razzāq, from Maʿmar, from az-Zuhrī, from ʿUbayd Allāh or from Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah: that a Bedouin urinated in the masjid — the ḥadīth.

I said: In the printed edition of al-Muṣannaf by ʿAbd ar-Razzāq (1/423) (no. 1658), it appears as follows:

“From Maʿmar, from az-Zuhrī, from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah: that a Bedouin urinated in the masjid, and the people stood up to him and rebuked him harshly. The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Leave him alone, and pour over his urine a bucketful (sijill) of water — or a pail (dalw) of water — for you were sent as those who make things easy, not as those who make things difficult.’ Then the Prophet ﷺ stood up, and the Bedouin was behind him (in prayer), and while they were praying the Bedouin said: ‘O Allāh, have mercy on me and Muḥammad, and do not have mercy on anyone else besides us.’ When the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ finished, he said to him: ‘You have indeed confined something vast.’”

Although this narration is mursal, it places the story of the urination before the supplication — which is logical, since the supplication occurred after the Companions rebuked him for urinating in the masjid, so he prayed for himself and for the Prophet ﷺ because he (the Prophet ﷺ) had commanded his Companions to leave him alone until he finished, and he did not scold him.

This is the narration I am inclined toward. It is possible that the mention of “Abū Hurayrah” was omitted from the original manuscript of ʿAbd ar-Razzāq, or that az-Zuhrī, when narrating from ʿUbayd Allāh, transmitted it in a mursal form. This variation in transmission was something az-Zuhrī frequently did.

And it appears that the story of the Bedouin’s urination and the supplication is one and the same incident. The ḥadīth revolves around Imām az-Zuhrī, who narrated it from three of the companions of Abū Hurayrah: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah, and Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān.

He narrated it from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib with both the stories, and from ʿUbayd Allāh only with the story of the urination, and from Abū Salamah only with the story of the supplication.

Az-Zuhrī’s narrating it from three of Abū Hurayrah’s students in this manner is not strange — he was a prolific narrator.

And when he narrated the story of the Ifk (the false accusation against ʿĀʾishah), he said:

“Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, ʿUrwah ibn az-Zubayr, ʿAlqamah ibn Waqqāṣ, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah informed me of something similar to the ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, when the people of al-Ifk said what they said and Allāh exonerated her. Each of them informed me of a portion of the ḥadīth, and some of them were more precise in it than others. I memorized from each one what he related to me, and some of them corroborated the others.”

The story of the Bedouin who urinated in the masjid is famous from the ḥadīth of Anas ibn Mālik.

Al-Bukhārī narrated it in Ṣaḥīḥ (1/54, no. 221) through ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak and Sulaymān ibn Bilāl.

Muslim narrated it in Ṣaḥīḥ (1/236, no. 284) through Yaḥyá ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān and ad-Darāwardī.

An-Nasāʾī narrated it in as-Sunan al-Kubrā (1/92, no. 52) through ʿUbaydah ibn Ḥumayd.

Ash-Shāfiʿī narrated it in his Musnad (p. 20), and al-Ḥumaydī (2/307, no. 1230) from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah — all of them from Yaḥyá ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī, who said:

“I heard Anas ibn Mālik say: A Bedouin came and urinated in one side of the masjid, so the people shouted at him. But the Prophet ﷺ stopped them. When he finished urinating, the Prophet ﷺ ordered that a bucket of water be poured over it.”

Muslim also narrated it through Thābit from Anas with the same content.

And also through ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār, from Isḥāq ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, who said:

“Anas ibn Mālik — who was my uncle — told me: While we were in the masjid with the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, a Bedouin came and began to urinate in the masjid. The Companions said, ‘Stop! Stop!’ But the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘Do not interrupt him; leave him.’ So they left him until he finished urinating. Then the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ called him and said: ‘These masājid are not suitable for this kind of filth or impurity; they are only for the remembrance of Allāh, prayer, and the recitation of the Qurʾān.’ Then he ordered a man from the people, who brought a bucket of water and poured it over (the urine).”

Mālik narrated it in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (1/64, no. 111) from Yaḥyá ibn Saʿīd:

“A Bedouin entered the masjid and uncovered his private part to urinate. The people shouted at him until their voices rose. The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘Leave him.’ So they left him, and he urinated. Then the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ ordered that a bucket of water be poured over that spot.”

This ḥadīth is mursal in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ according to the majority of its transmitters.

Ḥadīth of Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sufyān al-Bajalī

This ḥadīth has a supporting narration (shāhid) which was narrated by Aḥmad in al-Musnad (31/99, no. 18799) through ʿAbd aṣ-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd al-ʿAnbarī, from his father, from Saʿīd ibn Iyās al-Jurayrī, from Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jushamī, from Jundub, who said:

“A Bedouin came, dismounted his riding animal, tied it, and then prayed behind the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. When the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ finished praying, the Bedouin went to his riding animal, untied it, mounted it, and called out:
‘O Allāh, have mercy on me and on Muḥammad, and do not include anyone else in our mercy!’
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘Do you think this man is more astray or his camel? Did you not hear what he said?’
They said: ‘Yes.’
He said: ‘You have certainly restricted the vast mercy of Allāh. Indeed, Allāh created one hundred mercies — He sent down one mercy through which the creation shows compassion, including its jinn, humans, and animals — and with Him are ninety-nine. Do you say this man is more astray or his camel?’”

It was also narrated by Abū Dāwūd in his Sunan (no. 4885) through ʿAlī ibn Naṣr,
and by ar-Rūyānī in his Musnad (2/140, no. 957) through Maḥmūd ibn Ghaylān,
and by al-Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak (1/124, no. 187) through al-ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad ad-Dūrī —
all of them from ʿAbd aṣ-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith with the same chain.

However, in al-Ḥākim’s version it appears as: “from Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jasrī.”

Al-Ḥākim also narrated it in al-Mustadrak (4/276, no. 7630) through Yazīd ibn Hārūn, from Saʿīd ibn Iyās al-Jurayrī, with the same meaning, but in the printed copy it appears as: “from Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥayrī.”

Al-Ḥākim said: “This ḥadīth has a Ṣaḥīḥ isnād, although al-Bukhārī and Muslim did not record it.”

Al-ʿUqaylī narrated it in aḍ-Ḍuʿafāʾ (2/216) in the biography of Ṣughdi ibn Sinān Abū Muʿāwiyah al-ʿUqaylī, through Muḥammad ibn Marzūq, the neighbor of Hudbah, from Ṣughdi, who said:

“Al-Jurayrī narrated to us from Ibn ʿAbbās al-Jushamī from Jundub that the Prophet ﷺ was approached by a Bedouin who dismounted from his camel, tied it, and mentioned something similar (to the previous narration).”

Al-ʿUqaylī said:

“Its isnād is not preserved! The text (matn) is known through other than this isnād, and he is not followed upon it, nor upon any of his ḥadīth. As for the matn, it has been narrated through other isnāds that are Ṣaḥīḥ.”

Yaḥyá ibn Maʿīn said: “Ṣughdi ibn Sinān is nothing (i.e., worthless in ḥadīth).”

Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ and his colleagues commented on Musnad Aḥmad:

“Its isnād is weak due to inconsistency (iḍṭirāb), for there is disagreement in the narration from al-Jurayrī — who is Saʿīd ibn Iyās.

ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd al-ʿAnbarī (the father of ʿAbd aṣ-Ṣamad) narrated it from him, saying: ‘from Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jushamī, from Jundub,’ and Abū ʿAbd Allāh is of unknown condition.

Al-Ḥākim (1/56–57) narrated it as: ‘from Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jasrī, from Jundub.’

Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jasrī is Ḥumayrī ibn Bashīr, who was declared reliable by Ibn Maʿīn.

Yazīd ibn Hārūn also narrated it from al-Jurayrī — as in al-Ḥākim (4/248) — saying: ‘from Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jasrī, from Jundub.’

However, Yazīd heard from al-Jurayrī after his confusion (ikhtiṭlāṭ).

Al-Haythamī mentioned it in Majmaʿ az-Zawāʾid (10/213–214), saying:
‘Abū Dāwūd narrated it in abridged form, and Aḥmad and aṭ-Ṭabarānī also narrated it.
The narrators of Aḥmad are the narrators of the Ṣaḥīḥ except for Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jushamī, who was not declared weak by anyone.’”

I (the author) say:
It cannot be said that al-Jurayrī was inconsistent (iḍṭirāb) in this, simply because in some narrations it is “from Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jushamī” and in others “from Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jasrī”!

The apparent reality is that this is a scribal error (taḥrīf) — one of the names was miswritten in the manuscripts, so “al-Jushamī” became “al-Jasrī,” or vice versa. Thus, it is not appropriate to ascribe inconsistency to the narrator because of this.

Yes — if it were proven that he actually narrated both names deliberately, that would indeed be considered iḍṭirāb. But the apparent case is that it was a copyist’s mistake.

Or perhaps “al-Jushamī” and “al-Jasrī” are actually the same person.

And indeed, we will investigate this matter further, if Allāh wills, for I have found that some scholars considered them one and the same, while others differentiated between them.

Al-Bukhārī said in at-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (3/121):

“Ḥumayrī ibn Bashīr — al-Ḥasan ibn Bishr said: Ḥakam ibn ʿAbd al-Malik narrated to us from Qatādah, from Ḥumayrī ibn Bashīr, from Maʿqil ibn Yasār, from the Prophet ﷺ (a narration of similar meaning). It is said: he is the one from whom al-Muthanná ibn ʿAwf narrated and who heard from Maʿqil.”

And in al-Kuná (9/48):

“Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jasrī al-Ḥumayrī — and it is said: al-Khushanī — heard from Maʿqil ibn Yasār and Jundub. Al-Jurayrī and al-Muthanná ibn ʿAwf narrated from him.”

I (the author) say: It appears that al-Bukhārī leaned toward them being one and the same person, identifying al-Jasrī as al-Jushamī.

And what appears in the printed text “and it is said: al-Khushanī” seems to me to be a scribal error — the correct reading is “and it is said: al-Jushamī.”

Muslim said in al-Kuná wal-Asmāʾ (1/472) (1809):
“Abū ʿAbdillāh Ḥimyari ibn Bashīr al-Jasrī narrated from Maʿqil ibn Yasār; al-Muthanná ibn ʿAwf narrated from him.”

Ibn Abī Ḥātim said in al-Jarḥ wat-Taʿdīl (3/316):
“Ḥimyari ibn Bashīr Abū ʿAbdillāh al-Baṣrī, al-Jasrī, narrated from Maʿqil ibn Yasār; narrated from him: Qatādah, Salamah ibn Dīnār (the father of Ḥammād ibn Salamah), and al-Muthanná ibn ʿAwf. I heard my father say that.”

Abū Muḥammad Ibn Abī Ḥātim said: “Saʿīd al-Jurayrī narrated from him.”

He also said in al-ʿIlal (3/350):
“I heard my father, and it was said to him: A ḥadīth is narrated by al-Jurayrī from Abū ʿAbdillāh; he said: I asked Ibn ʿUmar, ‘Do you know of any deed done for the sake of Allāh other than jihād?’ He said: ‘Every righteous deed is in the path of Allāh.’
So it was said to my father: Who is this Abū ʿAbdillāh? Is he named?
He said: ‘I do not know him, except that it is narrated from Abū ʿAbdillāh al-Jasrī — and he is Ḥimyari ibn Bashīr — but I do not know if it is him or not.’”

Abū ʿAbdillāh Ibn Mandah said in Fatḥ al-Bāb fī al-Kuná wal-Alqāb (p. 470):
“Abū ʿAbdillāh al-Jushamī — he heard from Maʿqil ibn Yasār. Al-Muthanná ibn ʿAwf narrated from him. Some said: al-Ḥisrī.”
In the printed edition it reads al-Ḥisrī (with ḥāʾ), but the correct form is al-Jushamī (with jīm).

Al-Dūlābī mentioned him in al-Kuná wal-Asmāʾ (2/827) saying:
“Abū ʿAbdillāh ʿAbbās al-Jushamī,” then he cited this ḥadīth in brief:
He said: “Aḥmad ibn Shuʿayb — meaning al-Nasāʾī — informed me, who said: ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad informed us, who said: my father narrated to me, who said: Saʿīd al-Jurayrī narrated from [ʿAbbās] Abū ʿAbdillāh al-Jushamī, who said: Jundub narrated to us, who said: The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘Indeed, Allāh created one hundred mercies; He sent down one mercy through which the creatures show affection — both the jinn, humankind, and beasts — and with Him are ninety-nine mercies.’” (abridged version).

I say: this is from al-Nasāʾī’s Kitāb al-Kuná.

Al-Mundhirī said in Mukhtaṣar Sunan Abī Dāwūd (3/334):
“This Abū ʿAbdillāh is ʿAbbās al-Jushamī; al-Nasāʾī mentioned him in his Kitāb al-Kuná.”

Al-Ṭabarānī mentioned in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (2/161):
“Abū ʿAbdillāh al-Jushamī narrated from Jundub,” and he recorded this ḥadīth.

Then he mentioned (20/224):
“Abū ʿAbdillāh al-Jasrī narrated from Maʿqil ibn Yasār,” and he transmitted three aḥādīth from Maʿqil ibn Yasār.

Then he mentioned (20/226):
“Ḥimyari ibn Bashīr narrated from Maʿqil ibn Yasār,” and he transmitted one ḥadīth.

He also referred to him with the same kunya in Musnad al-Shāmiyyīn (4/59):
“Abū ʿAbdillāh,” and transmitted from Saʿīd ibn Bashīr, from Qatādah, from Abū ʿAbdillāh Ḥimyari ibn Bashīr, from Maʿqil ibn Yasār that the Prophet ﷺ said:
‘Indeed, Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic, dislikes for you three things: disobedience to mothers, burying daughters alive, and begging while withholding (what is due).’ — meaning, burying daughters refers to killing them during the Jāhiliyyah.

Ibn Ḥibbān said in al-Thiqāt (4/190):
“Ḥimyari ibn Bashīr narrated from Maʿqil ibn Yasār; Qatādah narrated from him.”

Then he listed in al-Thiqāt (5/259):
“ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbdillāh al-Jushamī: narrated from ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān and Abū Hurayrah; al-Jurayrī and Qatādah narrated from him.”

Then he listed (5/271):
“ʿAyyāsh ibn ʿAbdillāh al-Jushamī: narrated from ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān and Abū Hurayrah; Qatādah narrated from him.”

Then he listed (5/588):
“Abū ʿAbdillāh al-Jasrī from (the tribe of) ʿAnazah, narrated from a group of the Companions; the Baṣriyyūn narrated from him.”

I say: ad-Dūlābī named al-Jushamī as “ʿAbbās,” following al-Nasāʾī because of the report he cited, and Ibn Ḥibbān followed them — listing him under the name “ʿAbbās.” It seems a scribal error occurred, so he also listed him under the name “ʿAyyāsh” (with yāʾ) by mistake.

Ibn Saʿd said in aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā (7/159): “Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jisrī — a clan from ʿAnazah. He was known, and had few narrations. He narrated from Maʿqil ibn Yasār.”

Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ said in aṭ-Ṭabaqāt (p. 360): “Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jisrī, from Jisr ibn ʿAnazah ibn Asad ibn Rabīʿah; his name is Ḥimyarī ibn Bashīr.”

Al-Mizzī combined the two in Tahḏīb al-Kamāl (7/419):
“Ḥimyarī ibn Bashīr al-Ḥimyarī al-Baṣrī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jisrī — from the clan of Jisr (of ʿAnazah).

He narrated from: Jundub al-Bajali, ʿAbd Allāh ibn aṣ-Ṣāmit, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mughaffal, Maʿqil ibn Yasār, Abū ad-Dardāʾ, Abū Dharr — though he did not hear from him — and Abū ʿAnbah al-Khawlānī.

Narrated from him: Saʿīd al-Jurayrī, Salamah ibn Dīnār (the father of Ḥammād ibn Salamah), Sulaymān at-Taymī, Qatādah ibn Diʿāmah, and Abū Manṣūr al-Muthannā ibn ʿAwf al-Jisrī.”

Ibn Ḥajar, however, differentiated between them in at-Taqrīb (p. 183):
“Ḥimyarī — a name in the form of a nisbah — ibn Bashīr, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jisrī (with jīm then sīn, not shīn), also known by his kunya. He is trustworthy, makes mursal narrations, from the third ṭabaqah.”

He then said (p. 654): “Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jushamī (with ḍammah on the jīm and fatḥah on the shīn), a shaykh of Saʿīd al-Jurayrī, unknown, from the third ṭabaqah.”

This is also what adh-Dhahabī did, for he declared this al-Jushamī to be unknown!

He said in al-Mughnī fī ad-Ḍuʿafāʾ (2/795): “Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jushamī, a shaykh of al-Jurayrī — it is not known who he is.”

And in al-Mīzān (4/546): “Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jushamī — I do not know anyone who narrated from him except al-Jurayrī.”

What becomes clear to us is that Ḥimyarī ibn Bashīr is Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jisrī — the same as Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAnazī — and he is trustworthy, narrated from by al-Jurayrī and others.

It is possible that he is the same as “al-Jushamī,” which was likely a scribal corruption of al-Jisrī — and this is the most probable.

There is another narrator from whom al-Jurayrī narrates, also known by the kunya “Abū ʿAbd Allāh,” a Baṣran named Muḍārib ibn Ḥazn al-Mujāshiʿī at-Tamīmī.

Ibn Saʿd said in aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā (7/141): “Muḍārib ibn Ḥazn — from Banī Māzin. He had few narrations. He narrated from Abū Hurayrah.”

Ibn ʿAsākir gave him a full entry in Tārīkh Dimashq (58/277).

I say: It is possible that this is the same as Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Jushamī, the name being altered from at-Tamīmī or al-Mujāshiʿī — and this is, in my view, the closer possibility, and Allāh knows best.

As for what is in al-Kunā of an-Nasāʾī where he is called “ʿAbbās,” this is questionable — and even if authentic, then he would be unknown and not recognized, and the ḥadīth would be weakened thereby.

In any case, the ḥadīth of Jundub is narrated only by al-Jurayrī from Abū ʿAbd Allāh.

And it is not known in the story of the Bedouin’s duʿāʾ that there is mention of:
“Indeed, Allāh created one hundred mercies; He sent down one mercy through which the creatures — jinn, humans, and animals — show compassion to one another, and with Him are ninety-nine.”

Al-Jurayrī narrates this from Abū ʿUthmān an-Nahdī, from Salmān, who said:
“Indeed, Allāh created one hundred mercies, each mercy filling the space between the heaven and the earth; He sent down from them only one mercy, by which the creation — jinn, humans, birds, and beasts — show mercy to one another; and with Him are ninety-nine.”

And al-Jurayrī has been followed up in this: Sulaymān at-Taymī and Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind both narrated it from Abū ʿUthmān an-Nahdī, from Salmān, mawqūf.

Thus, it appears that al-Jurayrī conflated one narration with another — and Allāh knows best.

Hence, the ḥadīth of Jundub is not authentic from him, nor is al-Jurayrī’s solitary narration acceptable.

Moreover, it contains some strangeness, such as: “Do you say he is more astray than his camel?!”