Important Benefits Related to the Ḥadīth of Umm Waraqah al-Anṣāriyyah

Investigating the isnād of Umm Waraqah’s report reveals multiple transmission paths, copyist slips, and juristic inferences surrounding her request to join Badr.

By: Abū Ṣuhayb Khālid al-Ḥāyik.

Abū Dāwūd narrated in his Sunan (1/161) from ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shaybah, who said: ḥaddathanā Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ, who said: ḥaddathanā al-Walīd ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Jumayʿ, who said: ḥaddathtanī jaddatī and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād al-Anṣārī, from Umm Waraqah bint Nawfal:

That when the Prophet ﷺ went out to (the battle of) Badr, she said: “O Messenger of Allah, allow me to go out with you so that I may nurse your sick; perhaps Allah will grant me martyrdom.” He said: “Stay in your home, for indeed Allah the Exalted will grant you martyrdom.”

He said: So she used to be called al-Shahīdah (the martyr).

He said: She had recited the Qurʾān, so she asked the Prophet ﷺ for permission to appoint a muʾadhdhin in her house, and he granted her permission. He said: She had manumitted a slave boy and a slave girl, but they both rose against her at night, smothered her with her quilt until she died, and then fled.

When morning came, ʿUmar stood among the people and said: “Whoever has knowledge of these two—or has seen them—let him bring them forth.” So he ordered them to be crucified, and they were the first crucified in Madīnah.

Abū Dāwūd said: ḥaddathanā al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥammād al-Ḥaḍramī, who said: ḥaddathanā Muḥammad ibn Faḍīl, from al-Walīd ibn Jumayʿ, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād, from Umm Waraqah bint ʿAbdillāh ibn al-Ḥārith with this ḥadīth. He said: The first narration is more complete.

He (Abū Dāwūd) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to visit her in her home, and he appointed for her a muʾadhdhin who would give the adhān for her, and he commanded her to lead the people of her household in prayer. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said: “I myself saw her muʾadhdhin as an old man.”

1. The differences in the isnād of the ḥadīth

This is a well-known ḥadīth, and its isnād was transmitted in different ways:

The singular isnād of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abān – who is abandoned

Al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Usāmah narrated it from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abān, from al-Walīd ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Jumayʿ, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād, from his father: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitted Umm Waraqah to lead the people of her household, and she had a muʾadhdhin.
Al-Ḥārith also narrated it from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, from al-Walīd, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from his father, from Umm Waraqah: that she sought permission from the Prophet ﷺ. (Mentioned by Ibn al-Athīr in Usd al-Ghābah 1/328).

I say: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abān al-Saʿīdī al-Kūfī (d. 207 AH): nothing, matrūk al-ḥadīth (abandoned), accused by Ibn Maʿīn and others. He had much ḥadīth and many dependents, so he seems not to have paid due attention to his narrations, and error became excessive in his transmission. Because of that, they abandoned him. If he indeed heard this ḥadīth from al-Walīd, then he may have merely followed the common route (sulūk al-jādah) and erred. And if he did not hear it, then the accusation against him stands. And Allāh knows best.

The narrators from Wakīʿ did not differ

A group narrated it from Wakīʿ, from al-Walīd, from his grandmother and from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād, from Umm Waraqah.

The addition in the isnād of Imām Aḥmad and his differing from the group

A group (such as Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh, Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah, ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Shākir, and al-Bukhārī as in his Tārīkh) narrated it from Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn, from al-Walīd, from his grandmother, from Umm Waraqah. They did not mention ʿAbd al-Raḥmān.
Imām Aḥmad narrated it in his Musnad (6/405) from Abū Nuʿaym in this same way. But he differed in another narration from Abū Nuʿaym, from al-Walīd, from his grandmother and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād, from Umm Waraqah. So he added “ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād” in the narration of Abū Nuʿaym!

I say: It is possible that Abū Nuʿaym sometimes mentioned ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and sometimes did not. Or the addition of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān in the narration of Abū Nuʿaym came from Imām Aḥmad himself, because what is preserved from Abū Nuʿaym is without mentioning ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. And Allāh knows best.

The error of Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥarbī

Abū Yaʿqūb Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥarbī narrated it from Abū Nuʿaym, from al-Walīd ibn Jumayʿ, who said: ḥaddathtanī jaddatī, from her mother, Umm Waraqah. (Narrated by Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilyah 2/63).

I say: Isḥāq differed from a large group who narrated it from Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn; he made al-Walīd’s grandmother the daughter of Umm Waraqah, and this is a mistake. Isḥāq is ṣadūq, though none of the authors of the Six Books transmitted from him. He was spoken against due to some late additions in his writings.

The difference regarding Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī, and a misreading that occurred for him

ʿUmar ibn Shabbah al-Nuʿmayrī al-Baṣrī narrated it from Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī, from al-Walīd ibn Jumayʿ, from his mother, from Umm Waraqah. (Narrated by al-Dāraqutnī in al-Sunan 1/279).
Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr al-Ḥanẓalī Abū Ṣāliḥ al-Marwazī narrated it from Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī, from al-Walīd, from his grandmother, from Umm Waraqah. (Narrated by al-Dāraqutnī in al-Sunan 1/403).

I say: ʿUmar ibn Shabbah contradicted Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr, so instead of saying “from his grandmother” he said: “from his mother.” It seems this was a misreading that occurred for ʿUmar. He was an author of works. The correct version is that of Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr—who is ṣadūq—because his narration from Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī matches the narrations of Wakīʿ and Abū Nuʿaym.

The difference regarding ʿAbdullāh al-Khuraybī, and his addition in the isnād

Naṣr ibn ʿAlī al-Jahḍamī narrated it from ʿAbdullāh ibn Dāwūd al-Khuraybī, from al-Walīd ibn Jumayʿ, from Laylā bint Mālik, from her father. And from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād, from Umm Waraqah. (Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Ṣaḥīḥ 3/89).
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Yūnus al-Ḍabbī al-Kūfī narrated it from ʿAbdullāh ibn Dāwūd al-Khuraybī, from al-Walīd ibn Jumayʿ, from Laylā bint Mālik and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khālid al-Anṣārī, from Umm Waraqah al-Anṣāriyyah. He did not mention “from her father.” (Narrated by al-Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak 1/320).

I say: Naṣr ibn ʿAlī and Aḥmad ibn Yūnus are both trustworthy. The narration of Aḥmad ibn Yūnus from al-Khuraybī matches that of Wakīʿ, so it is clear that the problem in this isnād comes from al-Khuraybī himself. He added “from her father” to the chain, thus differing from Wakīʿ. And Wakīʿ was far more precise in memorization.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar indicated in al-Iṣābah (8/321) that in al-Khuraybī’s narration it appeared as: “Laylā bint Mālik, from her mother.” He said: “Ibn al-Sakan narrated it from the route of ʿAbdullāh ibn Dāwūd, from al-Walīd, from Laylā bint Mālik, from her mother, from Umm Waraqah… And Abū Nuʿaym narrated it from the narration of Abū Nuʿaym from al-Walīd: ḥaddathtanī jaddatī, from her mother, Umm Waraqah.”

I say: Ibn Ḥajar did not mention the narrator from ʿAbdullāh ibn Dāwūd in Ibn al-Sakan’s version. It is possible that this narration is correct, and thus it cancels the earlier narration of Naṣr ibn ʿAlī from al-Khuraybī, leaving this as an unauthentic addition. It is also possible that what Naṣr ibn ʿAlī transmitted from al-Khuraybī was a misreading from the one narrating from him, so that the correct version is what appears in Ibn al-Sakan’s narration: “from Laylā bint Mālik, from her mother.” The addition “from her mother” seems to be the work of copyists, since the ḥadīth is from “Umm Waraqah,” and when they saw “Umm,” they wrote: “from her mother, from Umm Waraqah.” If this reasoning is correct, then al-Khuraybī would be free from the responsibility of this addition—especially since Aḥmad ibn Yūnus narrated it from him without this addition. And Allāh knows best.

Al-Mizzī summarized these variants in Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (35/390), saying in the biography of Umm Waraqah:

“Her ḥadīth was narrated by al-Walīd ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Jumayʿ (d) from his grandmother, from her mother, Umm Waraqah. It is also said: from al-Walīd, from his grandmother Laylā bint Mālik, from her father, from Umm Waraqah. And it is said: from al-Walīd (d) from his grandfather, from Umm Waraqah, and from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād, from Umm Waraqah. And it is said: from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād, from his father, from Umm Waraqah: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitted Umm Waraqah to lead the people of her household in prayer. And Muḥammad ibn Yaʿlā al-Sulamī said: from al-Walīd ibn Jumayʿ, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād. Al-Walīd said: And I heard my grandmother Laylā bint Mālik mention from Umm Waraqah bint ʿAbdillāh ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Marzakhah, and she was a woman from the Anṣār.”

I say: These differences do not make the ḥadīth muḍṭarib (shaky), but rather they indicate its establishment. Some of the isnāds have been affected by misreadings, alterations, following the common route, and other such mistakes by certain narrators, as was clarified earlier. The correct version is that it is: from al-Walīd ibn Jumayʿ, from his grandmother, and from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād—both from Umm Waraqah.

2. From the defects of combining shuyūkh

We mentioned earlier the statement of Ibn Ḥajar in al-Iṣābah: “And Abū Nuʿaym narrated it from the narration of Abū Nuʿaym from al-Walīd: ḥaddathtanī jaddatī, from her mother, Umm Waraqah.”

I say: Ibn Ḥajar is referring to the narration recorded by Abū Nuʿaym al-Aṣbahānī in Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ (2/63), through Abū Yaʿqūb Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥarbī, from Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn, from al-Walīd ibn Jumayʿ, who said: ḥaddathtanī jaddatī, from her mother, Umm Waraqah.

Earlier I showed that a group narrated it from Abū Nuʿaym, from al-Walīd, from his grandmother, from Umm Waraqah. They did not say: “from her mother, Umm Waraqah.”

Abū Nuʿaym also narrated it in Maʿrifat al-Ṣaḥābah (6/3572), from Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥarbī and Aḥmad ibn Khalīd al-Ḥalabī, who both said: ḥaddathanā Abū Nuʿaym, from al-Walīd, who said: ḥaddathtanī jaddatī, from her mother, Umm Waraqah.

So did Aḥmad ibn Khalīd follow Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥasan in making Umm Waraqah the mother of al-Walīd’s grandmother? I say: Aḥmad ibn Khalīd al-Ḥalabī was a ṣadūq man, among the shuyūkh of al-Ṭabarānī, and Ibn Ḥibbān listed him among the trustworthy.

I fear that combining these two narrations is itself an error! When Abū Nuʿaym combined them, he may have carried the narration of al-Ḥalabī upon the narration of al-Ḥarbī which contained “from her mother, Umm Waraqah.” This often occurs when narrations are combined, especially among the later scholars who gathered narrations, like al-Ṭabarānī and Abū Nuʿaym. If it is not an error in combining, then the narration of Aḥmad ibn Khalīd is also mistaken—because a group of major trustworthy scholars narrated it from Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl, and they did not mention what al-Ḥarbī and al-Ḥalabī mentioned.

3. Following Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī, his son, and Ibn Ḥibbān in accepting what al-Bukhārī said without verification

Imām al-Bukhārī mentioned in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīر (7/309): “Mālik from Umm Waraqah. Al-Walīd ibn Jamīʿ said it, from Laylā bint Mālik, from her father.”

Abū Ḥātim, his son, and Ibn Ḥibbān followed him in this. Ibn Abī Ḥātim said in al-Jarḥ waʾt-Taʿdīl (8/218): “Mālik narrated from Umm Waraqah. His daughter Laylā bint Mālik narrated from him. I heard my father say that.”

And Ibn Ḥibbān said in al-Thiqāt (5/389): “Mālik: a shaykh who narrates from Umm Waraqah. His daughter Laylā bint Mālik narrated from him.”

I say: Imām al-Bukhārī based this entry on the ḥadīth of Naṣr ibn ʿAlī al-Jahḍamī from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dāwūd al-Khuraybī from al-Walīd ibn Jamīʿ. I clarified earlier that this narration is mistaken.

And al-Bukhārī’s wording: “Al-Walīd ibn Jamīʿ said it” involves leniency, because al-Walīd did not actually say this; rather, the error lies in the narration. Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī, his son, and Ibn Ḥibbān followed al-Bukhārī in this entry—as was their habit—without verification.

4. Mentioning Khallād al-Anṣārī among the Companions is an error

Ibn al-Athīر mentioned in Usd al-Ghābah (1/328), under the letter Khāʾ-Lām: “Khallād al-Anṣārī, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥمān.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar said in the first section of al-Iṣābah fī Tamyīz al-Ṣaḥābah (2/341): “Khallād—unattributed. Al-Ḥārith said in his Musnad: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abān narrated to us, he said: al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jamīʿ narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād, from his father: that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ permitted Umm Waraqah to lead the people of her household in prayer. This is how ʿAbd al-ʿAzīز narrated it, but he is weak. The ḥadīth is in fact mawqūf, narrated by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād from Umm Waraqah. This is also how Abū Dāwūd and others transmitted it. If preserved, it could be understood in both ways.”

I say: It is not preserved, and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīز is abandoned in ḥadīth, as clarified earlier.

5. Umm Waraqah al-Anṣāriyyah has no known proper name, and some calling her “Shahīdah” is an error

Ibn al-Athīر mentioned in Usd al-Ghābah (1/1374): “Shahīdah, Umm Waraqah al-Anṣāriyyah.” Then he narrated her ḥadīth.

Ibn Ḥajar said in al-Iṣābah (7/735): “Shahīdah, Umm Waraqah al-Anṣāriyyah: Ibn Mandah mentioned her under proper names, and this is a mistake. It is only a description, and her ḥadīth makes that clear. It will come in the chapter of Kunyas, in the statement of ʿUmar when her servant—whom she had manumitted upon her death—killed her: ‘The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ spoke the truth; he used to say: Let us go visit the shahīdah.’”

6. The isnād differences in Sunan Abī Dāwūd, and al-Mizzī and al-Dhahabī’s entry on Jamīʿ, the grandfather of al-Walīd

Al-Mizzī noted in Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (35/113) that in the transmission of Abū Saʿīd ibn al-Aʿrābī, Abū ʿUmar Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Baṣرī, and Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-ʿAbd from Abū Dāwūd, it reads: al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jamīʿ: “My grandfather and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khallād al-Anṣārī narrated to me, from Umm Waraqah.”

But in the transmission of Abū ʿAlī al-Luʾluʾī and Abū Bakر ibn Dāsah from Abū Dāwūd, through ʿUthmān, from Wakīʿ, from al-Walīd: “My grandmother narrated to me.”

Al-Mizzī gave an entry for Jamīʿ the grandfather of al-Walīd, saying in Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (5/126): “Jamīʿ, the grandfather of al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jamīʿ al-Zuhrī al-Kūfī. His ḥadīth was narrated by al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jamīʿ (d) from his grandfather, from Umm Waraqah regarding her leading the women in prayer. And it was said: from al-Walīd (d), from his grandmother, from Umm Waraqah. And it was said: from al-Walīd, from his grandmother Laylā bint Mālik, from her mother Umm Waraqah. Abū Dāwūd narrated for him.”

Al-Dhahabī followed him in this, saying in al-Mughnī fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ (1/136): “Jamīʿ, the grandfather of al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jamīʿ: unknown.”

And in al-Mīzān (2/153): “Jamīʿ, the grandfather of al-Walīd (d) ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jamīʿ: it is not known who he is. He narrated from Umm Waraqah about her leading prayer.”

Ibn Ḥajar refuted them in Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (2/96): “This entry is among the errors that al-Mizzī did not point out, but instead followed the author of al-Kamāl. There is no narration of Jamīʿ in Sunan Abī Dāwūd. What is in it is: from al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jamīʿ, ‘My grandmother narrated to me, from Umm Waraqah.’ And this is how it appears in most of the transmitted chains in many Musnads and chapters. In some versions of al-Ṭabarānī’s al-Muʿjam al-Kabīر it appears as: ‘My grandfather narrated to me,’ and this is clearly a scribal error, due to the contradiction. Al-Dhahabī accepted this error, for I read in his own handwriting in al-Mīzān: ‘Jamīʿ: unknown.’ End of quote.

Al-Dāraquṭnī considered the ḥadīth of Umm Waraqah ḥasan in his Sunan, and Abū Ḥātim indicated its goodness in al-ʿIlal, and Ibn Khuzaymah included it in his Ṣaḥīḥ.”

And he said in al-Taqrīb (p. 142): “Jamīʿ, the grandfather of al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh—this is how they mentioned it, but it is an error. What is actually with Abū Dāwūd is: from al-Walīd, from his grandmother.”

7. Did Umm Waraqah al-Anṣāriyyah have Companionship?

Ibn Saʿd said in al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā (8/457): “Umm Waraqah bint ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith: she embraced Islam, pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, and narrated from him.”

Ibn Ḥibbān said in al-Thiqāt (3/463): “Umm Waraqah bint Nawfal: it is said she had Companionship.” Then he affirmed it in al-Thiqāt (5/98), saying: “She had Companionship.”

Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said in al-Istīʿāb (4/1965): “Umm Waraqah bint ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿUwāym al-Anṣārī. And it was said: Umm Waraqah bint Nawfal. She is famous by her kunya, and the people of reports differed over her lineage. The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ used to visit her and call her the shahīdah.”

I say: They did not truly differ over her lineage; the most is that some attributed her to her forefather. Ibn Ḥajar said in al-Iṣābah (8/321): “Umm Waraqah bint ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿUwāymir ibn Nawfal al-Anṣāriyyah. She was also called Umm Waraqah bint Nawfal, attributing her to her forefather. Abū Dāwūd narrated her ḥadīth.”

And he said in al-Taqrīb (p. 759): “A female Companion who used to lead the people of her household in prayer. She died during the caliphate of ʿUmar, killed by her servants. The Prophet ﷺ used to call her the shahīdah.”

In conclusion, her Companionship is established—may Allāh be pleased with her.

8. The meaning of the ḥadīth

The meaning of the ḥadīth is not that it is permissible for a woman to lead men in prayer, but rather that the Prophet ﷺ permitted Umm Waraqah to lead the women of her household. (See: al-Mughnī, 2/16).

12 Muḥarram 1429 AH.