`Abd al-Husayn Rejects the Hadith: “Whoever is in the State of Impurity at the time of Dawn Should not Fast.”

‘Abdul Hussain Rejects the Hadith: “Whoever is in the State of Impurity at the time of Dawn Should not Fast.”

On page 157, under the heading, “He finds himself in trouble so he excuses himself by claiming that he heard it from Fadl”. Imam Muslim reports from ‘Abdul Malik ibn Abi Bakr ibn ‘Abdur Rahman, from his father (Abu Bakr) who says:

سمعت أبا هريرة يقص من قصصه : من أدركه الفجر جنبا فلا يصم قال: فذكرت ذلك لعبد الرحمن بن الحارث لأبيه فأنكر ذلك فانطلق عبد الرحمن وانطلقت معه حتى دخلنا على عائشة وأم سلمة فسألهما عبد الرحمن عن ذلك قال فكلتاهما قالت كان النبي(ص) يصبح جنبا من غير حلم ثم يصوم قال فانطلقنا حتى دخلنا على مروان وهو والي المدينة من قبل معاوية فذكر ذلك له عبد الرحمن فقال مروان عزمت عليك إلا ما ذهبت إلى أبي هريرة فرددت عليه ما يقول قال فجئنا أبا هريرة فذكر عبد الرحمن له ذلك فقال أبو هريرة أهما قالتاه لك؟ قال: نعم قال: هما أعلم ،ثم رد أبو هريرة ما كان يقول في ذلك إلى الفضل بن العباس: سمعت ذلك من الفضل ولم أسمعه من النبي(ص) قال: فرجع أبو هريرة عما كان يقول

I heard Abu Hurairah saying in one of his lectures^[1], “Whoever is impure at the time of dawn should not fast.”

I mentioned this to ‘Abdur Rahman ibn al Harith (i.e. his father), who showed hesitation regarding it. Thus, ‘Abdur Rahman and I went to Aisha and Umm Salamah. ‘Abdur Rahman queried from them regarding it. Both of them responded, “The Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would find himself impure at dawn, without experiencing nocturnal emissions. Thereafter, he would fast.”

Thereupon, we went to Marwan, who was appointed by Muawiyah as the governor of Madinah. ‘Abdur Rahman mentioned to him the entire incident. Marwan instructed, “I demand from you that you go to Abu Hurairah and refute that which he says.”

Thus, we went to Abu Hurairah and ‘Abdur Rahman informed him of what had transpired.

Abu Hurairah asked, “Did they really say that to you?”

He replied, “Yes.”

“They are more learned,” was the reply of Abu Hurairah.

Then, Abu Hurairah ascribed his former view to Fadl ibn al ‘Abbas saying, “I heard this from Fadl ibn al ‘Abbas. I did not hear it from the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.”

Thus, Abu Hurairah retracted from his view.^[2]

He starts his hunt for loopholes saying:

لو كان الفضل حياً ما اجترأ عليه

If Fadl was alive, he would not have had the courage to say this.

He then comments in the footnotes (page 158):

أن رسول الله(ص) أجل وأفضل وأكمل مما يظنون وحاشاه أن يصبح جنباً ولاسيما في أيام الصوم والأنبياء لا يجوز عليهم الاحتلام لأنه من تلاعب الشيطان وهم منزهون عنه

The Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was far more illustrious, honourable, and an embodiment of perfection, unlike that which they believe. It is far-fetched that he would be in the state of impurity at that time, especially during the days of fasting. It is impossible for the Prophets to experience nocturnal emissions, as this is from the tricks of Shaitan, and they are protected from it.

Our comment: It is indeed amazing that ‘Abdul Hussain, who objects to Abu Hurairah radiya Llahu ‘anhu, practices upon the demand of this hadith of Abu Hurairah radiya Llahu ‘anhu. He is an Imami Shia, and Shia jurisprudence states that one who finds himself impure at the time of dawn will not be able to fast. Is this not really amazing? Shortly, we will present a few views of the Imams of the Ahlul Bayt, whom he believes to be infallible. He subscribes to these views as well. Furthermore, this hadith was corroborated by the hadith of the infallible Imam. Habib al Khath’ami reports in al Sahih from al Sadiq:

كان رسول الله يصلّي الليل في شهر رمضان ثم يجنب !! ثم يؤخر الغسل !! متعمداً !! حتى يطلع الفجر

The Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would perform salah during the nights of Ramadan and thereafter he would become impure. He would then delay the bath intentionally until the break of dawn.^[3]

Al Tahdhib reports from Muhammad ibn Humran who narrates his conversation with Imam Jafar:

سألته عن الجنب يجلس في المسجد؟ قال: لا، ولكن يمر فيه الاّ المسجد الحرام ومسجد المدينة قال: وروى أصحابنا أن رسول الله قال: لا ينام في مسجدي أحد ولا يجنب فيه أحد ولا يجنب فيه أحد وقال: إن الله أوحى إليّ أن اتخذ مسجداً طهورا لا يحل لأحد أن يجنب فيه إلاّ أنا وعلي الحسن والحسين .

I asked him if an impure person is allowed to sit in the masjid. He replied, “No, but he is allowed to pass through it, except Masjid al Haram and the Masjid of Madinah. Our scholars have reported that the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, ‘Nobody should sleep in this Masjid of mine and nobody should become impure in it. Allah has revealed to me, ‘Adopt a pure masjid’. No one is allowed to become impure in it besides myself, ‘Ali, Hassan, and Hussain.’”[4]

Muhammad ibn ‘Isa narrates that Sulaiman ibn Jafar al Marwazi reported to him that he heard al Faqih saying:

إذا أجنب الرجل في شهر رمضان بليل ولا يغتسل حتى يصبح فعليه صوم شهرين متتابعين مع الصوم ذلك اليوم ولايدرك فضل يومه

If a man becomes impure during the night of Ramadan and he does not bath until the morning, then he should fast on that day and add two months of continuous fasting as recompense. However, he will not attain the virtue of that day.^[5]

Abu Basir reports from Imam Jafar regarding the man who becomes impure during the night of Ramadan and intentionally delays the bath until the morning. He said:

يعتق رقبة أويصوم شهرين متتابعين أويطعم ستين مسكينا قال: وقال إنه لخليق ألا أراه يدركه أبداً

He will set free two slaves, fast sixty days consecutively or feed sixty poor people. However, I do not think that he will ever be able to make up for it.^[6]

Musnad al Rida has a narration from Ahmed ibn Muhammad who reports that he enquired from Imam al Rida rahimahu Llah regarding the one who cohabited with his wife in the month of Ramadan, or experienced nocturnal emissions, but stayed impure intentionally until the break of dawn. Imam al Rida rahimahu Llah replied:

يتم ذلك اليوم عليه قضاؤه

He will complete the fast of that day and he will repeat it later.[7]

Mir’at al ‘Uqul records:

عن الحلبي ، عن أبي عبدالله(ع) أنه قال: في رجل احتلم أول الليل أو أصاب من أهل ثم نام متعمداً في شهر رمضان حتى أصبح ،قال: يتم صومه ذلك ثم يقضيه إذا أفطر من شهر رمضان ويستغفر ربه

Al Halabi narrates from Imam Jafar that he said regarding the one who experienced nocturnal emissions or cohabited with his wife during the early portion of the night in the month of Ramadan, but intentionally delayed the bath until dawn, “He will complete that fast and then he will keep another fast in recompense, just as he would do if he nullified a fast. He will also seek forgiveness from his Rabb.”[8]

Al Muhaqqiq al Hilli says in Shara’i’ al Islam:

من أجنب ونام ناوياً للغسل، ثم انتبه ثم نام كذلك ، ثم انتبه ونام ثالثه ناوياً حتى طلع الفجر، لزمته الكفّارة على قول مشهور وفيه تردد

Whoever becomes impure and then sleeps with the intention of taking a bath (upon awakening), wakes up and then goes back to sleep in the state of impurity. He repeats this for a second time and thereafter a third time until eventually dawn appears, then he will have to be penalised for it according to the famous view. However, there is some uncertainty regarding it.[9]

Al Majlisi says in Mir’at al ‘Uqul:

المشهور بين الاصحاب بل ادعى عليه الاجماع انه يحرم البقاء على الجنابة متعمداً حتى يطلع الفجر ويجب به القضاء والكفّارة . ونسب إلى الصدوق: القول بعدم التحريم . وذهب ابن أبي عقيل والسيد إلى وجوب القضاء خاصة، وكذا المشهور وجوب القضاء لو نام غير ناوٍ للغسل أو كان ناوياً وكان غير معتاد .

The popular view among the scholars, which was even claimed to be the agreed upon view by all, is that it is impermissible to remain in the state of impurity intentionally until the break of dawn. Doing so will necessitate compensation as well as a penalty. The view of permissibility has been attributed to al Saduq. Ibn Abi ‘Aqil and al Sayed have opined that it will only necessitate compensation. Similarly, the famous view regarding the one who sleeps without the intention of taking a bath, or he did intend so, but it is not his habit is that compensation alone will be necessary upon him.[10]

Our comment: Why did you criticise Abu Hurairah radiya Llahu ‘anhu for narrating that which is the view in your school and your reputable Imams as well as scholars have passed verdicts in accordance to it? It is quite well known that being impure does not in any way infringe upon the fast. This can be established from the fact that at times, a man may sleep in the day and experience a wet-dream. Thereafter, no matter how much he delays the bath, it does not affect his fast. This was also admitted to by their scholar al Murtada. He says in al Intisar:

إنا لا نوجب على المتعمد البقاء على الجنابة إلى الصباح الغسل لا لأجل المنافاة بين الجنابة والصوم ، بل لأنه اعتمد لأن يكون جنباً في نهار الصوم

We do not make bathing compulsory upon the one who wishes to remain impure until dawn on account of there being some opposition between impurity and fasting. Rather, it is on account of him intentionally staying impure during a day of Ramadan.[11]

NEXT⇒ ‘Abdul Hussain Rejects the Hadith: “There is No Contagious (Illness), No (Evil Omen) in Safar and No Hamah”

^[1] ‘Abdul Hussain comments in the footnote: “His mocking of Abu Hurairah is quite apparent, as he calls him a Qassas. Literally, this means one who tells stories before gatherings to earn a few bounties from them. Most story-tellers are wayward people.” Our comment: Praise be to Allah, we have already explained, in detail; the claims, concoctions, and fabrications of this individual. We shall also reproduce narrations from the Ahlul Bayt which conform to the narration of Abu Hurairah radiya Llahu ‘anhu. Will he pass the same judgement upon his Imams?

^[2] Sahih Muslim, Kitab al Siyam.

^[3] Al Tahdhib, 4/213, # 620; Wasa’il al Shia, 7/44, chapter 16; al Mukhtalif, 3/409.

[4] Al Tahdhib, 6/15.

^[5] Al Istibsar, 2/78; al Tahdhib, 4/212; Wasa’il al Shia, 7/43.

^[6] Al Istibsar, 2/78; al Tahdhib, 4/212; Wasa’il al Shia, 7/43.

[7] Musnad al Rida, 2/194, chapter of the one who is impure at the time of dawn.

[8] Mir’at al ‘Uqul, .16/278 # 1, chapter of the one who becomes impure during the night of Ramadan.

[9] Shara’i’ al Islam, 1/192.

[10] Mir’at al ‘Uqul, 16/278.

[11] Al Intisar, pg. 64.

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