Hadith 24: ‘Ali and I (i.e. ‘Ammar ibn Yasir) were companions in the Battle of al ‘Ashirah.

Hadith 24

كنت أنا وعلي بن أبي طالب رفيقين في غزوة العشيرة، فلما نزلها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأقام بها، رأينا أناسا من بني مدلج يعملون في عين لهم، أو في نخل، فقال لي علي: يا أبا اليقظان هل لك أن نأتي هؤلاء فننظر كيف يعملون؟ قال قلت: إن شئت فجئناهم فنظرنا إلى عملهم ساعة. ثم غشينا النوم. فانطلقت أنا وعلي حتى اضطجعنا في ظل صور من النخل، ودقعاء من التراب فنمنا. فوالله ما أنبهنا إلا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يحركنا برجله وقد تتربنا من تلك الدقعاء التي نمنا فيها، فيومئذ قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لعلي: ما لك يا أبا تراب؟ لما يرى مما عليه من التراب، ثم قال: ألا أحدثكما بأشقى الناس؟ قلنا: بلى يا رسول الله. قال: أحيمر ثمود الذي عقر الناقة، والذي يضربك يا علي على هذه ووضع يده على قرنه حتى يبل منها هذه وأخذ بلحيته.

‘Ali and I (i.e. ‘Ammar ibn Yasir) were companions in the Battle of al ‘Ashirah. When the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam disembarked and (decided to) settled, we saw some people from Banu Mudlij working on a spring that belonged to them, or on their date-palm trees.

‘Ali said to me, “O Abu al Yaqazan! Can we go to these people and see how they are working?”

He said, “If you like, we can go to them for a while and see what they are doing.” Then sleep overcame us. ‘Ali and I set out and lay under the shade of some date-palm trees and fine sand and (eventually) fell asleep. By Allah, nobody woke us up except the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, who nudged us with his feet. We were covered with sand because of where we slept. On that day, the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said to ‘Ali, “What is with you, O Abu Turab (ref. to ‘Ali)?”

(He said this) because of the sand that we were covered with.

Then he said, “Should I not inform you two who the most wretched person is?” We said, “‘But of course, O Messenger of Allah.”

He said, “‘The man from Thamud who slayed the camel (of Salih ‘alayh al Salam), and the man who will strike you, O ‘Ali, on this—he placed his hand on ‘Ali’s head, such that the blood will flow here—and he held his beard.”

This hadith is transmitted by ‘Ammar ibn Yasir, Jabir ibn Samurah, al Dahhak ibn Mazahim, and ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib radiya Llahu ‘anhum.

Imam al Nasa’i, Imam Ahmed, and al Hakim narrate the hadith of ‘Ammar ibn Yasir.[1]

This chain of transmission contains Muhammad ibn Khuthaym, who is majhul (unknown). Muhammad ibn Ka’b al Qurazi is the only person to transmit from him. Ibn Hibban, as is his habit, deemed him a reliable narrator. Imam al Bukhari found it to contain an ‘illah (hidden flaw); he considered it munqati’[2] (broken).

The hadith of al Dahhak ibn Mazahim is narrated by Imam Ahmed.[3] The chain of transmission contains Qutaybah ibn Qudamah al Ru’asi and his father, both of whom were not deemed reliable expect by Ibn Hibban.

The hadith of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib has been transmitted via a few chains. One of them contains the transmitter ‘Abdullah ibn Salih, the scribe of al Layth (ibn Sa’d). There is a difference of opinion regarding him. However, the preferred opinion regarding him is that he is weak.

Another chain contains ‘Abdul Rahman ibn Abi al Zinad. There is also a difference of opinion regarding him. The preferred view is that he possesses a weak memory (sayyi’ al hifz).

Another chain contains the ‘‘an’anah’[4] of Habib ibn Abi Habib. He is one of the reliable narrators; however, he is a mudallis.[5]

Another chain contains ‘Abdullah ibn Sabi’, or Sab’. Ibn Hibban is the only person to deem him a reliable narrator. Most of these chains contain tolerable weakness/s. However, Nur al Din al Haythami and al Albani inclined towards the hadith being Hassan (good).[6] Al Hakim authenticated the hadith and Ibn Hajar al ‘Asqalani deemed it jayyid (fair).[7]

NEXT⇒ Hadith 25

[1] Imam al Nasa’i: al Sunan al Kubra, hadith no. 8485 and Khasa’is ‘Ali, hadith no. 153; Imam Ahmed: Musnad Ahmed, 4/263 and Fada’il al Sahabah, hadith nos. 1172, 1173; al Hakim: Mustadrak al Hakim, hadith no. 4679.

[2] Munqati’ is a chain of transmission (isnad) in which some transmitter, usually not in the early part of the isnad, cites a source whom he never actually met. [translator’s note]

[3] Imam Ahmed: Fada’il al Sahabah, hadith no. 953.

[4] Mu’an’an is a technical term in the science of hadith. It is used to indicate that established transmission methods, e.g. as indicated by terms such as haddat̲h̲ani (he narrated to me), ak̲h̲barani (he informed me) or sami’tu (I heard), are not known to have occurred, or have not been observed, between the transmitters of one or more links in an isnad. The method described by the term mu’an’an solely consists of the preposition ‘an ‘on the authority of’. Isnads with one or more times the preposition ‘an between two transmitters are called mu’an’an isnads. [translator’s note]

[5] A mudallis refers to a transmitter who (sometimes) transmits with obfuscation in his transmission; either intentionally or unintentionally narrating a hadith in manner that obscures or omits transmitters in the isnad. [translator’s note]

[6] Nur al Din al Haythami: Majma’ al Zawa’id, 9/137; al Albani: Silsilat al Ahadith al Sahihah, hadith no. 1743.

[7] Ibn Hajar al ‘Asqalani: Fath al Bari, 7/74.

BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents