Muhassin the son of Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and Sayyidah Fatimah

أروني ابني ما سميتموه سميته محسنا

Show me my son. What have you named him?… I named him Muhsin.

The Rawafid intend to establish the existence of Muhassin regarding whom they erroneously believe Sayyidina ‘Umar radiya Llahu ‘anhu caused Sayyidah Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha to miscarry while allegedly assaulting her.

The following is the hadith they cite as proof for the existence of Muhassin:

روى البخاري في الأدب المفرد و أحمد و الحاكم و غيرهم من طريق إسرائيل عن أبي إسحاق عن هانئ بن هانئ عن علي رضي الله عنه قال لما ولد الحسن جاء رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال أروني ابني ما سميتموه قلت سميته حربا قال بل هو حسن فلما ولد الحسين قال أروني ابني ما سميتموه قلت سميته حربا قال بل هو حسين فلما ولد الثالث جاء النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال أروني ابني ما سميتموه قلت سميته حربا قال بل هو محسن ثم قال سميتهم بأسماء ولد هارون شبر وشبير و مشبر

Narrated by al Bukhari in al Adab al Mufrad, Ahmed, al Hakim, and others from the chain of Isra’il―from Abu Ishaq―from Hani’ ibn Hani’―from ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu who reports:

When Hassan was born, Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam arrived and said, “Show me my son. What have you named him?”

I replied, “I named him Harb (War).”

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Nay, he is Hassan.”

When Hussain was born, he [came and] said, “Show me my son. What have you named him?”

I replied, “I named him Harb.”

He said, “Nay, he is Hussain.”

When my third son was born, Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam came and said, “Show me my son. What have you named him?”

I replied, “I named him Harb.”

He said, “Nay, he is Muhassin.”

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam then remarked, “I have named them on the scale of Nabi Harun’s ‘alayh al Salam children: Shabar, Shubayr and Mushabbir.”^{^[1]}

Zakariyya ibn Abi Za’idah is a mutabi’[2] of Isra’il. Al Tabarani[3] narrates from him with a sahih sanad. Al Hakim[4] and Ibn ‘Asakir[5] narrate from the chain of Yunus ibn Abi Ishaq―from his father. Al Tabarani[6], al Daraqutni in al Ghara’ib wa al Afrad[7], and Ibn ‘Asakir[8] narrate from the chain of Ibrahim ibn Yusuf―from his father―from his grandfather Abu Ishaq.

Ibrahim ibn Yusuf is da’if. Moreover, al Daraqutni clearly states that he is the sole narrator from his father. He also states that the narration is gharib from this chain. So the narrations of Isra’il and Zakariyya now remain. They both heard from Abu Ishaq after his ikhtilat[9]. There is very little kalam (criticism) on Yunus’s narration from his father.

Abu Ishaq did not clearly mention tahdith (that his sheikh narrated to him clarifying that he heard it directly) and he is a mudallis[10]. Moreover, his sheikh is majhul (unknown); none besides Abu Ishaq narrates from him.

The hadith has many other chains all of which are da’if. However, none of them have any mention of Muhassin.

Finally, these narrators have opposed the early narrators from Abu Ishaq who heard from him before his ikhtilat. For this reason, al Albani has graded the narration da’if.[11]

Therefore, it becomes clear that the hadith has more than one defect. Nonetheless, if the hadith is sahih it will only be proof for the dim-wittedness and folly of the Rawafid and their contradiction of their own proof. This narration distinctly mentions that Muhassin was born in the lifetime of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam while the Rawafid claim that Sayyidina ‘Umar ibn al Khattab radiya Llahu ‘anhu caused the miscarriage of this child from Sayyidah Fatimah’s radiya Llahu ‘anha womb after the demise of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. This is the condition of their reasoning and evidence. It is neither supported contextually nor rationally.

Nevertheless, let us hypothetically agree that Muhassin did in fact exist. The question that now arises is, is he the thirteenth Imam according to them due to him being the issue of Sayyidah Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha just like Sayyidina Hassan and Sayyidina Hussain radiya Llahu ‘anhuma? And Allah knows best!

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[1] Al Bukhari: al Adab al Mufrad pg. 823; Ahmed: Fada’il al Sahabah vol. 1 pg. 98, 118; al Hakim: al Mustadrak vol. 3 pg. 165, 180.

[2] A narrator who concurs with al fard al nasabi―a sole narrator in the middle of the isnad (Nuzhat al Nazar Sharh Nukhbat al Fikr pg. 43, 70)

[3] Al Tabarani vol. 3 pg. 96.

[4] Al Mustadrak vol. 3 pg. 168.

[5] Ibn ‘Asakir vol. 14 pg. 117.

[6] Al Tabarani vol. 3 pg. 97.

[7] Al Ghara’ib wa al Afrad vol. 1 pg. 276.

[8] Ibn ‘Asakir vol. 14 pg. 117, 118.

[9] One whose memory has weakened due to old age, vision loss, etc. (Nuzhat al Nazar Sharh Nukhbat al Fikr pg. 119)

[10] A narrator who skips out the one who narrated the hadith to him and gives the impression that he heard it from someone who actually did not narrate to him. (Nuzhat al Nazar Sharh Nukhbat al Fikr pg. 87, 88)

[11] Da’if al Adab al Mufrad pg. 77 Hadith: 133.

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