No servant passes the grave of a man who he knew in the world and greets him, except that he recognises him and replies to his greeting

ما من عبد يمر بقبر رجل كان يعرفه في الدنيا فسلم عليه إلا عرفه و رد عليه السلام

No servant passes the grave of a man who he knew in the world and greets him, except that he recognises him and replies to his greeting.

The narration is extremely da’if. Al Khatib narrated in in his Tarikh^[1] and al Dhahabi in Siyar A’lam al Nubala’^[2] from ‘Abdul Rahman ibn Zaid ibn Aslam from―his father from―’Ata’ ibn Yasar from―Abu Hurairah.

‘Abdul Rahman ibn Zaid

Matruk.
Al Bukhari says, “His ahadith are not sahih.”^[3]
He also states, “‘Ali declared him extremely da’if.”^[4]
Al Tirmidhi says, “I do not narrate from him.”^[5]
Abu Zur’ah al Razi lists his name among the weak narrators.^[6]
Ahmed ibn Hambal was asked about Usamah ibn Zaid to which he replied, “Usamah and his brother ‘Abdul Rahman are very similar, and da’if. Their brother ‘Abdullah, however, is reliable.”^[7]
Al Tirmidhi says, “Da’if in hadith. Ahmed ibn Hambal, ‘Ali ibn al Madini, and other hadith masters labelled him da’if. He also blunders profusely.”^[8]
Al Nasa’i also graded him da’if.^[9]
Al Bazzar said, “The scholars unanimously classify his narrations da’if.”^[10]

He has a tabi’. However, the isnad contains narrators not worthy of being used as proof. Ibn Abi al Dunya narrates it in Kitab al Qubur:

حدثنا محمد بن قدامة الجوهري ثنا معن بن عيسى القزاز أخبرنا هشام بن سعد ثنا زيد بن أسلم عن أبي هريرة

Muhammad ibn Qudamah al Jawhari narrated to us―Ma’n ibn ‘Isa al Qazzaz narrated to us―Hisham ibn Sa’d informed us―Zaid ibn Aslam narrated to us from―Abu Hurairah.

This isnad is munqati’ since Zaid did not meet Sayyidina Abu Hurairah radiya Llahu ‘anhu. Al Tirmidhi says, “We do not know of Zaid ibn Aslam hearing from Abu Hurairah.”^[11]

The reason for the du’f of the narration is Muhammad ibn Qudamah al Jawhari.

Muhammad ibn Qudamah al Jawhari

Abu Dawood says, “He is worthless.”
Al Dhahabi lists him among the weak narrators and said, “Al Khatib and others have confused his biography with the biography of Muhammad ibn Qudamah ibn A’yun al Masisi who is reliable. Hafiz highlighted this in al Taqrib.”^[12]

The hadith has a shahid which Ibn ‘Abdul Barr has narrated musnadan (with an isnad) in his commentary on al Muwatta’:

عن عبيد الله بن محمد عن فاطمة بنت الريان المخزومي قالت أخبرنا الربيع بن سليمان المؤذن صاحب الشافعي أخبرنا بشر بن بكر عن الأوزاعي عن عطاء عن عبيد ابن عمير عن ابن عباس قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم و ذكر الحديث

From ‘Ubaidullah ibn Muhammad from―Fatimah bint al Rayyan al Makhzumi who says―al Rabi’ ibn Sulaiman al Mu’adhin the companion of al Shafi’i informed us―Bishr ibn Bakr informed us from―al Awza’i from―’Ata’ from―’Ubaid ibn ‘Umair from―Ibn ‘Abbas who relates that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said.

Al Albani classified the isnad as gharib. He explains, “al Rabi’ ibn Sulaiman and the narrators above him are reliable and known, from the narrators of al Tahdhib. However, those after them, I am not aware of them; neither the Sheikh of Ibn ‘Abdul Barr nor the one who dictated it, Fatimah bint al Rayyan. I think that she is the only narrator. Rather, her report of the hadith is shadh from al Rabi’ ibn Sulaiman with his sahih isnad from Ibn ‘Abbas. Only the first isnad is mahfuz from him. From this research, it becomes manifest that the statement of ‘Abdul Haqq al Ishbili in his Ahkam, “Its isnad is sahih.”^[13] It is incorrect although al ‘Iraqi concurred in Takhrij al Ihya^[14] and al Munawi approved.^[15]

Next⇒ What is this estrangement O Bilal

[1] Tarikh Baghdad vol. 6 pg. 137.

[2] Siyar A’lam al Nubala’ vol. 12 pg. 590.

[3] Al Tarikh al Kabir vol. 1 pg. 618; vol. 5 pg. 263.

[4] Al Tarikh al Kabir vol. 5 pg. 922; Al Tarikh al Saghir vol. 2 pg. 229.

[5] Tartib ‘Ilal al Tirmidhi pg. 17.

[6] Al Du’afa’ Number: 184.

[7] Al Ma’rifah wa al Tarikh vol. 1 pg. 430.

[8] Jami’ al Tirmidhi Hadith: 632.

[9] Al Du’afa’ wa al Matrukun Number: 337.

[10] Kashf al Astar Number: 194.

[11] Jami’ al Tirmidhi Hadith: 3846.

[12] Taqrib al Tahdhib Biography: 6234.

[13] Al Ahkam vol. 1 pg. 80.

[14] Takhrij al Ihya vol. 4 pg. 419.

[15] Silsilat al Ahadith al Da’ifah vol. 9 pg. 473.

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