Narrative on House of Ḥamd in Paradise
حدثنا سُوَيْدُ بن نَصْرٍ حدثنا عبد اللّٰهِ بن الْمُبَارَكِ عن حَمَّادِ بن سَلَمَةَ عن أبي سِنَانٍ قال دَفَنْتُ ابْنِي سِنَانًا وأبو طَلْحَةَ الْخَوْلَانِيُّ جَالِسٌ علي شَفِيرِ الْقَبْرِ فلما أَرَدْتُ الْخُرُوجَ أَخَذَ بِيَدِي فقال ألا أُبَشِّرُكَ يا أَبَا سِنَانٍ قلت بَلَي فقال حدثني الضَّحَّاكُ بن عبد الرحمن بن عَرْزَبٍ عن أبي مُوسَى الْأَشْعَرِيِّ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صلي اللّٰه عليه وسلم قال إذا مَاتَ وَلَدُ الْعَبْدِ قال اللّٰه لِمَلَائِكَتِهِ قَبَضْتُمْ وَلَدَ عَبْدِي فَيَقُولُونَ نعم فيقول قَبَضْتُمْ ثَمَرَةَ فُؤَادِهِ فَيَقُولُونَ نعم فيقول مَاذَا قال عَبْدِي فَيَقُولُونَ حَمِدَكَ وَاسْتَرْجَعَ فيقول اللّٰه ابْنُوا لِعَبْدِي بَيْتًا في الْجَنَّةِ وَسَمُّوهُ بَيْتَ الْحَمْدِ قال أبو عِيسَي هذا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ غَرِيبٌ
Abū Mūsa al-Ash‘arī reports that God’s Messenger said: “When a child of my servant dies, God tells his angels: ‘You have claimed the soul of my servant’s child.’ They reply: ‘Yes.’ God then says: ‘Have you claimed the fruit of his heart?’ Thereupon, they answer: ‘Yes.’ At this, God says: ‘What did my servant say?’ They reply: ‘He praised you and expressed that he was for you and would return to you.’ God then says: ‘Build a house for my servant in Paradise and called it House of Ḥamd.’”[1]
Following is the schematic illustration of the isnād of this narrative’s variants:
The name of Abū Ṭalḥah al-Khawlānī is obscure. Al-Mizzī, while quoting different authorities mentions the following possibilities: Sufyān ibn ‘Abdullāh, Dir‘ ibn ‘Abdullāh, Dhir ibn ‘Abdullāh.[2] Ibn Abī Ḥātim does not mention and jarḥ or ta‘dīl on him.[3] Ibn Ḥajar says that he is maqbūl.[4] Al-Dhahabī says: fīhī jahālah.[5]
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[1]. Al-Tirmidhī, Sunan, vol. 3, 341, no. 1021. See also: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Musnad, vol. 4, 415, (no. 19740); Al-Ṭayālisī, Musnad, vol. 1, 69, (no. 508); ‘Abd ibn Ḥumayd, Musnad, vol. 1, 194, (no. 551); Ibn Ḥibbān, Ṣaḥīḥ, vol. 7, 210, (no. 2948); Al-Bayhaqī, Al-Sunan al-kubrā, vol. 4, 68, (no. 6938); Al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-kamāl, vol. 33, 442; Ibn ‘Asākir, Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq, vol. 47, 300; Al-Bayhaqī, Shu‘b al-īmān, vol. 7, 118, (no. 9699); Ibn al-Mubārak, Al-Zuhd, vol. 2, 27, (no. 108); Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, ‘Aml al-yawm wa al-laylah, vol. 1, 533, (no. 581).
This narrative is also reported in mawqūf form. See: Al-Bayhaqī, Shu‘b al-īmān, vol. 7, 119, (no. 9700).
[2]. Al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-kamāl, vol. 33, 441-442.
[3]. Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Al-Jarḥ wa al-ta‘dīl, vol. 9, 396.
[4]. Ibn Ḥajar, Taqrīb, 652.
[5]. Al-Dhahabī, Al-Kāshif, vol. 2, 437.