The Burial Prayer

حدثنا عبد اللّٰه حدثني أبي ثنا علي بن إسحاق أنا عبد اللّٰه يعني بن المبارك أنا يحيي بن أيوب عن عبيد اللّٰه بن زحر عن علي بن يزيد عن القاسم عن أبي أمامة قال لما وضعت أم كلثوم ابنة رسول اللّٰه صلي اللّٰه عليه وسلم في القبر قال رسول اللّٰه صلي اللّٰه عليه وسلم مِنۡہَا خَلَقۡنٰکُمۡ وَ فِیۡہَا نُعِیۡدُکُمۡ وَ مِنۡہَا نُخۡرِجُکُمۡ تَارَۃً  اُخۡرٰی قال ثم لا أدري قال بسم اللّٰه وفي سبيل اللّٰه وعلي ملة رسول اللّٰه أم لا فلما بني عليها لحدها طفق يطرح لهم الجبوب ويقول سدوا خلال اللبن ثم قال أما ان هذا ليس بشيء ولكنه يطيب بنفس الحي.

Abu Umamah stated: “When Umm Kulthum placed the daughter of God’s Messenger (sws) in the grave, God’s Messenger (sws) read [the Qur’anic verse]: “مِنۡہَا خَلَقۡنٰکُمۡ وَ فِیۡہَا نُعِیۡدُکُمۡ وَ مِنۡہَا نُخۡرِجُکُمۡ تَارَۃً  اُخۡرٰی.”[1] Then I do not know whether he said بسمِ اللّٰه وفي سبيل اللّٰه وعلي ملة رسول اللّٰه (in the name of God or in the way of God or on the religion of God’s Messenger) or not. Then when her grave had been built he started to sprinkle mud and would say: “Close the gaps between the bricks.” He then said: “This is nothing as far as being beneficial to the deceased is concerned; it is only for the comfort of his living relatives.”[2]

Following is the schematic illustration of the variants of this narrative’s isnad.

About ‘Ali ibn Yazid ibn Abi Hilal, al-Mizzi records: Yahya ibn Ma‘in regards him to be da‘if; Ya‘qub ibn Shaybah says that he is wahi al-hadith kathir al-munkarat; Abu Zur‘ah says that he is laysa bi qawi; Abu Hatim says that he is da‘if al-hadith and if he narrates from al-Qasim (as is the case here), then his narratives should be specially deliberated upon for their authenticity; al-Bukhari regards him to be da‘if munkar al-hadith. The various opinions ascribed to al-Tirmidhi about him is that he is he is da‘if, laysa bi thiqah and matruk al-hadith; Abu al-Fath al-Azdi, al-Daraquṭni and al-Barqani regard him to be matruk; al-Hakim says that he is dhahib al-hadith.[3]

Ibn Hibban says that he is da‘if fi al-hadith jiddaṇ.[4] Ibn Hajar regards him to be da‘if.[5]

About ‘Ubaydullah ibn dZahr, al-Mizzi records: Ahmad ibn Hanbal regards him to be da‘if and at another instance regards him to be thiqah; Yahya ibn Ma‘in says that he is laysa bi shay’ and that all his narratives are da‘if; ‘Ali ibn al-Madini regards him to be munkar al-hadith; Abu Hatim says that he is layyin al-hadith; Abu Zur‘ah says that he is la ba’sa bihi saduq and al-Nasa’i regards him to be laysa bihi ba’s.[6]

Ibn Hibban says that he is munkar al-hadith jiddan who narrates fabricated narratives from trustworthy people especially when he narrates from ‘Ali ibn Yazid who narrates from al-Qasim (as is the case here) and in this case it is not permissible to narrate from him.[7]

It is in this background that al-Bayhaqi and al-Haythami regard this narrative to be da‘if.[8]

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