al-Zubayr for stinginess, saying:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘The believer is not the one who sleeps content while his neighbour goes hungry.’ (1)”
ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar transmitted from Layth who said: Ibn ʿAbbās would often rebuke Ibn al-Zubayr for being tight-fisted, until the latter retorted, “How long will you keep taunting me?”
Yaʿqūb al-Qummī reported from Jaʿfar ibn Abī al-Mughīrah, from Ibn Abzā, from ʿUthmān that, when Ibn al-Zubayr was under siege, he said to him, “I have swift camels at my disposal. Would you like to relocate to Mecca so that anyone who wishes to visit you can come to you there?”
He replied, “No. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘A mighty ram from Quraysh will violate the sanctity of Mecca; his name will be ʿAbd Allah, and upon him will rest a burden equal to half the sins of mankind.’”
This report is recorded by Aḥmad in his Musnad (2), though there is some discussion about its chain of transmission (3).
(1) In the printed edition the name “Bashir” is wrongly rendered “Bishr,” and the verb “laysa” is misprinted “bi’sa.” The tradition is reported by Ibn Abi Shayba in al-Iman (no. 100), by al-Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad (no. 112), and by al-Khatib in his Tarikh 10/391-392, all through the chain: Abd Allah b. Abi Bashir – Abd Allah b. Masawir – Ibn Abbas. No scholar besides Ibn Hibban declared Abd Allah b. Masawir reliable; Ibn al-Madini judged him unknown, saying that no one transmitted from him except Abd al-Malik. The remaining transmitters are trustworthy. In spite of this, al-Hakim (4/167) declared the hadith authentic and al-Dhahabi concurred. Al-Mundhiri in al-Targhib and al-Haythami in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid 8/167 state that its transmitters are reliable. The report also has corroboration: (a) a narration from Anas recorded by al-Tabarani in al-Kabir 1/66/1 and by al-Bazzar (no. 119). Al-Tabarani’s chain contains Muhammad b. Saʿid al-Athram, a weak narrator; al-Bazzar’s chain contains ʿAli b. Zayd b. Judʿan, also weak. Each chain, however, supports the other, so the combined isnad rises to the rank of hasan. (b) A further report from Ibn Abbas in Ibn ʿAdi, 89/2, whose chain includes Hakim b. Jubayr, likewise weak. With these supporting narrations the hadith is judged sahih.
(2) Musnad 1/64; also in Tahdhib Ibn ʿAsakir 7/414. After citing it from the Musnad, Ibn Kathir remarks in al-Bidaya 8/339: “This hadith is extremely munkar and its chain is weak. Yaʿqub al-Qummi is inclined to Shiʿism, and such a solitary report from him is unacceptable. Even if it were authentic, it cannot refer to Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr, for he possessed commendable qualities; he assumed the governorship purely for the sake of Allah, and after the death of Muʿawiya b. Yazid he was unquestionably the legitimate imam. He was more rightly guided than Marwan b. al-Hakam, who disputed his authority only after consensus and widespread bayʿa had already been given to Ibn al-Zubayr.”
(3) In the printed text the sentence is corrupted into “wa-fi isnadihi, fa-qala,” which is then erroneously linked to Abbas al-Turqafi.