I say: One of the strangest things attributed to him in Ibn ʿArafah’s pamphlet (1) is his narration from ʿĀmir, from Masrūq, from ʿĀʾishah, who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Had I wished, Allah would have made mountains of gold and silver flow along with me.” (2)
Al-Bukhārī said: He passed away in Dhū al-Ḥijjah of the year 144 AH.
ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Munʿim informed us; Ibn al-Harastānī informed us; Ibn al-Musallim informed us; Ibn Ṭalāb informed us; Ibn Jumayʿ informed us; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-ʿAmmārī at Athārib (3) informed us; al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-ʿAmmī narrated to us; Hushaym narrated to us; Mujālid narrated to us, from Abū al-Waddāk, from Abū Saʿīd:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “There are three whom Allah will laugh at on the Day of Resurrection: a man who rises for prayer in the night, a group who stand in ranks for the obligatory prayer, and a group who stand in ranks to fight the enemy.” (4)
Ibn Mājah also recorded it, transmitting through Abū Kurayb, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ismāʿīl, from Mujālid.
(1) The base manuscript reads “jazaan,” which is a scribal error. Ibn ‘Arafa is al-Hasan ibn ‘Arafa ibn Yazid, Abu ‘Ali al-Baghdadi, the pedagogue. He lived to about 110 years—some say 107. He had ten children, each named after one of the ten Companions promised Paradise. Yahya ibn Ma‘in and others declared him trustworthy. He used to visit Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Born in 150/767, he died in 257/871. He is listed in Tahdhib al-Kamal and its derivatives.
(2) The report is weak because Mujalid is unreliable. Al-Mundhiri cites it in al-Targhib wa-l-Tarhib, 4/201–202, attributing it to al-Bayhaqi.
(3) A fortress located between Aleppo and Antioch, about three farsakhs from Aleppo.
(4) The chain is weak on account of Mujalid. The report is found in the Musnad, 3/80, and in Sunan Ibn Majah, no. 205 (Introduction, “What the Jahmiyya denied”). Al-Busiri notes in Misbah al-Zujajah that the chain is questionable; although Muslim includes Mujalid ibn Sa‘id in his Sahih, he only narrates from him in conjunction with another transmitter. Ibn ‘Adi adds that most of Mujalid’s narrations are unreliable.