—and you also claim that he will have a Cistern in Paradise?”
He replied, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ told us that and gave us his promise.”
He retorted, “You are lying; you are only an aged man whose wits have gone.”
He answered, “These very ears of mine heard it, and this heart of mine preserved it, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he said: ‘Whoever deliberately attributes a lie to me, let him take his seat in the Fire.’ I have never lied about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. (1)
I read this before Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-ʿAlawī at al-Thaghr; he informed us: Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar al-Qaṭīʿī informed us; Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn al-Zāghūnī informed us; Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Zaynabī informed us; Abū Ṭāhir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mukhalliṣ related to us; Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal narrated to us; Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd narrated to us, from Shuʿbah, who said:
Abū Jamrah informed me, “I heard Ibn ʿAbbās say:
‘The delegation of ʿAbd…’”
(1) Its chain of transmission is sound. Al-Tabarani also reports it (no. 5022) through Muadh ibn al-Muthanna, from Musaddad, from Yahya ibn Said with this same isnad. Ahmad, 4/366–367, transmits it through Ismail ibn Ibrahim, from Abu Hayyan al-Taymi … Al-Tabarani likewise records it (no. 5021) through al-Husayn ibn Ishaq al-Tustari, from Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah, who said: Jarir narrated to us from Abu Hayyan. Traditions concerning the hawd (the Prophet’s Basin) have been transmitted by many Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—such as Abd Allah ibn Masud, Abd Allah ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As, Anas ibn Malik, Sahl ibn Sad, Abu Said al-Khudri, Abu Hurayrah, Jundub ibn Abd Allah, Uqbah ibn Amir, Harithah ibn Wahb, Asma bint Abi Bakr, Aisha, Umm Salamah, Abu Dharr, Thawban, and Jabir ibn Samurah.
Consult al-Bukhari, Salafi edition, Book of Heart-Softeners, chapter “The Hawd,” nos. 6575, 6583, 6584, 6585, 6586, 6587, 6588, 6589, 6590, 6591, 6592, 6593.
See also Sahih Muslim, Book of Virtues, chapter “Affirmation of our Prophet’s Hawd and its Description,” nos. 2293, 2299, 2292, 2303, 2290, 2291, 2303, 2289, 2296, 2298, 2293, 2294, 2299, 2300, 2301, 2305. Abu Dawud (no. 4749) likewise transmits—through Abd al-Salam ibn Abi Hazim—who said: “I was present when Abu Barzah al-Aslami entered upon Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, and someone in the assembly related to me …,” mentioning a story in which Ibn Ziyad spoke of the hawd and asked, “Have you heard the Messenger of Allah mention it?” Abu Barzah replied, “Yes— not once, nor twice, nor three, nor four, nor five times. Whoever denies it, may Allah never allow him to drink from it.”