Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿĀṣim al-Thaqafī narrated to us; Ḥusayn al-Juʿfī narrated to us, from Zāʾidah, from ʿĀṣim, from Shaqīq, from ʿAbd Allāh, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Among the worst of mankind are those upon whom the Hour dawns while they are still alive, and those who turn graves into places of worship.” (1)
This is a ḥasan ḥadith with a strong chain of transmission.
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad, Ismāʿīl ibn Yūsuf, ʿĪsā ibn Abī Muḥammad, and others informed us. They said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar informed us; ʿAbd al-Awwal ibn ʿĪsā informed us; Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Dāwūd informed us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥammūyah informed us; Ibrāhīm ibn Khuzaym informed us; ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd narrated to us; Ḥusayn al-Juʿfī narrated to us, from Zāʾidah, from Ibn ʿAqīl, from Jābir, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked Abū Bakr, “When do you perform witr?”
He replied, “After the late-night prayer, before I go to sleep.”
He then asked ʿUmar, “When do you perform witr?”
He answered, “In the last part of the night.”
The Prophet commented, “This one has acted cautiously, and that one has shown strength.” (2)
(1) Its chain of transmission is hasan (sound). It was also recorded by Ahmad in al-Musnad 1/405, 435; al-Tabarani, no. 10413; Abu Nuaym, Tarikh Isfahan 1/142; and Ibn Abi Shayba through several routes from Zayda with this same isnad. Ibn Khuzayma (no. 789) and Ibn Hibban (nos. 340–341) declared it sahih. Al-Bukhari reproduced the first half of the report (13/16, Book of Tribulations, chapter “The Emergence of Fitnah”)—up to the words “and those who take graves as places of worship”—through the chain of Muhammad ibn Jafar, from Shubah, from Wasil al-Ahdab, from Abu Wail, from Ibn Masud.
(2) Ibn Aqil—namely Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Hashimi—is judged layyin (weak) in his narrations, whereas the other transmitters are trustworthy. The hadith is likewise found in Ahmad 3/309, 330 and in Ibn Majah (no. 1202, Book of the Establishment of Prayer, chapter “Witr in the early night”) through several chains from Zayda with this isnad. It has a supporting narration in Abu Dawud (no. 1434, Book of Prayer, chapter “Witr before sleep”) from Abu Qatada with an authentic chain, and another in Ibn Majah 1/379–380 from Ibn Umar with a strong chain. Therefore, the hadith is sahih (authentic).