Al-Ghifārī reports from ʿAlī (1) the same account, both in meaning and wording, but with the phrase, “When he had come out of it,” in place of “he had gone beyond [it]” (2).
Imām Aḥmad, in the narration transmitted by his son ʿAbd Allāh (3), relates through a clearer chain of transmission (4) from ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with him—something similar: that he disliked performing the prayer in the land of Babylon (6) or in any land that had been swallowed up by the earth, or the like (7).
Accordingly, Imām Aḥmad (8) deemed prayer in such places reprehensible, following ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with him. His statement, “He forbade me to pray in the land of Babylon, for it is accursed,” implies that one should not perform the prayer in any accursed land.
(1) In MS (B) the blessing radiya Allahu ʿanhu (may Allah be pleased with him) is added.
(2) See Sunan Abi Dawud, Book of Prayer, “On places where prayer is not permissible,” hadith no. 491 (1/330); and al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra 2:451.
(3) This is ʿAbd Allah b. Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman (b. 213/828). A pious, truthful, and reliable scholar, he transmitted many legal questions from his father, served as judge under the caliph al-Muktafi, and died in 290/903. See Ibn Abi Yaʿla, Tabaqat al-Hanabila 1:180-88, no. 249; Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1:401, no. 179.
(4) The printed edition adds: “with a more reliable isnad.”
(5) MS (AT) inserts the phrase ʿalayhi al-salam (peace be upon him), probably a copyist’s addition, for it was not the author’s usual wording.
(6) Babylon is an ancient city that served as the capital of pre-Islamic Iraq; it lies near al-Hilla on the Euphrates, about 160 km south of Baghdad. See Yaqut, Muʿjam al-Buldan 1:309; al-Munjid fi l-Adab wa l-ʿUlum, p. 56.
(7) Al-Bukhari cites the report in hanging form in the Book of Prayer, “Prayer in places of subsidence,” Fath al-Bari 1:530. “The land that subsided” is identified as Babylon, which some link to the verse, “So Allah brought their building down from the foundations…” (Q 16:26). See Fath al-Bari 1:530.
(8) The word al-Imam is absent from MS (AB).