Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Zabālah reports in his book Akhbār al-Madīnah—as transmitted from him by al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār, who narrates from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad al-Darāwardī—that the latter said:
“I saw a man from Madinah named Muḥammad ibn Kaysān. After performing the ʿAṣr prayer on Friday, while we were seated with Rabīʿah ibn Abī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, he would go to the grave, greet the Prophet—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—and continue supplicating until nightfall.”
Rabīʿah’s companions would exclaim, “Look at what this man is doing!” and Rabīʿah would answer, “Leave him; a person is rewarded only according to his intention.”
This Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan was a transmitter of historical reports, but the ḥadīth scholars grade him weak, comparable to al-Wāqidī and the like. Nevertheless, his reports can still be cited for corroboration and reflection.
This anecdote could be marshalled by both sides of the debate, for it suggests that what the man did was regarded by them as an innovation—something not practiced by the Companions or by the other scholars of the people of
(1) MS T reads: “Ibn Dhibala,” but the correct form is the one adopted here. It refers to Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Zubala al-Makhzumi, Abu al-Hasan, a Medinan transmitter accused of fabrication. None of the six canonical collections report from him except Abu Dawud—and, as Ibn Hajar notes in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, Abu Dawud did so unintentionally because he considered him a liar. He died circa 200 AH/815–16 CE. See: Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, 9:115–17, no. 160; id., Taqrib al-Tahdhib, 1:154, no. 138.
(2) MSS J and D read: Akhbar al-Madinah. I have not located this work.
(3) That is al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar ibn Abd Allah ibn Musab ibn Thabit, a descendant of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, qadi of Medina, deemed reliable (thiqa) and belonging to the tenth generation; he died in 256 AH/870 CE. See: Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-Tahdhib, 10:257, no. 16.
(4) The verb “narrated” is omitted in MS A.
(5) MSS J and D read: “al-Darudi.” The correct reading is the one adopted here. See: Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-Tahdhib, 2:538.
(6) MS T reads: “until he walks.”
(7) MS T reads: “See.”
(8) MS A reads: “made.”