476 – Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Dig for me a lahd—that is, a side niche—and set the mud-bricks over me firmly, just as was done for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” Narrated by Muslim (1).

Al-Bayhaqī transmits a similar report from Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) with the additional wording: “and his grave was raised above the ground about one handspan,” and Ibn Ḥibbān declared it sound (2).

Hadith grading:
• The report of Jābir is mursal. It was recorded by Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Bayhaqī, and the latter favored the judgment of irsāl because Fudayl ibn Sulaymān al-Namrī opposes narrators more reliable than himself. Nevertheless, Ibn Ḥibbān and Ibn al-Sakan graded the ḥadith authentic.
• It also has mursal corroboration from Ṣāliḥ ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ, related by Abū Dāwūd in al-Marāsīl.

Vocabulary:
– lahd: Al-Nihāyah defines it as the recess hewn into the sidewall of the grave for placing the deceased; it is so called because it is angled away from the center toward one side. One may say laḥadtu or alḥadtu.
– al-laban: with a fatḥah on the lām and a kasrah on the bāʾ; plural labinah. These are unfired clay bricks used for building.
– shibr: with a kasrah on the shīn and a sukūn on the bāʾ; the distance between the tips of the little finger and thumb when the hand is spread in the usual manner. Plural ashbār.