89 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Keep yourselves clear of urine, for most of the punishment of the grave is because of it.” Related by al-Daraqutni.
Al-Hakim records the wording: “The majority of the torment of the grave is due to urine,” and he declared its chain of transmission sound (1).
Hadith grading
The hadith is authentic. A supporting narration appears in the two Ṣaḥīḥs concerning one of the two men whose graves the Prophet ﷺ passed by and who was being punished for not protecting himself from urine. Regarding al-Hakim’s additional wording, the compiler states that its chain is sound, and it was likewise authenticated by al-Daraqutni, al-Nawawi, and al-Shawkani.
Vocabulary
• “Istenzihū mina l-bawl” — from nazaḥa – yanzahu – nazhan, meaning to keep oneself away from something reprehensible. The command therefore means: seek purity by staying clear of urine; nazāhah denotes distancing oneself from what is detested.
• “ʿĀmmat ʿadhāb al-qabr minhū” — the feminine of ʿām, meaning: most of the punishment of the grave is caused by failing to guard against urine, as expressed in al-Hakim’s version: “Most of the punishment of the grave is due to urine.”
Lessons derived from the hadith
- One must be diligent in avoiding urine so that it does not soil one’s body or clothes.
- It is preferable to hasten to wash it off and purify oneself after contamination so that the impurity does not accompany a person; the obligation to remove it, however, becomes binding at the time of prayer.
- Urine is impure; if it touches the body, clothing, or a place, it renders that thing impure, and prayer offered in that state is therefore invalid.