115 – On the authority of Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) concerning the man who was struck on the head, performed a full ritual bath, and then died: “What would have sufficed him was to perform tayammum (dry ablution), bind a piece of cloth over his wound, wipe over it, and wash the rest of his body.” Abu Dāwūd transmitted it with a chain that is weak, and there is disagreement regarding its narrators (1).
Degree of the ḥadīth:
The report is weak. It was recorded by Abu Dāwūd (336) and Ibn Mājah (572); it is singled-out in transmission by al-Zubayr b. Khurayq. Al-Dāraqutnī said, “He is not reliable.” Al-Awzāʿī contradicted him, relating it from ʿAṭāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, and that is the correct version. Al-Dāraqutnī also stated that the chains from al-Awzāʿī differ, and the sound position is that al-Awzāʿī reported only the latter part of it as a mursal report from ʿAṭāʾ. Abū Zurʿah and Abū Ḥātim said, “Al-Awzāʿī did not hear this ḥadīth from ʿAṭāʾ; rather, he heard it from Ismāʿīl b. Muslim, from ʿAṭāʾ.”
Vocabulary:
• shujja (he was gashed): passive of shajja yashijj; a shajjah is a wound specifically to the head or face.
• yaʿṣib (he binds): he ties a bandage or turban around his head.
• khirqa: a torn piece of cloth.
Points derived from the ḥadīth:
- Background of the incident: Jābir said, “We set out on a journey, and a stone struck one of us and gashed him …”