‘Abbās, according to which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said “Allah is the Greatest” four times in the last funeral prayer he offered (1). They said: “This was the later of the two practices, and only his latest practice, peace and blessings be upon him, is to be followed.” Concerning this hadith, al-Khallāl said in al-‘Ilal (2): “Harb informed me: ‘Ahmad was asked about the hadith narrated by Abū al-Malīh from Maymūn, from Ibn ‘Abbās.’ The hadith was then recounted, and Ahmad said: ‘This is a lie; it has no basis. It was narrated only by Muhammad (3) ibn Ziyād al-Tahhān, who used to fabricate hadiths.’”
They also argued that Maymūn ibn Mihrān narrated from Ibn ‘Abbās that when the angels offered the funeral prayer for Adam, they said “Allah is the Greatest” four times over him and said: “This is your sunnah, O children of Adam” (4).
And this
(1) Recorded by Abū Ya‘lā (280), al-Tabarānī in al-Awsat (5474) and al-Kabīr (11:256), and al-Bayhaqī (4:37). Its chain includes al-Nadr ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān Abū ‘Umar al-Khazzāz, who is matrūk (rejected as a hadith narrator). Al-Bayhaqī said: “This wording has been transmitted through other routes, all of them weak. However, the agreement of most of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, on four takbīrs (pronouncements of ‘Allah is the Greatest’) is like evidence supporting it.” Abū Wā’il said: “During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, they would pronounce seven, five, or six takbīrs. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb gathered the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and each related what he had witnessed. He then united them upon four takbīrs”—meaning the takbīrs in the funeral prayer. Hammām ibn al-Hārith made a similar statement.
(2) Ibn al-Mulaqqin quoted it from that work in al-Badr al-munīr (5:264).
(3) ص, ج, ع read “Ahmad,” which is an error. ع also omits “al-Tahhān.”
(4) Recorded by al-Hārith in his Musnad (272, as numbered in Bughyat al-bāhith), al-Dāraqutnī (1818), and al-Hākim (1:386). Its chain includes Furāt ibn al-Sā’ib. In al-Dāraqutnī’s version, the name appears as “al-Furāt ibn Sulaymān al-Jazarī,” but he said: “He is actually Furāt ibn al-Sā’ib, whose hadiths are rejected.” Al-Hārith’s version reads “from Ibn ‘Umar,” as does the version cited by al-Albānī. There is another route of transmission, but it includes Muhammad ibn Ziyād al-Tahhān al-Yashkurī, who is comparable to Furāt. See al-Da‘īfa (6:406–407).
Similar reports have been transmitted from al-Hasan, from ‘Utayy, from Ubayy, and from al-Hasan, from Anas. Both will be discussed in the following documentation of the reports.