Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (2/139)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

and has favored your community over all other nations just as He has favored the day of Friday over every other day (1).

This report is fabricated; it is sound neither in chain nor in wording. It is inconceivable that al-Khiḍr would present himself before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, greeting him in person and learning from him, while—according to the tales they relate and the chains they attribute to some of their shaykhs—al-Khiḍr supposedly comes to them, greets them, and even knows their names, homes, and whereabouts, yet could not recognize Moses son of ʿImrān, the one to whom Allah spoke and whom He chose above all others of his time, until Moses introduced himself as “Moses of the Children of Israel.”

After citing this narration of Anas, the ḥadīth master Abū ʾl-Ḥusayn Ibn al-Munādī said: “The scholars of ḥadīth are unanimous that it is a report whose isnād is discredited and whose matn is unsound; the hand of fabrication upon it is plain to see.”

As for the ḥadīth transmitted by the ḥadīth master Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī (2), who said: “Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ informed us; Abū Bakr ibn Bāllūyah informed us; Muḥammad ibn Bishr ibn Maṭar narrated to us; Kāmil ibn Ṭalḥah narrated to us; ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad narrated to us—from Anas ibn Mālik, who said:

‘When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, his Companions gathered around him, weeping. Then there entered a man whose hair was streaked with grey, well-built and handsome. He stepped over their necks, wept, and then turned to the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said:

“In Allah there is solace for every calamity, compensation for every loss, and a substitute for everything that perishes. So turn in repentance to Allah and aspire to Him. His gaze is upon you in times of trial, so look to Him, for the truly stricken one is he who is not restored.”

Then he departed. They said to one another, ‘Do you recognize that man?’ Abū Bakr and ʿAlī replied, ‘Yes; that was the brother of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—al-Khiḍr.’

This narration was also related by Abū Bakr ibn Abī Dunyā from Kāmil ibn Ṭalḥah with the same chain, though its wording differs from that recorded by al-Bayhaqī. Al-Bayhaqī then remarked: ‘ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad is weak, and this report is thoroughly munkar.’

I say: This ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad is Abū Maʿmar al-Baṣrī; he transmitted a collection of reports from Anas. Ibn Ḥibbān said (3)

(1) Ibn Kathir has abridged the passage here, resulting in some obscurity. The fuller version is found in Ibn Asakir’s al-Mukhtasar (vol. 8, p. 65), which reads as follows: On the authority of Anas, who said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to perform ablution from one night until the next. One night I went out with him along one of the roads of Medina, carrying the water for ablution (ṭahūr), and I heard the voice of a man supplicating, ‘O Allah, help me with what will save me from what terrifies me.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘If only he had prayed with what follows.’ By God’s guidance, the tongue of the one who was praying—whose words were present in the soul of the Prophet—then said, ‘O Allah, grant me the genuine longing (shawq) of the truthful toward that for which You have made them long.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘Leave the water for ablution, O Anas; by the Lord of the Kaaba, go to that supplicant and say to him: “Pray for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), that Allah may aid him in what He sent him to accomplish, and pray for his Ummah that they may accept what their Prophet has given them.”’ Anas continued: “I said, ‘Who has sent me?’ He would not comply until I told him who had sent me. I returned to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, he refuses to pray until I tell him who sent me.’ The Prophet said, ‘Tell him, “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).”’ So I went back and said to him, ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has sent me.’ He responded, ‘Welcome be the Messenger of Allah and his envoy. I have greater right than anyone to visit the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).’ He then went to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, ‘I am your brother al-Khidr, and Allah has preferred you above the prophets just as He preferred Ramadan over the other months, and He has preferred your Ummah over the other communities just as He preferred Friday over the other days.’ “As he turned away,” Anas concluded, “I heard him say, ‘O Allah, make me of this merciful, guided, and forgiven Ummah.’” (2) Imam al-Bayhaqi, Dalail al-Nubuwwah, vol. 7, p. 269. (3) al-Majrūḥīn, vol. 2, p. 171.

الأمم كما فضّل يوم الجمعة على غيره (١) . الحديث -وهو مكذوب- لا يصح لا سندًا ولا متنًا، لا يتمثَّل بين يدي رسول الله ﷺ ويجيء بنفسه مسلّمًا ومتعلِّمًا وهم يذكرون في حكاياتهم وما يسندونه عن بعض مشايخهم أن الخضر يأتي إليهم، ويسلّم عليهم، ويعرف أسماءهم ومنازلهم ومحالّهم، وهو مع هذا لا يعرف موسى بن عمران كليم الله الذي اصطفاه الله في ذلك الزمان على مَن سواه حتى يتعرف إليه بأنه موسى بني إسرائيل. وقد قال الحافظ أبو الحسين بن المنادي، بعد إيراده حديث أنس هذا: وأهل الحديث متفقون على أنه حديثٌ منكر الإسناد سقيم المتن يتبين فيه أثر الصنعة. فأما الحديث الذي رواه الحافظ أبو بكر البيهقي (٢) قائلًا: أخبرنا أبو عبد الله الحافظ، أخبرنا أبو بكر ابن بالويه، حدّثنا محمد بن بشر بن مطر، حدّثنا كامل بن طلحة، حدّثنا عباد بن عبد الصمد، عن أنس ابن مالك قال: لما قُبض رسول الله ﷺ أحدق به أصحابه فبكوا حولَه واجتمعوا، فدخل رجلٌ أشْهَب اللجة جسيمٌ صبيح، فتخطّى رقابَهم، فبكى ثمّ التفت إلى أصحاب رسول الله ﷺ فقال: إن في الله عَزاءً من كلِّ مصيبةٍ، وعِوَضًا من كلِّ فائت، وخَلَفًا من كلِّ هالك، فإلى الله فأنيبوا وإليه فارغبوا، ونظره إليكم في البلاء، فانظروا فإن المصاب من لم يُجْبَر، وانصرف. فقال بعضهم لبعض: تعرفون الرجل؟ فقال أبو بكر وعلي: نعم هذا أخو رسول الله ﷺ الخضر (عليه السلام) . وقد رواه أبو بكر بن أبي الدنيا عن كامل بن طلحة، به، وفي متنه مخالفة لسياق البيهقي، ثم قال البيهقي: عباد بن عبد الصمد ضعيفٌ، وهذا منكر بمرة. قلت: عباد بن عبد الصمد هذا هو أبو معمر البصري، روى عن أنس نسخه؛ قال ابن حِبان (٣) ،

(١) اختصر ابن كثير النص هاهنا فالتبس مضمونه. والذي عند ابن عساكر، في المختصر (٨/ ٦٥): عن أنس قال: كان رسول الله ﷺ يتوضأ من الليل إلى الليل، فخرجتُ معه ذات ليلة في بعض طرق المدينة ومعي الطَّهُور، فسمعت صوت رجل يدعو: اللهم أعني على ما ينجيني مما خوّفتني. فقال رسول الله ﷺ : لو دعا بالتي تليها - قال: وفّق الله على لسان الداعي الذي كان في نفس رسول الله ﷺ - فقال: اللهم ارزقني شوق الصادقين إلى ما شوقتهم إليه. فقال: دع الطهور يا أنس، جُمعتا له وربّ الكعبة، ائت هذا الداعي فقل له: ادع لرسول الله ﷺ فليُعنه الله على ما بعثه، وادع لأمته أن يأخذوا ما آتاهم نبيهم. قال: من أرسلك؟ - قال: ولم يكن النبي ﷺ قال لي: أخبره من أرسلني- قال: فقلت: وما عليك؟ قال: لست أدعو حتى تخبرني من أرسلك. فقلت: وما عليك؟ قال: لست أدعو حتى تخبرني من أرسلك. قال: فأتيت النبي ﷺ فقلت: يا رسول الله إنه أبى حتى أخبره من أرسلني. قال: قل له: "رسول الله ﷺ ". فأتيت فقلت له: رسول الله ﷺ أرسلني. قال: مرحبًا برسول الله ﷺ ، وبرسوله، أنا أحق أن آتي رسولَ الله ﷺ ، فائت رسول الله ﷺ وقل له: أنا أخوك الخضر، وإن الله فضلك على النبيين كما فضّل رمضان على سائر الشهور، وفضل أمتك على سائر الأمم، كما فضل الجمعة على سائر الأيام. قال: فلما ولّيت سمعته يقول: اللهم اجعلني من هذه الأمة المرحومة المرشدة المتاب عليها. (٢) في دلائل النبوة (٧/ ٢٦٩). (٣) المجروحين (٢/ ١٧١).