1/ Text: ʿAlqamah ibn Nājiyah — may Allah be pleased with him — reported that, in the year of the campaign of al-Muraysīʿ, after they had embraced Islam, the Prophet ﷺ said to them, “Part of the completeness of your Islam is that you pay the zakat due on your wealth.” On that same occasion he also told them, “I shall send someone to you who will collect the zakat from your property.”

2/ The Shaykh had earlier judged the ḥadīth weak, a view reflected by his leaving it out of the first editions of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb wa’l-Tarhīb; he reinforced that judgment by citing it in Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb (1/236, no. 457).

3/ The Shaykh — may Allah have mercy on him — later reversed his stance, deeming the report ḥasan in al-Ṣilsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah (7/705-707, no. 3232).

Shaykh al-Albānī said: “Notice: When I first compiled and published Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb wa’l-Tarhīb I omitted this ḥadīth because al-Mundhirī had signalled its weakness by prefacing it with the phrase ‘It is reported…,’ and because al-Haythamī (3/62) had criticised its chain, saying, ‘…it contains narrators who are unknown.’ At the time I could do no more than rely on their assessments, for I had no access to the isnād in the original sources, especially the book of Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim. When Allah later blessed us with printed editions of those works and enabled me to consult them and study the chain for myself, it became clear that the defects alleged were groundless, particularly with regard to Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim’s chain….”

4/ Commentary:
A. Shaykh al-Albānī did not quote the second sentence of the ḥadīth, which is found in Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim’s version.
B. The report is also transmitted by Ibn Qāniʿ in Muʿjam al-Ṣaḥābah (2/285), who, instead of the second sentence above, records that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Nothing that has been given as charity may be sold until it has been received.” Abū Nuʿaym relates it in Maʿrifat al-Ṣaḥābah, no. 5454. Al-Ḥāfiẓ attributes it in al-Iṣābah to al-Baghawī’s Muʿjam al-Ṣaḥābah, but I did not find it in the printed edition, which is missing a great deal because the manuscript itself is incomplete.

Hadith Twelve

1/ Text: Anas — may Allah be pleased with him — reported that the Prophet ﷺ forbade the sale of animals whose udders have been tied up to make them appear full (al-muḥaffalāt).

2/ The Shaykh had first classified it as weak in Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ (p. 873, no. 6062) and in al-Ḍaʿīfah (4726).

3/ He later withdrew that ruling, strengthening the report in al-Ṣilsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah (7/713).

Shaykh al-Albānī said: “If any of you sells a sheep or a milch camel, let him not cheat by withholding its milk.” After authenticating its chain he added, “This is a powerful corroboration for the ḥadīth of Anas, ‘He forbade the sale of al-muḥaffalāt.’ I had included it in al-Ḍaʿīfah (4726) because of the weakness of its chain and consequently placed it in Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ as well; both entries should now be deleted.”

4/ Commentary: Supporting the prohibition of selling al-muḥaffalāt is the marfūʿ report of Abū Hurayrah — may Allah be pleased with him — “Do not leave the camels and sheep unmilked (to deceive buyers),” which is agreed upon. In another wording narrated by the two Shaykhs as well: “He forbade intercepting traders on the way, … artificial price-inflation (al-najsh), and the tying of udders (al-taṣriya)….”

Hadith Thirteen

1/ Text: Muʿādh ibn Jabal — may Allah be pleased with him — said: I was travelling with the Prophet ﷺ. One morning, while we were on the move and I was riding close to him, I said, “Messenger of Allah, tell me of a deed that will admit me into Paradise and keep me far from the Fire.” He replied, “You have asked about something momentous, yet it is easy for whomever Allah makes it easy: worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, establish the prayer, pay the zakat, fast the month of Ramadan, and make pilgrimage to the House.” Then he said, “Shall I direct you to the gates of goodness? Fasting is a shield; charity extinguishes sin just as water extinguishes fire; and a man’s prayer in the depths of the night.” He then recited, ‘Their sides forsake their beds…’ until he reached, ‘…for what they used to do.’

Next he said, “Shall I inform you of the head of the matter, its pillar, and its highest peak?” I answered, “Indeed, O Messenger of Allah.” He said, “The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and its highest peak is jihad.”

He then asked, “Shall I tell you what underlies all of that?” I said, “Yes, Messenger of Allah.” He took hold of his tongue and said, “Restrain this.” I exclaimed, “Messenger of Allah, are we really going to be held to account for what we say?” He replied, “May your mother be bereaved of you, Muʿādh! Is anything that topples people on their faces — or on their nostrils — into Hell on the Day of Resurrection other than the harvest of their tongues?”

2/ The Shaykh had given a detailed verdict of weakness in Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl (2/138-141), declaring only the phrase “and its highest peak is jihad” authentic (see the commentary below).

3/ He later reversed that judgment, strengthening the ḥadīth in its extended form and authenticating specifically the saying, “May your mother be bereaved of you, Muʿādh ibn Jabal; is anything that flings people on their nostrils in Hell other than the harvest of their tongues?” in al-Ṣilsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah (7/845-846, no. 3284). He also graded it ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrihi in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb wa’l-Tarhīb (no. 2866).

Shaykh al-Albānī said: “Know that what prompted me to trace this narration — which is an excerpt from a long ḥadīth of Muʿādh — is that I had previously sourced it from al-Tirmidhī and others through the routes of Abū Wāʾil, Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, and Maymūn ibn Abī Shabīb <the printed edition of al-Ṣaḥīḥah mistakenly reads: Maymūn ibn Abī Shaybah> in full form, each transmitter adding to the other. All of those routes are defective because of broken chains, except for one narration from Shahr, as will be shown. I documented this in Irwāʾ (2/138-141). Al-Mundhirī listed its defects in al-Targhīb (4/5-6), followed by Ibn Rajab in his commentary on the Forty Ḥadīths (p. 196), who remarked, ‘It has other routes, all of them weak.’ When I then came across this new chain for the stated excerpt I hastened to document it, for it is both rare and sound — unlike those earlier routes.”