1581 — “When Abraham, peace be upon him, was cast into the fire, there was no creature that did not try to extinguish the fire for him, except the gecko, for it would blow upon it.”

It was recorded by Ibn Mājah (2/295), Ibn Ḥibbān (1082), and Aḥmad (6/83, 109, and 217), through Nāfiʿ, from Sāʾibah, the freedwoman of al-Fākih ibn al-Mughīrah: she entered upon ʿĀʾishah and saw a spear placed in her house. She asked, “O Mother of the Believers, what do you do with this spear?” She replied, “We kill geckos with it, for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, informed us...” and then mentioned the hadith. At its end, he added: “So he, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered that it be killed.”

I say: This chain of transmission is weak. Its narrators are trustworthy, apart from this Sāʾibah. Al-Dhahabī said: “Nāfiʿ alone narrated from her.”

I say: He thereby indicates that she is unknown. Thus, al-Būṣīrī’s statement in al-Zawāʾid (194/2), “This is an authentic chain of transmission,” is incorrect, due to the unknown status of the woman mentioned. However, she has been corroborated: al-Nasāʾī (2/27) recorded, through Qatādah, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, that a woman entered upon ʿĀʾishah while carrying a walking stick ... a hadith similar to it.

I say: This chain of transmission is authentic if Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib heard it from ʿĀʾishah; otherwise, its apparent form is that it is one of his mursal reports. And Allah knows best. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Jubayr contradicted him, saying: from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Umm Sharīk, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered that the gecko be killed, and said: “It used to blow upon Abraham, peace be upon him.” It was recorded by al-Bukhārī (6/305—Fatḥ), Ibn Mājah, and Aḥmad (6/421 and 462), though the latter two do not include its second part.