Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah - Nasir al-Din al-Albani - (5/543)

Silsilat al-Ahadith al-SahihahNasir al-Din al-Albani

“None of these hadiths states that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, knew of this and approved it; yet we have related reports indicating that it was prohibited.”

Al-Hafiz commented after this: “Indeed, Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated in his Musannaf, through Abu Salamah from Jabir, something that indicates this. Al-Khattabi said: ‘It is possible that the sale of ummahat al-awlad was permitted, then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prohibited it near the end of his life, but that prohibition did not become widely known. When it reached Umar, he prohibited them from it.’”

I say: What appears to me is that Umar’s prohibition was the result of his own independent legal reasoning, not a prohibition transmitted to him from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. This is because Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, explicitly stated that it was an opinion held by both Umar and himself. Abd al-Razzaq (13224) narrated with an authentic chain of transmission from Ubaydah al-Salmani, who said: I heard Ali say: “My opinion and Umar’s opinion concurred regarding ummahat al-awlad: that they should not be sold.” He then said: “Thereafter, I came to the view that they should be sold.” Ubaydah said: “I said to him: Your opinion and Umar’s opinion when united are dearer to me than your opinion alone when it differs.” Ali then laughed.

Al-Hafiz said: “This chain of transmission is counted among the most authentic chains.” Al-Bayhaqi also narrated it.

What I have mentioned is further supported by the fact that, had Umar possessed an explicit text to that effect, Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, would not have retracted from it. This is plainly evident.

Naturally, this does not preclude the possibility that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, later issued a prohibition which Umar did not come across. Indeed, this is what appears from the totality of the hadiths reported on this subject: although their individual chains are not free of weakness, taken together they strengthen the case for prohibition. Among them is the route of Abu Salamah to which al-Hafiz referred earlier, for it is a strong corroborating report for it, despite al-Hafiz’s silence regarding it. The same applies to al-Busiri in Zawaid Ibn Majah (folio 156/2), who also stated that its wording

" ليس في شيء من هذه الأحاديث أن النبي ﷺ علم بذلك، فأقرهم عليه، وقد روينا ما يدل على النهي ". قال الحافظ عقبه: " نعم قد روى ابن أبي شيبة في " مصنفه " من طريق أبي سلمة عن جابر ما يدل على ذلك، وقال الخطابي: يحتمل أن يكون بيع الأمهات كان مباحا، ثم نهى عنه النبي ﷺ في آخر حياته ولم يشتهر ذلك النهي، فلما بلغ عمر نهاهم ". وأقول: الذي يظهر لي أن نهي عمر إنما كان عن اجتهاد منه، وليس عن نهي ورده عن النبي ﷺ، وذلك لتصريح علي رضي الله عنه بأنه كان عن رأي من عمر ومنه، فروى عبد الرزاق (١٣٢٢٤) بسنده الصحيح عن عبيدة السلماني قال: سمعت عليا يقول: " اجتمع رأيي ورأي عمر في أمهات الأولاد أن لا يبعن. قال: ثم رأيت بعد أن يبعن. قال عبيدة: فقلت له: فرأيك ورأي عمر في الجماعة أحب إلي من رأيك وحدك في الفرقة. قال: فضحك علي ". قال الحافظ: " وهذا الإسناد معدود في أصح الأسانيد ". وأخرجه البيهقي أيضا. ويؤيد ما ذكرته أن عمر لو كان ذلك عن نص لديه لما رجع عنه علي ﵁. وهذا ظاهر بين. وهذا بالطبع لا ينفي أن يكون هناك نهي صدر من النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فيما بعد، وإن لم يقف عليه عمر، بل هذا هو الظاهر من مجموع الأحاديث الواردة في الباب، فإنها وإن كانت مفرداتها لا تخلو من ضعف، فمجموعها مما يقوي النهي ومن ذلك طريق أبي سلمة التي أشار إليها الحافظ فيما سبق، فإنها شاهد قوي له، على الرغم من أن الحافظ سكت عنه، وكذلك البوصيري في " زوائد ابن ماجة " (ق ١٥٦ / ٢) وذكر هذا أن لفظه