- “Allah raises the believing person’s descendants to his rank, even though they are below him in deeds, so that his eye may be comforted by them.” He then recited: “Those who believed, and whose descendants followed them in faith” (1)—the verse—and said: “We have not diminished the fathers by what We have granted the sons.”
It was recorded by al-Bazzār (p. 221), Ibn ʿAdī (folio 270/1), and al-Baghawī in his Exegesis (8/82, Manār edition), through Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ, from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who attributed it to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and related it. Al-Bazzār said: “Al-Thawrī narrated it from ʿAmr ibn Murrah as a report attributed to the Companion.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ commented immediately thereafter: “He has a stronger memory than Qays and is more reliable.”
I say: There is no doubt about that. Nevertheless, it may be said that the report attributed to the Companion carries the ruling of one attributed to the Prophet, since such a matter is not stated on the basis of mere personal opinion. Rather, it is the apparent meaning of the verse cited above, and this is the interpretation preferred by Ibn Jarīr and others. Ibn Jarīr himself recorded it (27/15), as did al-Ḥākim (2/468), through several chains from al-Thawrī, from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, with the report stopping at Ibn ʿAbbās. Its chain of transmission is therefore authentic.
As for the hadith recorded by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr through another chain from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, attributed to the Prophet, with the wording: “When a man enters Paradise, he will ask about his parents, his wife, and his child. He will be told: ‘They did not attain your rank.’ He will say: ‘My Lord, I acted for myself and for them.’ Then it will be commanded that they be joined to him.” Ibn ʿAbbās recited: “Those who believed, and whose descendants followed them in faith” (2)—the verse. This report is fabricated, although al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr (8/82) remained silent about it. It seems to be an inverted version of the preceding report. I have traced it and explained its hidden defect in my other book (2602).