190 – “There is no good in her; she is one of the people of Hellfire.” – meaning a woman who harms her neighbours with her tongue.

Al-Bukhārī narrated it in al-Adab al-Mufrad (no. 119), as did Ibn Ḥibbān (2054), al-Ḥākim (4/166), Aḥmad (2/440), and Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Muʿaddal in his al-Amālī (6/1–2), through the route of al-Aʿmash, who said:

“We were told by Abū Yaḥyā, the freedman of Jaʿdah ibn Hubayrah, who said: I heard Abū Hurayrah say:

‘It was said to the Prophet ﷺ: “Messenger of Allah, such-and-such a woman spends the night in prayer, fasts by day, performs (other) acts of devotion, and gives charity, yet she hurts her neighbours with her tongue.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “There is no good in her; she is one of the people of Hellfire.” Abū Hurayrah continued: “Another woman performs only the prescribed prayers and gives in charity some atwār of aqṭ (dried curd), and she harms no one.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “She is one of the people of Paradise.”’ ”

I say: Its chain is authentic; all of its transmitters are trustworthy and well-known except this Abū Yaḥyā. Al-Ḥāfiẓ left his entry blank in Tahdhīb and did not cite anyone’s endorsement of him; accordingly he said in al-Taqrīb: “maqbūl,” meaning “soft” (i.e. somewhat weak) in ḥadīth. This is astonishing, for Ibn Abī Ḥātim (4/2/457) relates that Ibn Maʿīn graded him “trustworthy,” and al-Dhahabī adopted that verdict in al-Mīzān, likewise declaring him “trustworthy.” This is further strengthened by the fact that Muslim includes a single ḥadīth from him, as stated in Tahdhīb al-Kamāl.

The ḥadīth was also recorded by al-Bazzār and Ibn Abī Shaybah, as cited in al-Targhīb (4/235), and its chain was declared authentic.

“Atwār” is the plural of “tawr” (with a dotted tāʾ above); it refers to a brass vessel.