252 – “The believer’s adornment will extend as far as his minor ablution reaches.”

It is authentic from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, who explicitly states that he heard it from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. It has two chains of transmission from him:

The first: from Khalaf ibn Khalifah, from Abu Malik al-Ashja‘i, from Abu Hazim, who said:

“I was behind Abu Hurayrah as he performed minor ablution for the prayer, extending his hand until it reached his armpit. I said to him, ‘Abu Hurayrah, what kind of ablution is this?’ He replied, ‘O sons of Farrukh, are you here?! Had I known that you were here, I would not have performed this ablution! I heard my beloved, peace and blessings be upon him, say…’” Then he cited the hadith.

Muslim (1/151), Abu ‘Awanah (1/244), al-Nasa’i (1/35), al-Bayhaqi (1/56), and Ahmad (2/371) reported it through him.

Khalaf has some weakness in his memory, and he suffered memory deterioration in later life. However, he was corroborated: Abu ‘Awanah narrated it through ‘Abd Allah ibn Idris, who said: “I heard Abu Malik al-Ashja‘i narrate it with the wording: ‘He said: I saw him performing minor ablution, applying water up to his upper arms. I said, “What is this?” He said, “And you are around me, O sons of Farrukh?! I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: The adornment reaches the places reached by purification.”’”

This is an unimpeachable authentic chain of transmission.

The other chain is from Yahya ibn Ayyub al-Bajali, from Abu Zur‘ah, who said:

“I visited Abu Hurayrah, and he performed minor ablution up to his shoulders and knees. I said to him, ‘Will you not suffice yourself with what Allah has made obligatory for you in this matter?’ He said, ‘Certainly; but I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: The extent of adornment is the extent of ablution, so I wished to increase my adornment.’”

Ibn Abi Shaybah recorded it in al-Musannaf (1/40): Ibn al-Mubarak narrated to us from Yahya through this chain. Abu ‘Awanah also cited it without a complete chain from him in his Sahih (1/243).

I say: This is a good chain. All its narrators are trustworthy and appear in the two Sahih collections, apart from this Yahya, who is considered trustworthy by consensus, except for one report from Ibn Ma‘in. Al-Hafiz said: