Ahmad 4865

Its chain of transmission is sahih. This hadith, like the one before it, concerns Ayesha's rejection of the narration of some of the companions, not accusing them of lying, Allah forbid that she would do such a thing, but she attributed it to error and confusion. Hadith 288 has already passed, via Ayub from Ibn Abu Mulayka, concerning a discussion between Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbas. In it, Ibn Umar narrated that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, "The deceased is punished by the weeping of his family over him."And Ibn Abbas narrated that he heard Umar relating from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, "The deceased is indeed punished by some of the weeping of his family over him." Ibn Abbas said, "As for Abdullah [meaning Ibn Umar], he related it without qualification, while Umar said, 'by some of the weeping.'" When this reached Ayesha, she rejected both narrations and said, "No, by Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ never said that the deceased is punished by anyone's weeping. Rather, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'Allah increases the punishment of the disbeliever through the weeping of his family,' and Allah is indeed the One who causes laughter and weeping, and "no bearer of burdens will bear another's burden" [Fatir 35:18]."Then Ibn Abu Mulayka said, "Qasim told me that when the statement of Umar and Ibn Umar reached Ayesha, she said, 'You are indeed narrating to me from men who are neither liars nor disbelieved, but hearing can err.'"Muslim (1:254) narrated it from this same route, via Ayub. Ahmad also narrated it (289, 290) via Ibn Jurayj from Ibn Abu Mulayka, and likewise Bukhari (3:177-178) and Muslim (1:254-255) narrated it from this route, via Ibn Jurayj, though it does not contain Ibn Abu Mulayka's narration from Qasim. A similar account will come, concerning Ibn Umar's narration and Ayesha's rejection of it, in the hadith of Hisham bin Urwa from his father, 9459.The meaning that the deceased is punished by the weeping of his family over him is established beyond doubt, through sahih chains, from many companions. Among them is Umar, as already mentioned, and it has also passed from him at 180, 247, 248, 264, 294, 354, 366, through the narration of his son Abdullah from him, and at 386 through the narration of Ibn Abbas from him. Bukhari (3:128) and Muslim (1:254) narrated it through Abu Burda bin Abu Musa from his father, from Umar, and Ahmad (268) and Muslim (1:254) narrated it through Anas bin Malik from Umar.Among them also is Mughira bin Shuba. Bukhari (3:130) narrated from him that he said, "I heard the Prophet ﷺ say, 'Lying about me is not like lying about anyone else, whoever lies about me deliberately, let him take his seat in the Fire.' I heard the Prophet ﷺ say, 'Whoever is wailed over is punished for what is wailed over him.'" Muslim (1:255-256) narrated it with two chains, but abridged it, not mentioning the warning against lying.Ayesha's objection arises here, if the hadith is taken literally and without qualification, since "no bearer of burdens will bear another's burden" [Fatir 35:18] is certain, as stated in the Noble Book in several verses, and as is understood with certainty from the Sharia through numerous proofs. The narrations from her differ regarding what she firmly asserted the Messenger of Allah ﷺ actually said, one of them being the narration in hadith 288 mentioned above. And what she herself affirmed is subject to the same objection she raised against others, "Allah increases the punishment of the disbeliever through the weeping of his family." For if this too were taken literally, this disbeliever would be bearing the burden of another's deed after his death, since the increase in punishment through this weeping would be a penalty for something he himself did not do.The scholars' opinions have differed on this matter, with many interpretations. The view I consider most correct, which I am nearly certain of and accept no other, is that the punishment here does not carry its otherworldly meaning, but rather refers to the pain the deceased feels upon seeing the grief of his family, whether he was a believer or a disbeliever. It is punishment only in its linguistic sense.This view was reported by Hafiz in Fath al-Bari (3:123) as the sixth of the views he cited, where he said, "Sixth, the meaning of the punishment is the deceased's suffering from the wailing and other things done by his family." This was the view chosen by Abu Jafar Tabari among the early scholars, favored by Ibn Marabit and Iyad and those who followed them, and championed by Ibn Taymiya and a group of later scholars.They cited as evidence for this the hadith of Qaila bint Makhrama, her name pronounced with a fatha on the qaf and a sukun on the ya, and her father's name with a fatha on the mim and a sukun on the dhal, she was knowledgeable in fiqh, who said, "O Messenger of Allah, I gave birth to him, and he fought alongside you on the day of apostasy, then fever struck him and he died, and I was inclined to weep." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Can any of you not manage to accompany his companion in this world with kindness, and when he dies, say the words of return? By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, when one of you weeps, his companion is moved to tears because of him. So, servants of Allah, do not torment your dead."This is a portion of a longer hadith with a hasan chain of transmission, recorded by Ibn Abu Khaythama, Ibn Abu Shayba, Tabarani and others, while Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi recorded portions of it.[I say, the hadith of Qaila was mentioned by Hafiz in Isaba (8:171-173), attributed to Tabarani and Ibn Manda, and he related it in full using Ibn Manda's wording, noting that Bukhari also recorded a portion of it in Adab al-Mufrad. Haythami related it in full in Majma al-Zawaid (6:9-12), saying, "Tabarani narrated it, and its narrators are reliable."]Tabari said, "This is supported by what Abu Hurairah said, 'The deeds of servants are presented to their deceased relatives,'" and he then related it with a sahih chain going back to him. It is corroborated by the hadith of Numan bin Bashir as a marfu narration, recorded by Bukhari in his Tarikh, and graded sahih by Hakim.Ibn Marabit said, "The hadith of Qaila is explicit on this matter, so it should not be departed from."Another view was chosen by Bukhari and stated firmly in his Sahih, as is his custom in establishing the jurisprudence of a hadith through the chapter headings. He said, "Chapter, the saying of the Prophet ﷺ, 'The deceased is punished by some of the weeping of his family over him,' when the wailing was part of his own practice, based on the saying of Allah Most High, "Protect yourselves and your families from a Fire" [Tahrim 66:6], and the saying of the Prophet ﷺ, 'Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock.' But if it was not part of his practice, then it is as Ayesha said, "No bearer of burdens will bear another's burden" [Fatir 35:18], which is like His saying, "And if a heavily laden soul calls for help in carrying its load, nothing of it will be carried" [Fatir 35:18], and this concerns what weeping is permitted apart from wailing." And the Prophet ﷺ said, "No soul is killed unjustly except that a share of its blood falls upon the first son of Adam," because he was the first to introduce killing. See Fath al-Bari (3:120-121).Bukhari means that the punishment of the deceased by his family's weeping occurs when that was the established practice and custom of his family, and he fell short in teaching and forbidding them, or was pleased with their conduct. In that case, he had established a practice, and upon him falls its burden and the burden of whoever acted upon it after him, the burden of a man responsible for what his followers do, who knows of it and stays silent or is pleased with it, thereby betraying the trust of the responsibility he bore. He is punished only for his own deed, not for his family's weeping. This is a good and sound view, and it does not contradict what we have chosen and preferred.Hafiz supported it with what was reported from Ibn Mubarak, who said, "If he used to forbid them during his lifetime, and they did something of that after his death, nothing falls upon him." This is correct, and it does not negate that he suffers pain from what they do after his death, indeed it may cause him even greater pain.Hafiz also said (120-121), "The scholars have differed on the issue of the deceased being punished by weeping over him. Some took it literally, and this is clear from the story of Umar with Suhayb, as will come in the third hadith of this chapter." This is supported by the hadith of Abu Burda from his father, who said, "When Umar was struck, Suhayb began saying, 'O my brother,' so Umar said, 'Do you not know that the Prophet ﷺ said, "The deceased is indeed punished by the weeping of the living"?'"Something similar has already passed at 268, from the hadith of Thabit from Anas, that when Hafsa wailed over Umar bin Khattab, he said, "O Hafsa, have you not heard the Prophet ﷺ say, 'The one wailed over is punished'?" He said, and Suhayb also wailed, so Umar said, "O Suhayb, do you not know that the one wailed over is punished?"We have already noted at the beginning of the discussion that Muslim also narrated this. It is possible that Umar held the view that the deceased is held accountable if he was capable of forbidding it and did not do so. This is why he hastened to forbid Suhayb, and likewise forbade Hafsa, as Muslim narrated through Nafi from Ibn Umar from him.Among those who also took this literally was Abdullah bin Umar. Abdul-Razzaq narrated through him that he attended the funeral of Rafi bin Khadij and said to his family, "I am leaving behind an old man who has no strength to bear punishment, and the deceased is indeed punished by the weeping of his family over him."Hafiz reported on page 122 from Qurtubi, who said, "Ayesha's rejection of this, and her judgment that the narrator erred or forgot, or heard part of it and not the rest, is far fetched, because the companions who narrated this meaning are numerous and firm in their assertion, so there is no basis for denial, especially when it can be given a sound interpretation." This is correct.As for the interpretations beyond this that involve arbitrary judgment and forced reasoning, I pay them no attention. Ibn Hajar has summarized them in Fath al-Bari, so refer to it if you wish.