Ahmad 5707

Its chain of transmission is sahih. Hammad is Ibn Salama. Two hadiths on this same subject have already passed in longer form, 4701 and 5630. In the first of them, "This son of his [meaning Usama bin Zayd] is the most beloved of people to me after him," and in the second, "This son of his is, after him, among the most beloved of people to me."The hadith found here was narrated by Ibn Abdul-Barr in al-Istiab through the route of Musa bin Ismail, from Hammad bin Salama, with this same chain, but in it, the wording is "not excluding Fatimah or anyone else." I am concerned that the word "excluding" may be an error from a copyist or a printer.Ibn Saad narrated in al-Tabaqat, 2/2/41–42 and 1/45–46, through the route of Wahib and Abdul-Aziz bin Mukhtar, both of them from Musa bin Uqba, from Salim, from his father, the story of Usama's command, similar to the narration that has already passed through the route of Zuhayr from Musa bin Uqba, and at the end of it, Salim said, "I never heard Abdullah narrate this hadith without saying, 'not excepting Fatimah.'"Haythami quoted something similar in Majma al-Zawaid, 9:289, and at the end of it, "Ibn Umar used to say, 'except Fatimah.'" Haythami said, "Abu Yaala narrated it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih."This narration found in Abu Yaala appears on its surface to contradict the narration of the Musnad here, and the narration of Ibn Saad. For its apparent meaning is that Fatimah is excepted from the statement that Usama was the most beloved of all people to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, while the narration of the Musnad and the other narrations indicate that the statement is general, and that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not except Fatimah or anyone else. Perhaps the narration of Abu Yaala contains an error from a narrator or a copyist, or it is an irregular narration that contradicts the rest of the narrations.Supporting the correctness of the wording found here is the fact that Dhahabi quoted it in Tarikh Islam, in the biography of Usama bin Zayd, 2:271, saying, "Musa bin Uqba and others said, from Salim, from Ibn Umar, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'The most beloved of people to me is Usama, not excepting Fatimah or anyone else.'"Now the word "hasha" (excepting) is one of the particles of exception, which puts the noun that follows it, and other things, in the accusative. When it governs the accusative it functions as a fixed verb, and when it governs the genitive it functions as a particle. There is disagreement about this which is not our purpose to explain here. But here it is not being used for exception.Suyuti said in Jam al-Jawami, 1:233, "Hasha is sometimes used, apart from exception, as a fully inflected transitive verb. You say, 'hashaytuhu,' meaning 'I excepted him.' This is the sense in the hadith, 'not excepting Fatimah or anyone else.'"Ibn Hisham said in al-Mughni, 1:191, "Hasha has three uses. One of them is that it be a transitive, fully inflected verb. You say, 'hashaytuhu,' meaning 'I excepted him.' This is the sense of the hadith in which he, peace and blessings be upon him, said, 'Usama is the most beloved of people to me, not excepting Fatimah.' Here 'ma' is a negative particle, and the meaning is that he, peace and blessings be upon him, did not except Fatimah."Ibn Malik mistakenly supposed that 'ma' here was the verbal noun particle and that 'hasha' was the exceptive particle, on the assumption that this was from the Prophet's own speech, peace and blessings be upon him, and he used it as evidence that one may say, 'The people stood, not excepting Zayd,' just as it was said, 'I saw the people, not excepting Quraysh, for we are the best of them in deeds.' But this is refuted by the fact that in the Mujam of Tabarani the wording is, "not excepting Fatimah or anyone else." What Ibn Hisham quoted from Tabarani agrees with the narration of the Musnad here, and both are clear and explicit.A useful note, in the narration of Ibn Saad, 2/2/41, line 27, the text has "Zayd bin Uqba," which is a clear error, its correct form being "Musa bin Uqba." Its correction has been established in the list of European-style corrections noted at the end of the volume, page 24, lines 3–5.