Ahmad 6347

Its isnad is sahih. Abu Dawud reported it, 1:376–377, from Ahmad bin Hanbal with this isnad. Bayhaqi also reported it, 2:135, by way of Abu Dawud from Ahmad bin Hanbal. He then reported it from the Musnad, from Hakim Abu Abdullah, from Qutayi, from Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal, from his father, with a slight difference in wording, which we will explain later, Allah willing.Abu Dawud combined in his narration the report of Ahmad and the reports of three others among his teachers, all of them from Abdul-Razzaq, with variations in their wording, and he distinguished the wording of each one separately. He reported from Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Shabuya with the wording, "It was forbidden for a man to lean on his hand during prayer." From Muhammad bin Abdul-Malik Ghazzal with the wording, "It was forbidden for a man to lean on his hands when rising in prayer." From Muhammad bin Rafi with the wording, "It was forbidden for a man to pray while leaning on his hand."Abu Dawud said, following this narration, "And he mentioned it in the chapter on rising from sujud," meaning that Muhammad bin Rafi reported this wording and placed it in his book in the chapter on rising from sujud. Both he and his student Abu Dawud understood this to refer to the moment of standing up from sujud for the next rakat, and not to the matter of sitting between the two sajdahs or the tashahhud. So Ibn Rafi transmitted the wording and interpreted it in a sense other than what first comes to mind from its apparent meaning, even though this wording could carry both meanings.The scholars became certain that all these wordings were narrations of a single hadith. They set about reconciling them or giving preference to some over others. Bayhaqi said, "This is a hadith whose text has been reported differently from Abdul-Razzaq." He then pointed to the narration of Ahmad bin Hanbal by way of Abu Dawud and by way of the Musnad, and then gave preference to Abu Dawud's narration from Ahmad, saying, "This is the clearest of the narrations, and the narration of the one other than Ibn Abdul-Malik," meaning the narrations of Ibn Shabuya and Ibn Rafi, "does not contradict it, even though it," meaning the wording of Ahmad bin Hanbal as found in Abu Dawud, "is clearer than them. And the narration of Ibn Abdul-Malik," meaning Ghazzal, "is a mistake."Ibn Turkmani took issue with this in Jawhar Naqi, which is printed at the bottom of the pages of Sunan al-Kubra. He said, "Bayhaqi set Ibn Hanbal apart from the three," meaning Ibn Shabuya, Ibn Rafi, and Ibn Abdul-Malik, "whereas what is in Sunan Abu Dawud is that he combined all four, reporting from them together. Muhammad bin Abdul-Malik Ghazzal is a reliable memorizer of hadith, and Nasai vouched for his reliability. What Bayhaqi later cited as evidence of his mistake, and that the sahih narration is that of Ibn Hanbal, is in fact a separate meaning distinct from the narration of Ghazzal, so his narration should not be faulted on that basis. Rather, both should be acted upon, so that leaning is prohibited in all cases."What Ibn Turkmani has argued here might seem quite compelling, were it not that the evidence contradicts it. What led him to it, it seems, is that he saw in it support for the position of the Hanafis, who hold that leaning on the hands is disliked when rising from sujud for the following rakat, and when rising from the first tashahhud. But what is established in the hadith of Malik bin Huwayrith, found in Bukhari 2:250, is leaning on the ground when rising from the second sajdah.Bayhaqi, 2:135, reported from Azraq bin Qays, who said, "I saw Ibn Umar, when he rose from the two rakats, lean on the ground with his hands. So I said to his son and to those sitting with him, 'Perhaps he does this because of old age?' They said, 'No, but this is how it is done.'" Bayhaqi then said, "We also related from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, that he used to lean on his hands when rising." Hasan and more than one of the Tabiin used to do likewise.Whether this leaning is part of the sunnah of prayer, or whether it was due to old age and physical weakness, it contradicts the absolute prohibition reported by Muhammad bin Abdul-Malik Ghazzal. What is apparent from the sequence of these narrations, to anyone who understands the sunnah and the transmission of hadith, is that these four narrations, which Abu Dawud reported from four of his teachers, are wordings of a single hadith. It is necessary to examine them by knowing their narrators and their levels of memorization and precision, then by knowing who corroborated them or corroborated some of them in what they reported, and only then can preference and judgment be given to some over others.As for Muhammad bin Abdul-Malik Ghazzal, who reported it with the wording, "It was forbidden for a man to lean on his hands when rising in prayer," he is reliable, and Nasai vouched for his reliability, though Maslama said, "Reliable, but frequently in error." He was alone in this wording, we found no one who corroborated him in it, but rather we found the great memorizers of hadith contradicting him in it. So there is no escaping the conclusion that his narration is a mistake, as Bayhaqi said.An important note. The author of Awn al-Mabud made a mistake here, 1:376, following Sayyid Abdullah Amir, may Allah have mercy on him, for they both said, "Muhammad bin Abdul-Malik bin Marwan Wasiti, of whom it is said in Taqrib, 'Truthful,' is among those whose hadith is either judged sahih or hasan when corroborated by supporting evidence and witnesses." But this is a different person from Ghazzal, even though both were among the teachers of Abu Dawud, for Abu Dawud explicitly gave his full name in reporting this hadith as Muhammad bin Abdul-Malik Ghazzal, and of Ghazzal it is said in Taqrib, "Reliable." But Sayyid Abdullah Amir's attention shifted from one biographical entry to another in two closely placed entries in Taqrib, and the author of Awn al-Mabud followed him in this without investigation or verification. May Allah have mercy on them both.As for Ibn Shabuya, who reported it with the wording, "It was forbidden for a man to lean on his hand during prayer," he is reliable, and Nasai, Ajli, and others vouched for his reliability. Idrisi said, "He was a precise memorizer, virtuous, firm, and exacting in hadith." Likewise Muhammad bin Rafi bin Abu Zayd Sabur Qushayri Nisaburi is reliable. Bukhari said, "He was among the best servants of Allah." Nasai said, "Reliable and trustworthy." Muslim said, "Reliable, trustworthy, sound in his written record." These two reliable memorizers reported it with two closely matching wordings that do not contradict Imam Ahmad's narration here in the Musnad and in Abu Dawud, even though Ahmad's narration is clearer than theirs, as Bayhaqi said. It is only that Ibn Rafi supposed that the hadith could refer to the prohibition of leaning when rising from sujud, and so he placed it in that chapter, as Abu Dawud related. So he erred in his opinion and supposition, even though his narration in itself agrees with what is correct in substance.As for the narration of Ahmad bin Hanbal, and one need say no more of his memory, precision, and reliability, it is the authoritative narration over all of them. It would not be fitting to place his narration on par with these two, Ibn Rafi and Ibn Shabuya, for where do they stand in comparison to him? Moreover, he was not alone in it, but was corroborated by other reliable memorizers as well.Ibn Hazm reported it in Muhalla, 4:19, from the Musannaf of Abdul-Razzaq, with his isnad going back to Dabari, from Abdul-Razzaq, from Mamar, with this isnad, with the wording, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade a man from sitting in his prayer leaning on his hand." This wording nearly matches Ahmad's narration here from Abdul-Razzaq. Dabari is named after Dabar, with a fatha on the dal and the ba, a village among the villages of Sanaa. He is Ishaq bin Ibrahim bin Abbad, the narrator of the Musannaf of Abdul-Razzaq. Some have spoken of mistakes he made in narrating from Abdul-Razzaq, since he heard from him late in his life. But the truth is that his narration of Abdul-Razzaq's books is sahih, and some of the mistakes occurred only in what he narrated from him outside his books. For this reason, Abu Awana cited him as evidence in his Sahih, and likewise Aqeeli would validate his narration and included him in the Sahih that he compiled, as stated in Lisan Mizan.Likewise, Bayhaqi reported it, 2:135, by way of Ahmad bin Yusuf Sulami, from Abdul-Razzaq, from Mamar, with this isnad, with the wording, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade a man from leaning on his hand during prayer." This too nearly matches Ahmad's narration here. Ahmad bin Yusuf Sulami is among the reliable narrators from Abdul-Razzaq and others. Muslim reported from him in his Sahih, and Bukhari reported from him outside his Sahih. Khalili said, "Reliable and trustworthy." Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the reliable narrators and said, "He was a narrator of Abdul-Razzaq, firm in it."So these are two reliable narrators, one of them the narrator of the Musannaf of Abdul-Razzaq, and the other a narrator of Abdul-Razzaq who was firm in it, both corroborating Ahmad in his narration from Abdul-Razzaq. His narration is thus strengthened by their corroboration, in addition to the inherent superiority of Ahmad's own narration, given his memory, precision, firmness, and reliability.Furthermore, Abdul-Razzaq was not alone in reporting this from Mamar. Hakim reported it in Mustadrak, 1:272, by way of Ibrahim bin Musa, from Hisham bin Yusuf, from Mamar, with this isnad, with the wording, "The Prophet ﷺ forbade a man who was sitting leaning on his left hand during prayer, saying, 'This is the prayer of the Jews.'" Hakim said, "A sahih hadith meeting the criteria of the two Shaykhs, though they did not include it," and Dhahabi agreed with him. Bayhaqi, 2:131, also reported it from Hakim.Ibrahim bin Musa is Tamimi Razi, known as "the Younger." He is reliable and firm, among the teachers of Bukhari and Muslim. Ahmad used to object to anyone who called him "the Younger," saying, "He is great in knowledge and stature." Abu Zura said, "He is more precise and more sound in hadith than Abu Bakr bin Abu Shayba." Khalili said, "Among the great memorizers and scholars who were in Rayy and were mentioned alongside Ahmad and Yahya was Ibrahim bin Musa the Younger, a reliable imam."His teacher, Hisham bin Yusuf Sanani, whose reliability was already established earlier, 454, is further supported here by the statement of Yahya bin Main, "He was more precise than Abdul-Razzaq in transmitting from Ibn Jurayj." He also said, "He was more knowledgeable of Sufyan's hadith than Abdul-Razzaq." Abu Hatim said, "Reliable and precise." Bukhari gave his biography in Kabir, 4/2/194, and reported from Ibrahim bin Musa, "Abdul-Razzaq said to us, 'There is a man in Sanaa, if he tells you a hadith, you need not hear it from anyone else, Hisham bin Yusuf.'"Also supporting its meaning is what has already passed, 5972, by way of Hisham bin Saad, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw a man collapsed onto his hand during prayer and said, "Do not sit like this, for this is the sitting of those who are punished." This is in fact another corroboration of this hadith from a different route, the narration of Hisham bin Saad from Nafi corroborating the narration here, which is the narration of Ismail bin Umaya from Nafi.As for the wording here, "leaning on his hands," this is how it appears in the three original manuscripts, while in Abu Dawud's narration from Ahmad bin Hanbal it is "on his hand" in the singular, and likewise in Bayhaqi's narration by way of the Musnad and by way of Abu Dawud, and likewise in Ibn Hazm's narration by way of Dabari from Abdul-Razzaq. However, in Munziri's copy in his abridgment of Sunan Abu Dawud, 954, it is "on his hands" in the dual, as it is in the original manuscripts here.