Ahmad 7424

Its chain of transmission is sahih. The doubt from Amash about whether it is from Abu Hurairah or from Abu Saeed has no bearing on the soundness of the hadith, as is obvious.Tirmidhi related the hadith, 288–289, from Abu Kurayb, from Abu Muawiya, with this chain, and said, this is a hasan sahih hadith, and it has been related from Abu Hurairah through a different route. The other routes to which Tirmidhi alludes will be explained in the takhrij, Allah willing.Bukhari related it, 11:177–179, from Qutayba, from Jareer bin Abdul-Hameed, from Amash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurairah, as a marfu narration with similar wording, and Amash did not express doubt in it. It appears that he became certain after having doubted, or doubted after having been certain.Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari, commenting on the phrase "from Abu Hurairah," Jareer said it this way, and Fudayl bin Iyad followed him in this, as found in Ibn Hibban, as did Abu Bakr bin Ayyash, as found in Ismaili, both of them from Amash, meaning that it is from Abu Hurairah without the doubt.Tirmidhi related it from Abu Kurayb, from Abu Muawiya, from Amash, who said, "from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurairah or from Abu Saeed," with the doubt expressed this way according to the majority of copies. In one copy, meaning of Tirmidhi's book, it reads "and from Abu Saeed" with the conjunction "and." The former is the relied-upon version, for Ahmad related it from Abu Muawiya with the doubt expressed, and said, "Amash doubted." Ibn Abu Dunya likewise said this, from Ishaq bin Ismail, from Abu Muawiya. Ismaili likewise related it through the narration of Abdul-Wahid bin Ziyad, from Amash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurairah, or from Abu Saeed, and said, "Sulayman," meaning Amash, "doubted."As for the narration of Fudayl bin Iyad, to which Hafiz alludes as being found in Ibn Hibban, it is in Sahih Ibn Hibban, 2:187–188 of the Ihsan manuscript, through the route of Muhammad bin Abd Rabbih, from Fudayl bin Iyad. Ibn Hibban also related it, 2:189–190 of the Ihsan manuscript, through the route of Ishaq bin Rahawayh, from Jareer, which is the same route through which Bukhari related it.Then, after his narration, Bukhari said, "Shuba related it from Amash without raising it to the Prophet, and Suhayl related it from his father, from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet." By the mawquf narration, Bukhari alludes to the following narration, 7419, from Muhammad bin Jafar, from Shuba. Hafiz said, "Ismaili likewise related it, through the narration of Bishr bin Khalid, from Muhammad bin Jafar, as mawquf." Bukhari also alludes, by mentioning Suhayl's narration, to the coming narration, 7420, though Imam Ahmad did not give its wording in full. Muslim related it, 2:309–310, through the route of Bahz, from Wahib, from Suhayl, giving the hadith in full.His saying "sayyahin," with a fatha on the plain "seen" and a doubled "yaa," comes from their expression "he traveled the earth," meaning he went about in it. Its root comes from the flowing of running water.As for his saying "fadlan," it is vocalized in the Ihsan manuscript, in both places, with a damma on the "faa" and on the dotted "daad." The Ihsan copy is a precise and reliable one.Nawawi said in his commentary on Muslim, 17:14, "They have vocalized it in several ways. The first, and the most weighted and most well known in our lands, is 'fadlan' with a damma on the 'faa' and the 'daad.' The second is with a damma on the 'faa' and a sukun on the 'daad,' which some have preferred, claiming it to be more common and more correct. The third is with a fatha on the 'faa' and a sukun on the 'daad.' Qadi, meaning Qadi Iyad, said, this is how the majority of our teachers transmitted it in Bukhari and Muslim. The fourth is 'fadlun,' with a damma on the 'faa' and the 'daad' and a raised 'laam,' making it the predicate of an omitted subject. The fifth is 'fudalaa,' with a long vowel, the plural of 'fadil.'"The scholars said, its meaning, according to all these transmissions, is that they are angels additional to the recording angels and the others assigned to accompany created beings. These traveling angels have no fixed duty, their purpose being only to seek out gatherings of remembrance.The exact wording of Qadi Iyad's statement is found in Mashariq, 2:160, and Hafiz quoted it in Fath al-Bari, 11:178–179, then followed it with his statement in Ikmal, where he said, "The transmission of it, according to the majority of our teachers in Muslim and Bukhari, is with a fatha on the 'faa' and a sukun on the 'daad.'" Hafiz then mentioned something similar to what preceded, adding, "This is how it appears explained in Bukhari, in the narration of Abu Muawiya Darir." Hafiz then quoted Nawawi's statement.Hafiz then corrected Qadi Iyad on his attribution of this wording to Bukhari, saying, "Iyad's attribution of this wording to Bukhari is a mistake, for it is not found in Sahih Bukhari here, in any of the narrations, unless it were outside the Sahih. Bukhari did not relate the mentioned hadith from Abu Muawiya at all, he related it only through the route of Jareer." Ibn Abu Dunya and Tabari added, in the narration of Jareer, "besides the recording of people," and similarly Ibn Hibban has it, in the narration of Fudayl bin Iyad, adding, "traveling about in the earth." This is likewise found in the narration of Abu Muawiya, as related by Tirmidhi.I say, a precise clarification of this matter is that Bukhari did not mention, in his narration through the route of Jareer, the phrase "traveling about in the earth, besides the recording of people." Ibn Hibban mentioned, from the route of Jareer, "besides the recording of people," but did not mention "traveling about in the earth." Likewise in Ibn Hibban's narration through the route of Fudayl bin Iyad. All of it is firmly established, however, in the narration of Abu Muawiya, as found with Ahmad through this route, and with Tirmidhi as well. Qadi Iyad thus erred, as Hafiz said, both in attributing this word to Bukhari and in attributing the narration of Abu Muawiya to him as well.As for Hafiz's attempt to make excuse for Qadi Iyad, suggesting it might belong to Bukhari outside the Sahih, this is a forced explanation, for Qadi built his book Mashariq al-Anwar upon the Sahihayn and the Muwatta only, and he has no concern with any other book unless he explicitly states so or quotes from it."An kitab an-nas," with a damma on the "kaaf" and a doubled "taa," is the plural of "katib," a scribe, referring to the noble recording angels and others assigned to accompany people."Al-bughya," with either a kasra or a damma on the "baa," together with a sukun on the "ghayn" and a light fatha on the "yaa," or with a fatha on the "baa" and a kasra on the "ghayn" together with a doubled and open "yaa," means the thing sought, that is, what is desired."Fayahuffuna bihim," means they surround them and encircle them. It is said, "the people surrounded the man," meaning "hafahu bihi, wa hawlahu," they encircled him and gathered around him.The addition "law raawni," "had they seen me," we have added it from copy K. It is established in the narration of Tirmidhi, but not mentioned in copy H. The whole sentence was mistakenly omitted from copy M by the copyist."Al-khataa," with a fatha on the dotted "khaa" and a doubled plain "taa" with elongation, means one greatly prone to error and sin, persistently committing wrongdoing without abandoning it. It follows the pattern of intensive forms."Hum al-qawm la yashqa bihim jaleesuhum," "they are the people whose companion is never made wretched by sitting with them." Hafiz said, "In this expression there is emphasis in negating wretchedness from the companion of those who remember Allah. Had it been said, 'their companion is made happy by them,' that would have been a matter of great virtue, but the explicit negation of wretchedness is more emphatic in achieving the intended meaning."