Ahmad 8098

Its isnad is sahih. Abu Dawud narrated it, 3963, via Jareer from Suhayl, with this isnad and wording. Hakim narrated it, 4:100, via Abu Awana from Umar bin Abu Salama, from Abu Hurairah, as a marfu narration, with this wording. Before it he also narrated it via Thawri, "Suhayl narrated to us from his father, from Abu Hurairah, who said, the Prophet ﷺ was asked about a child born of fornication, and he said, 'He is the worst of the three.'" Hakim graded it sahih on both isnads, and it is as he said.Khattabi said in his commentary on Abu Dawud, hadith 3807, of Tahzib Sunan, people have differed in interpreting this statement. Some held that it was said specifically about a particular man who was known for wickedness. Others said that the child born of fornication became worse than his parents because the legal punishment might be carried out on them, so the punishment would serve as a purification for them, whereas this child's case rests with Allah's knowledge, no one knows what will become of him, nor what will happen regarding his sins. These are two interpretations of no value, and neither contains any sound scholarly verification.Then Khattabi narrated, with his isnad, from Abdul-Kareem, who said, "The father of a child born of fornication used to pass by the Prophet frequently, and people would say, 'He is a wicked man, O Messenger of Allah,' and he would say, 'He is the worst of the three,' meaning the father. So people shifted the saying to, 'The child is the worst of the three.'" This is a hadith with a broken isnad, daif, and cannot serve as proof.Moreover, it is an attack on the sahih hadith without evidence, interpreting it contrary to its actual meaning. For that reason Khattabi said, "This interpretation offered by Abdul-Kareem is a matter of mere conjecture, whose correctness is not known. What is stated in the hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah is simply, 'The child born of fornication is the worst of the three,' so it stands as the Messenger of Allah said it."I say, this is also refuted and overturned by the fact that Abu Dawud added in his narration, with this same sahih isnad, following the marfu hadith, "Abu Hurairah said, 'For me to strike a blow with a whip in the path of Allah is dearer to me than to free a child born of fornication.'" This shows that Abu Hurairah's statement indicates that the hadith concerns the child born of fornication himself, not his father, as Abdul-Kareem claimed.Then Khattabi said, some scholars have said its meaning is that he is the worst of the three in origin, in essence, in lineage, and as offspring. That is because he was created from the fluid of the fornicating man and woman, and that is impure fluid. It has been reported in some hadiths, "Heredity creeps in stealthily," so it cannot be guaranteed that this impurity will not affect him, creeping through his veins and driving him toward wickedness, calling him to corruption.Allah, exalted is He, said regarding the story of Mary, "Your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste" [Maryam 19:28]. They have thus judged the corruption of the branch by the corruption of the root. This, which Khattabi said, is sound speech and valid reasoning, supported by observed reality in the great majority of cases. The rare exception is otherwise, but its rarity does not remove the hadith from its clear, explicit meaning.It has already passed, 6892, with a sahih isnad, from Abdullah bin Amr, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said, "No one who is undutiful to his parents will enter Paradise, nor a habitual wine drinker, nor one who reminds others of favors he has done them, nor a child born of fornication." This supports the explicit meaning found in Abu Hurairah's hadith, and refutes every alternative interpretation.