The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was praying, and whenever he prostrated, Hasan and Husayn would jump onto his back. When people tried to stop them, he would gesture to them to leave the boys alone. After he finished the prayer, he placed them in his lap and said, "Whoever loves me, let him love these two."
كان رسول الله ﷺ يصلي، فإذا سجد وثب الحسن والحسين على ظهره، فإذا منعوهما أشار إليهم أن دعوهما، فلما قضى الصلاة وضعهما في حجره حجره فقال: من أحبني فليحب هذين.
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Nasai narrated it in Kubra (8114), and Ibn Khuzayma graded it sahih (887) - and the wording is his - along with Ibn Hibban (6970) and Tabarani in Kabir (3/40), all of them through various routes from Asim (that is, Ibn Bahdala), from Zirr (that is, Ibn Hubaysh), from Abdullah, who related it. Its chain is hasan because of Asim bin Bahdala, for there is disagreement about him, though his hadith is hasan when he does not contradict others and does not bring something that is rejected against him.On this subject there is also a report from Ali bin Abu Talib that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took the hand of Hasan and Husayn and said, "Whoever loves me and loves these two and their father and their mother will be with me at my level on the Day of Resurrection." Tirmidhi narrated it (2733), and Abdullah bin Ahmad in his additions to the Musnad (576), both of them from Nasr bin Ali Jahdami Azdi, who said, Ali bin Jafar bin Muhammad bin Ali informed me, my brother Musa bin Jafar bin Muhammad told me, from his father Jafar bin Muhammad, from his father Muhammad bin Ali, from his father Ali bin Husayn, from his father, from his grandfather Ali bin Abu Talib, who related it. Tirmidhi said, "This is a gharib hadith which we do not know from the hadith of Jafar bin Muhammad except through this route." This is indeed so, for Ali bin Jafar bin Muhammad Alawi is not known to have been either criticized or vouched for, which is why Ibn Hajar said of him, "Acceptable," meaning if corroborated, otherwise his hadith is weak, and I have not found any corroboration for him. Dhahabi mentioned him in Siyar (3/254) and said, "Its chain is daif, and the text is rejected."On this subject there is also a report from Zayd bin Arqam that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn, "I am at war with whoever wages war against you, and at peace with whoever makes peace with you." Tirmidhi narrated it (3870), Ibn Majah (145), and Ibn Hibban (6977), all of them through the route of Asbat bin Nasr Hamdani, from Suddi, from Subayh, freedman of Umm Salama, from Zayd bin Arqam, who related it. Tirmidhi said, "This is a gharib hadith which we only know through this route, and Subayh, freedman of Umm Salama, is not well known." This is as he said, for Subayh, freedman of Umm Salama, was not deemed reliable by anyone except Ibn Hibban, who mentioned him among his reliable narrators, following his own principle of deeming reliable anyone against whom no criticism has been found.Of similar meaning is what has been reported from Usama bin Zayd, who said, I came to the Prophet ﷺ one night on some errand, and the Prophet ﷺ came out wrapped in something, I did not know what it was. When I had finished my business, I said, "What is this you are wrapped in?" So he uncovered it, and there were Hasan and Husayn on his hips, and he said, "These are my two sons and the sons of my daughter. O Allah, I love them, so love them, and love whoever loves them." Tirmidhi narrated it (3769), Bazzar (2580), and Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (6967), all of them through the route of Musa bin Yaqub Zami, from Abdullah bin Abu Bakr bin Zayd Muhajir, who said, Muslim bin Abu Sahl Nabbal informed me, Hasan bin Usama bin Zayd informed me, my father Usama bin Zayd informed me, who related it.As for Abdullah bin Abu Bakr, Ibn Madini said of him, "Unknown," and no one deemed him reliable except Ibn Hibban, following his own principle of deeming reliable anyone against whom no criticism is known. As for Muslim Nabbal and Hasan bin Usama, Ibn Hajar said of both of them, "Acceptable," that is, when corroborated, otherwise their hadith is weak, and I have not found any corroboration for either of them. This is why Ibn Madini criticized it, saying, "The hadith of Hasan bin Usama is a Madinan hadith, narrated by a daif shaykh whose hadith is rejected, called Musa bin Yaqub Zami, one of the descendants of Abdullah bin Zama, from an unknown man, from another unknown man." See Tahzib Kamal (biography of Hasan bin Usama).