Azami 2654

Nasai (1496) narrated it via Ghundar, from Shuba, from Ata bin Saaib, from his father, from Abdullah bin Amr, who mentioned the same. All its narrators are trustworthy, except that Ata bin Saaib became confused in his later years, but Shuba narrated from him before that confusion set in. Imam Ahmad (6763) also narrated it in this manner from Muhammad bin Jafar, who is Ghundar, from him. He also narrated it (6868) from Abdul-Razzaq, and it appears in his Musannaf (4938) from Sufyan, from Ata bin Saaib, in abridged form. Ibn Khuzayma also narrated it in this manner in his Sahih (1393), as did Hakim (1/329), except that both of them narrated it through two routes. The first route matches the narration of Abdul-Razzaq, and the second route is from Sufyan, from Yaala bin Ata, from his father, from Abdullah bin Amr, in abridged form. In both of their chains is Muammal bin Ismail, the narrator from Sufyan, who had poor memory.Abu Dawud (1194) narrated it from Musa bin Ismail, who said, Hammad, that is, Hammad bin Salama, narrated to us from Ata bin Saaib in this manner, and this is the second version. Hammad bin Salama is among those who heard from Ata both before and after his confusion set in, and his agreement with Shuba indicates that he narrated this hadith from him before the confusion began. Also among those who corroborated him is Abdul-Aziz bin Abdul-Samad, from Ata bin Saaib in this manner, narrated by Nasai (1482) from Hilal bin Bishr, from Abdul-Aziz bin Abdul-Samad in this manner, and he too is among those who heard from him before the confusion. Also among those who corroborated them is Muhammad bin Fudayl, who said, Ata bin Saaib narrated to us in this manner, and he is among those who heard from him after the confusion. Imam Ahmad (6483) narrated it from him. These corroborations indicate that Ata bin Saaib did not become confused regarding this particular hadith. The father of Ata was Saaib bin Malik, or Ibn Zayd al-Kufi, who is trustworthy.Khattabi said, "This hadith is evidence that blowing does not invalidate the prayer, since it has no articulated letters and therefore does not constitute a complete word. As for the utterance 'uff,' it does not count as speech unless the fa is doubled, in which case it becomes three letters derived from the root of expressing displeasure, as when one says, 'uff to such and such.' But when the fa is light, it is not speech at all.As for what is reported from Zayd bin Thabit, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade blowing during sujud and forbade blowing into drink, this is extremely daif. It was narrated by Tabarani in Al-Kabir, and it contains Khalid bin Ilyas, or Iyas, Abu Haytham al-Madani al-Adawi, the imam of Masjid Nabawi, who is extremely daif. Imam Ahmad and Nasai said he is discarded as a narrator, while Bukhari and Abu Hatim said his narrations are unrecognized. Haythami said in Majma (2/83), 'It contains Khalid bin Ilyas, who is discarded.'There is also, on this subject, a narration from Abu Hurairah, but it contains Abdul-Munim bin Bashir, whose narrations are unrecognized.There is also, on this subject, a narration from Umm Salama, who said, the Prophet ﷺ saw a boy of ours named Aflah, and when he prostrated he blew, so he said, 'O Aflah, dirty your face with dust.' This was narrated by Tirmidhi (381) from Ahmad bin Manee, who said, Abbad bin Awwam narrated to us, Maymun Abu Hamza informed us, from Abu Salih, the freed slave of Talha, from Umm Salama, who related the same account.Tirmidhi said, "The chain of the hadith of Umm Salama is not strong, and Maymun Abu Hamza has been graded daif by some scholars." End of quote.I say, it also contains Abu Salih, the freed slave of Talha, whom no one deemed trustworthy except Ibn Hibban, and for this reason Hafiz said in Taqrib, "Acceptable." Through this same route, Ibn Hibban narrated it in his Sahih (1913), where he said, "I was with Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, when a young relative of hers, a youth with flowing hair, came to her. He stood to pray, and when he went to prostrate, he blew. She said, 'Do not do that, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say to a black boy of ours, "O Rabah, dirty your face with dust."'" It is said that his name was Zazan. Through this same route, Tabarani narrated it in Al-Kabir (23/394). Since no one has been found to corroborate this narration, it is weak in transmission.As for Maymun Abu Hamza, he was corroborated in Ibn Hibban's version by Dawud bin Hind, who narrated it from Abu Salih, the freed slave of the family of Talha, as mentioned previously.Likewise, there is no valid basis, through any route, for the wording, "Whoever blows during the prayer has spoken," or in the wording, "Blowing during the prayer counts as speech." The eminent scholar Ibn Qayyim said, "This has no basis going back to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Rather, Saeed narrated it in his Sunan from Ibn Abbas as his own statement, if indeed it is sahih." Zad Maad (1/270).Blowing does not constitute speech from a linguistic standpoint, because it contains no articulated letters unless one doubles the fa, in which case it becomes three letters derived from the root of expressing displeasure, as Khattabi stated. He also said, "But when the fa is light, it is not speech, and the one who blows does not produce a doubled fa in his blowing, nor can he really produce a genuine fa from its point of articulation, which lies between the lower lip and the upper front teeth. Rather, he only brushes against it without the teeth closing on the lip, and whatever is like that does not constitute speech."He then said, "The generality of the jurists have said that if one blows during his prayer and says 'uff,' his prayer is invalidated, except for Abu Yusuf, who said that his prayer remains valid." End of quote.