The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed through the Valley of Azraq and asked, "What valley is this?"They replied, "This is the Valley of Azraq."He said, "It is as if I can see Musa descending from the mountain pass, raising his voice to Allah in talbiyah."Then he came to the pass of Harsha and asked, "What pass is this?"They replied, "The pass of Harsha."He said, "It is as if I can see Yunus bin Matta
on a sturdy red she-camel, wearing a woolen cloak, the rein of his camel made of palm fiber, while he is calling out the talbiyah."
أن رسول الله ﷺ مر بوادي الأزرق فقال: أي واد هذا؟ فقالوا: هذا وادي الأزرق. قال: كأني أنظر إلى موسى عليه السلام هابطا من الثنية وله جوار إلى الله بالتلبية، ثم أتى على ثنية هرشى فقال: أي ثنية هذه؟ قالوا: ثنية هرشى قال: كأني أنظر إلى يونس بن متى عليه السلام على ناقة حمراء جعدة، عليه جبة من صوف، خطام ناقته خلبة، وهو يلبي.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Faith (166) from Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (it is in the Musnad, 1854), from Hushaym, who said, Dawud bin Abu Hind told us, from Abu Aliyah, from Ibn Abbas, and he related it. Muslim also narrated it through another route, from Ibn Adi, from Dawud, and in it he said, "It is as if I can see Musa," (then he mentioned something about his complexion and hair that Dawud did not remember), and in it, "placing his two fingers in his ears, crying out to Allah with the talbiyah, passing through this valley."The word "jiwar" comes from jaara, yajaru, jaran and juaran, meaning to raise one's voice. It is said, "He cried out (jaara) to Allah," meaning he pleaded and sought help. In the Book of Allah it says, "then behold, they cry out" [Muminun 23:64]. The word "khilbah" means palm fiber, as mentioned in Hilyat Awliya (3/96), "its nose-rein was made of palm fiber."As for what has been reported from a group of companions, including Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurairah, Abu Saeed, and others, concerning the merit of performing Hajj on foot, all of these reports are daif.As for the hadith of Ibn Abbas, it was narrated by Tabarani in al-Kabir (12/105), and in al-Awsat, Majma Bahrayn (1655), and by Hakim (1/460-461), and by Bazzar, Kashf Astar (1120), all of them through the route of Isa bin Sawada, who said, Ismail bin Abu Khalid told us, from Zazan, who said, Ibn Abbas fell seriously ill with an illness that weighed heavily on him, so he gathered his sons and family and said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah say, 'Whoever performs Hajj from Makkah on foot until he returns to it will have, for every step, seven hundred good deeds from the good deeds of the sacred precinct.'" A man asked, "What are the good deeds of the sacred precinct, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Each good deed among them is worth a hundred thousand good deeds." Bazzar did not mention the story.Hakim said, "Its isnad is sahih," but Dhahabi rejected this, saying, "It is not sahih. I fear it may be a fabrication." As for Isa, Abu Hatim said, "He is one whose hadith is denounced (munkar al-hadith)."I say, this Isa bin Sawada is the Nakhai, whom Ibn Main accused of lying. As for the statement of Abu Hatim, it is as found in al-Jarh wal-Tadil (6/277), "Daif. He narrated from Ismail bin Abu Khalid, from Zazan, from Ibn Abbas, a denounced (munkar) hadith," which seems to refer to this very report.Ibn Khuzayma narrated it (2791) through this same route and said, "If the report is sahih, then there is something in my heart regarding this Isa bin Sawada."I say, this report is not sahih. The words of the scholars of knowledge concerning this Isa bin Sawada preceded this. Munziri mentioned it in al-Targhib wal-Tarhib (1719) and quoted Bukhari as saying, "He is one whose hadith is denounced (munkar al-hadith)," and the meaning of Bukhari's statement is that narrating from him is not permissible.Bazzar also narrated it (1121) through another route, from Yahya bin Salim, who said, Muhammad bin Muslim told us, from Ismail bin Ibrahim, from Saeed bin Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas, and he related something similar.Haythami said in al-Majma (3/309), "Bazzar narrated it, as did Tabarani in al-Awsat and al-Kabir. Bazzar has two isnads for it. One of them," meaning the previous isnad containing Isa bin Sawada, "contains a liar. The other contains Ismail bin Ibrahim, from Saeed bin Jubayr, whom I do not know. The rest of its narrators are trustworthy."I say, it also contains other defects, among them that Yahya bin Salim and his teacher Muhammad bin Muslim were both declared daif by Imam Ahmad and others. Among them also is what Ibn Abu Hatim said, "I asked my father about a hadith narrated by Yahya bin Salim Taifi, from Muhammad bin Muslim Taifi, from Saeed bin Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas," and he related the hadith. My father said, "Muhammad bin Muslim's narration from Saeed bin Jubayr is a mursal report. This hadith is narrated from Ibn Sisin, an unknown man, and this is not a sahih hadith." al-Ilal (826).Among these reports is also what has been narrated from Ibn Abbas as well, as a marfu report, "Adam came to the House a thousand times, never once riding, on foot from Hind." Munziri mentioned this in al-Targhib wal-Tarhib (1720) and attributed it to Ibn Khuzayma (2792), quoting him as saying, "There is something in my heart regarding Qasim bin Abdul-Rahman." Hafiz Munziri said, "This Qasim is weak (wahin)."Among these is also what has been narrated from Abu Hurairah, who said, a group from Mazina, a group from Huzayl, and a group from Juhayna came to the Prophet and said, "O Messenger of Allah, we set out to Makkah on foot, while some people set out riding." The Prophet said, "The one on foot has the reward of seventy Hajjs, and the rider has the reward of thirty Hajjs."This was narrated by Tabarani in al-Awsat (7083, Dar al-Harmayn edition), from Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Bakr, who said, Ismail bin Ibrahim told us, Muhammad bin Muhsin al-Akkashi told us, Ibrahim bin Abu Abla told us, from Abdul-Wahid bin Qays, who said, I heard Abu Hurairah, and he related it. Majma Bahrayn (1656).Hafiz Haythami said in Majma al-Zawaid (3/209), "It contains Muhammad bin Muhsin al-Akkashi, who is discarded (matruk)." This Muhammad bin Muhsin is Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Ibrahim, attributed to his distant grandfather al-Akkashi al-Ghanawi. Ibn Hibban gave him a biographical entry in al-Majruhin (966) under the entry for Muhammad bin Muhsin al-Asadi, saying, "An elder who fabricates hadiths and attributes them to trustworthy narrators. It is not permissible to mention him in books except to expose his flaws." Then he gave a separate entry for Muhammad bin Ishaq al-Akkashi al-Ghanawi (977), saying of him, "He was among those who fabricate hadiths and attribute them to trustworthy narrators. It is not permissible to use him as evidence, nor to narrate from him, except as a matter of astonishment among the people of the craft." It seems that Ibn Hibban thought these were two different men.It has also been narrated from Abu Hurairah as a marfu report, "It is as if I can see Musa bin Imran descending from the mountain pass of Harsha, on foot." This was narrated by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (3755), and it contains Ali bin Ziyad al-Lahji, whom he mentioned in his Thiqat (8/470). I have found no one else who declared him trustworthy, so he is "acceptable" (maqbul) if corroborated.Among these is also what has been narrated from Abu Saeed, who said, the Prophet and his companions performed Hajj on foot from Madinah to Makkah, and he said, "Tie your waists with your belts," and he walked, mixing his walk with a light jog.This was narrated by Ibn Majah (3119), from Ismail bin Hafs al-Abli, who said, Yahya bin Yaman told us, from Hamza bin Habib al-Zayyat, from Humran bin Ayan, from Abu Tufayl, from Abu Saeed, and he related it. Through this same route it was also narrated by Ibn Khuzayma (2535) and by Hakim (1/442), who said, "Sahih."I say, it contains Yahya bin Yaman al-Ajli al-Kufi, about whom Ibn Madini said, "He suffered a stroke, after which his memory changed." Abu Dawud said, "He makes mistakes in hadiths and confuses them." Ibn Adi said, "Most of what he narrates is not preserved reliably." It is likely that this is one of the reports that got confused for him, since it is well known that the Prophet and his companions set out from Madinah riding, and performed the rites of Hajj riding.It also contains Humran bin Ayan, whom the majority of the scholars of knowledge declared daif. Abu Dawud said, "He was a Rafidi," so it would not be surprising if this hadith were among his fabrications.Bayhaqi said (5/332), "The Messenger of Allah performed Hajj while riding, and the best course is in whatever the Messenger of Allah did."