Azami 5993

Muslim narrated it in the chapter on gifts (1624), from Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Yunus, who said, Zuhayr narrated to us, who said, Abu Zubayr narrated to us, from Jabir, who said what has already been mentioned. On this subject there is also a narration from Ibn Abbas, as a marfu report, "Treat your children equally in giving, for if I were to favor anyone, I would favor the women." Ibn Adi narrated it in Kamil (3/1217), al-Khatib in Tarikh Baghdad (11/108), and Bayhaqi (6/177), and in its chain is Saeed bin Yusuf, who is daif. He is Rahbi, also said to be Zarqi. Abu Zura, Nasai, and others declared him daif. Ibn Adi said, "I do not know of anything more objectionable from him than this."As for Hafiz's statement in Fath al-Bari (5/214), "Its isnad is hasan," this is not as he said. But if he had said, "The hadith is hasan," there would have been justification for grading it hasan on account of its corroborating narrations.I say, the hadith of Numan bin Bashir has come through many routes and with varying wordings, so those who lack deep understanding have concluded that there is a contradiction between these hadiths. The correct view is that there is no contradiction at all, rather what happened is that the hadith was narrated according to its meaning, so each narrator conveyed what he understood from it. Therefore, the point on which there is no disagreement is that the Prophet ﷺ refused to bear witness to an injustice, even though the narrators differed over the exact wording he used.As for the notion that the incident occurred twice, the first time Bashir having given his son Numan a garden, and the second time a slave boy, this is unlikely, because it is inconceivable that such a thing would happen with a companion, that he would go to the Prophet ﷺ twice over the same matter while being turned away each time.Ibn Hibban held that abrogation occurred regarding the first ruling, without citing clear evidence, while others held that the hadith of Abu Hurayz should be declared daif, because he contradicted all the other companions of Shaybi by making the gift a garden, whereas the others said it was a slave boy.Still others held that the request for witnessing did not take place the first time, and that is why Bashir took the garden back, and that the request for witnessing occurred only the second time, when his wife asked for it so that he would not take it back again. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.Many of the early scholars held to the apparent meaning of this hadith, among them Imam Ahmad, Ishaq, and the literalists, and it is also related from Sufyan Thawri. They said, "It is not permissible to favor some children over others in gifts and kind treatment, and if someone does so, it is not enforced."Abu Hanifa, Malik, and Shafii disagreed with them, saying, "Favoring is disliked, but if someone does so, it is enforced." They cited as evidence the action of Abu Bakr Siddiq, and the statement of the Prophet ﷺ, "Would it please you that they be equal toward you in kind treatment?" as well as his statement, "Have someone other than me bear witness to this."The truth is that there is no permission in this, rather it contains a warning against failing to treat children equally, similar to the statement of Allah the Exalted, "Do as you will" [Fussilat 41:40], and similar to the statement of the Prophet ﷺ, "If you feel no shame, then do as you wish," and other similar statements.Some scholars said, "If there is a legitimate reason for favoring one child, it is permitted, but if there is no legitimate reason and the intent is to cause harm, then it is not permitted."A further disagreement then arose over the meaning of equal treatment. Ahmad and a group of scholars said it follows "the male shall have the equivalent share of two females" [Nisa 4:11], while Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafii, and others said that equal treatment means the female is given the same as the male, because the Prophet ﷺ said to Bashir, "Treat them equally," explaining the reasoning by asking, "Would it please you that they be equal in their kind treatment of you?" He said, "Yes." So he said, "Then treat them equally."The daughter is like the son in her entitlement to kind treatment, and likewise in her entitlement to gifts. For more, see Minna Kubra (5/496).