Benefits of the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), traced to the Prophet
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah preserve you. We were discussing in Makkah the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding Ja’far and his kissing him between his eyes, and I promised you, if Allah wills, when you came to Riyadh, to share with you the chains of narration I had for this hadith. I do not know if your eminence permits?
The Shaykh : No, I do not think so. This requires a special session.
The questioner : Here is a hadith I found in *Musnad al-Imam Ahmad*. I want your opinion on it. It is via al-Walid ibn Muslim, and he explicitly stated that he heard it from his shaykh, and his shaykh’s shaykh, and those above him, approximately, except for the Tabi’i and the Tabi’ al-Tabi’in. It is from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), traced to the Prophet:
The Shaykh : But could you recite the chain of narration to me?
... The estimation is easy, but what are the implications of this estimation?
The questioner : No, the difference I understand is between it being a limit, meaning the reward is tied to this point, or it being an endpoint, meaning the reward is tied to raising it above the leg.
The Shaykh : No problem, may Allah reward you. After it was estimated, the meaning became clear by saying: if this is long, if it is long, does that not mean it is the weaker position, and the stronger position is the middle of the leg?
The questioner : The original is to the middle of the leg, and if it is long, that indicates permissibility.
The Shaykh : It is this.
The questioner : Is the original the limit or the endpoint?
The Shaykh : Therefore, I classified it just now according to my best understanding: to the middle of the leg is permissible, to above the ankles is forbidden, to below the ankles is forbidden. This is what I understand. And I do not forget my Al-Albani lineage, and lineage is treacherous. And you are people of language, so in any case, we benefit from your knowledge.
The questioner : From what we understand, the preposition and its object are connected to an omitted word. The omitted word is either a verb or... what do we estimate? An estimation that fits the texts.
The Shaykh : Some of it ends, and you accepted, and I accepted with you.
The questioner : It ends. Good. The meaning of its endpoint is that it is to such-and-such, and its meaning is not that it is a limit in raising, because here there is no reward.
The Shaykh : No, it is not a limit, may Allah reward you. Because if it is long to the ankles, it means a second limit, but we prioritize the first limit over the second. Do you have anything to say?
The student: In a hadith in *al-Musnad*, when he saw that it was difficult, he said: “The lower garment of a Muslim is to the ankles.” In *al-Musnad*, and its narrators are the narrators of the two Sahihs. He said: “So we continued to seek it until it reached the middle of our legs.” Of the hadiths that contain raising, if my memory does not fail me, there is no hadith except that it contains letting the garment hang down. Its meaning is that the prohibition is focused on letting the garment hang down. Most of the hadiths, if not all, that contain or such, including the hadith of Abu Sa’id: , contain the same mention of letting the garment hang down. That means we take into consideration that there is a prohibition against letting the garment hang down.
By looking at the texts and their limits and objectives, it may help in understanding them.
Ibn ‘Umar in *Sahih Muslim*: He saw him letting his garment hang down, so he said to him, “Raise it.” He said, “I raised it.” He said, “Raise it.” He said, “I raised it.” Some of the narrators asked the Messenger, but he did not say to him. However, some narrators said about himself, as he heard it: “To the middle of the leg.”
The Shaykh : This indicates that there is a preferred and a less preferred.
The student: But the priority of raising over letting the garment hang down is in the same hadith, the prohibition and the command. Perhaps there is caution in raising. “Raise it,” and the explanation, if a limit did not come, its meaning is to raise it to the knee.
The Shaykh : That is, we understand from you, in summary of your words, that the intended meaning of this classification that came in the hadith is merely raising it above the ankles.
The questioner : Above the ankles, and that this has a limit.
The Shaykh : I believe this is a denial of the text of the hadith, and I do not see it as correct at all. Because “to the middle of the leg, if it is long, then to the ankles, if it is long, then in the Fire” has three levels: the first is the prescribed, the second is the permissible, and the third is the forbidden.
The student: In the hadith, when he said that it was difficult for the Muslims...
Another student: Yes, and this is in *al-Musnad*, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.
The student: That it was difficult for the Muslims indicates what? To the middle of the ankles? Not everyone can do it. It has a special status that is difficult for people.
Another student:Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 17:203 It is a permission, not a prohibition.
The student: I did not say it is a prohibition.
The Shaykh : No, I do not think so. This requires a special session.
The questioner : Here is a hadith I found in *Musnad al-Imam Ahmad*. I want your opinion on it. It is via al-Walid ibn Muslim, and he explicitly stated that he heard it from his shaykh, and his shaykh’s shaykh, and those above him, approximately, except for the Tabi’i and the Tabi’ al-Tabi’in. It is from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), traced to the Prophet:
The lower garment of a Muslim is to the muscles of his legs, then to the middle of his legs, then to the top of his ankles
إزرة المسلم إلى عضلة ساقيه ثم إلى نصف ساقيه ثم إلى أعلى الكعبينThe Shaykh : But could you recite the chain of narration to me?
... The estimation is easy, but what are the implications of this estimation?
The questioner : No, the difference I understand is between it being a limit, meaning the reward is tied to this point, or it being an endpoint, meaning the reward is tied to raising it above the leg.
The Shaykh : No problem, may Allah reward you. After it was estimated, the meaning became clear by saying: if this is long, if it is long, does that not mean it is the weaker position, and the stronger position is the middle of the leg?
The questioner : The original is to the middle of the leg, and if it is long, that indicates permissibility.
The Shaykh : It is this.
The questioner : Is the original the limit or the endpoint?
The Shaykh : Therefore, I classified it just now according to my best understanding: to the middle of the leg is permissible, to above the ankles is forbidden, to below the ankles is forbidden. This is what I understand. And I do not forget my Al-Albani lineage, and lineage is treacherous. And you are people of language, so in any case, we benefit from your knowledge.
The questioner : From what we understand, the preposition and its object are connected to an omitted word. The omitted word is either a verb or... what do we estimate? An estimation that fits the texts.
The Shaykh : Some of it ends, and you accepted, and I accepted with you.
The questioner : It ends. Good. The meaning of its endpoint is that it is to such-and-such, and its meaning is not that it is a limit in raising, because here there is no reward.
The Shaykh : No, it is not a limit, may Allah reward you. Because if it is long to the ankles, it means a second limit, but we prioritize the first limit over the second. Do you have anything to say?
The student: In a hadith in *al-Musnad*, when he saw that it was difficult, he said: “The lower garment of a Muslim is to the ankles.” In *al-Musnad*, and its narrators are the narrators of the two Sahihs. He said: “So we continued to seek it until it reached the middle of our legs.” Of the hadiths that contain raising, if my memory does not fail me, there is no hadith except that it contains letting the garment hang down. Its meaning is that the prohibition is focused on letting the garment hang down. Most of the hadiths, if not all, that contain
Raise it
ارفعThe lower garment of a Muslim is to the middle of the leg
أزرة المسلم نصف الساقBy looking at the texts and their limits and objectives, it may help in understanding them.
Ibn ‘Umar in *Sahih Muslim*: He saw him letting his garment hang down, so he said to him, “Raise it.” He said, “I raised it.” He said, “Raise it.” He said, “I raised it.” Some of the narrators asked the Messenger, but he did not say to him. However, some narrators said about himself, as he heard it: “To the middle of the leg.”
The Shaykh : This indicates that there is a preferred and a less preferred.
The student: But the priority of raising over letting the garment hang down is in the same hadith, the prohibition and the command. Perhaps there is caution in raising. “Raise it,” and the explanation, if a limit did not come, its meaning is to raise it to the knee.
The Shaykh : That is, we understand from you, in summary of your words, that the intended meaning of this classification that came in the hadith is merely raising it above the ankles.
The questioner : Above the ankles, and that this has a limit.
The Shaykh : I believe this is a denial of the text of the hadith, and I do not see it as correct at all. Because “to the middle of the leg, if it is long, then to the ankles, if it is long, then in the Fire” has three levels: the first is the prescribed, the second is the permissible, and the third is the forbidden.
The student: In the hadith, when he said that it was difficult for the Muslims...
Another student: Yes, and this is in *al-Musnad*, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.
The student: That it was difficult for the Muslims indicates what? To the middle of the ankles? Not everyone can do it. It has a special status that is difficult for people.
Another student:
The lower garment of a believer is to the middle of the ankles
إزرة المؤمن إلى نصف الكعبينThe student: I did not say it is a prohibition.