Clarification of the authenticity of his (peace be upon him) saying: “My father and your father are in the Fire,” and his saying
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The Shaykh : We accept every hadith that is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) without disagreement among the scholars of hadith, especially the early ones among them.
No one from the early scholars has ever criticized this hadith or that one regarding their chains of narration. However, with great regret, some of the later scholars who had knowledge of the science of narrators and their biographies have held onto a defect whose mention is sufficient to refute it in the eyes of the scholars. This is because this is the hadith of Anas ibn Malik, narrated by Imam Muslim in his *Sahih* and Imam Ahmad in his *Musnad* through Hammad ibn Salama, from Thabit, from Anas ibn Malik. When one comes to the biography of Hammad ibn Salama, one finds some statements that may weaken his reliability—pardon me—may weaken something of his memorization. As for him, he is a mountain of trustworthiness and integrity, and an imam in the Sunnah. But the truth, and I say the truth, is that in some of his narrations from other than Thabit, there is a slight weakness that may cause some scholars to hesitate in accepting his hadith if it is from his narration from other than Thabit. Some of the later scholars overlooked this detail on which the scholars of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) have agreed: that the narration of Hammad ibn Salama from Thabit is a proof without disagreement, whereas his narration from other than Thabit has some discussion, as we mentioned. This hadith of Anas is in *Sahih Muslim* and *Musnad Ahmad* from the narration of Hammad ibn Salama, from Thabit, from Anas, so it is a sound chain like the towering mountains. Therefore, there is no basis for criticizing the chain of this hadith in terms of narration. And as you have heard, there is no basis for criticizing the text of this hadith in terms of understanding, because you know that the verse and what is in its meaning do not give us news about a specific person about whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) said that he is in the Fire. The verse says that he is from the people of the period of ignorance; there is nothing of this kind. So the hadith is free from criticism in both chain and text. Furthermore, the hadith of Anas has other corroborations in other than the authentic collections that strengthen this hadith and give it strength upon strength. Among these, and more general than our hadith, is what came in the *Musnad* and other books of the Sunnah:.
No one from the early scholars has ever criticized this hadith or that one regarding their chains of narration. However, with great regret, some of the later scholars who had knowledge of the science of narrators and their biographies have held onto a defect whose mention is sufficient to refute it in the eyes of the scholars. This is because this is the hadith of Anas ibn Malik, narrated by Imam Muslim in his *Sahih* and Imam Ahmad in his *Musnad* through Hammad ibn Salama, from Thabit, from Anas ibn Malik. When one comes to the biography of Hammad ibn Salama, one finds some statements that may weaken his reliability—pardon me—may weaken something of his memorization. As for him, he is a mountain of trustworthiness and integrity, and an imam in the Sunnah. But the truth, and I say the truth, is that in some of his narrations from other than Thabit, there is a slight weakness that may cause some scholars to hesitate in accepting his hadith if it is from his narration from other than Thabit. Some of the later scholars overlooked this detail on which the scholars of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) have agreed: that the narration of Hammad ibn Salama from Thabit is a proof without disagreement, whereas his narration from other than Thabit has some discussion, as we mentioned. This hadith of Anas is in *Sahih Muslim* and *Musnad Ahmad* from the narration of Hammad ibn Salama, from Thabit, from Anas, so it is a sound chain like the towering mountains. Therefore, there is no basis for criticizing the chain of this hadith in terms of narration. And as you have heard, there is no basis for criticizing the text of this hadith in terms of understanding, because you know that the verse and what is in its meaning do not give us news about a specific person about whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) said that he is in the Fire. The verse says that he is from the people of the period of ignorance; there is nothing of this kind. So the hadith is free from criticism in both chain and text. Furthermore, the hadith of Anas has other corroborations in other than the authentic collections that strengthen this hadith and give it strength upon strength. Among these, and more general than our hadith, is what came in the *Musnad* and other books of the Sunnah: