Questioned about the hadith: (Misfortune is only in three things). Is the addition that A'ishah made to the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, in which she said...

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.

The questioner : May Allah bless you, O Shaykh. The hadith is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Some scholars said, in their critique of what A'ishah added to the Companions, that she said, "May Allah have mercy on Abu Hurayrah; he only entered upon the last part of this hadith." So the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at the beginning of the hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then she mentioned the completion of the hadith. I do not know the authenticity of this addition, O Shaykh. And is this the context of the hadith or not?

The Shaykh : Do you mean by the addition what relates to the hadith of A'ishah?

The questioner : The hadith of A'ishah, what she added to Abu Hurayrah.

The Shaykh : The addition of the Lady A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) is authentic, but this authenticity does not negate that the hadith of Abu Hurayrah has an authentic basis, but not in this wording. I have addressed this issue because the hadith is actually narrated in the authentic collections, besides what is below them, in three wordings. The first is what you mentioned from Abu Hurayrah: "Misfortune is only in..." The second is: "Misfortune..." The third, and it is the correct one, is: "If there were misfortune in anything, it would be in three things." This last wording is the correct one in terms of the reliance of the authors of the two authentic collections on it, and also because this wording comes from many and numerous paths that prefer it over the first two wordings, first in terms of narration, then in terms of understanding, because the hadiths are continuous, if not mass-transmitted, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in denying taking omens. So to say "misfortune is in three" or "misfortune is only in three" contradicts the denial of the Wise Lawgiver in those many hadiths referred to: In the wording "There is no taking of omens in Islam." This strengthens our position in terms of narration that the third and last wording And thus we escape the problem that comes to mind from the first or second wording, and we say that this came from the abbreviation of some narrators, and it is not necessary that this abbreviation by some narrators occurred later, but it is possible that it occurred in some of the narrators who also transmitted the hadith to the Lady A'ishah. So she narrated what she heard, and the Messenger (peace be upon him) responded to them without a doubt, because "misfortune" and "misfortune is only" are not an Islamic belief. So if we establish the two narrations, in narration and understanding, we establish the narration of A'ishah because its chain is authentic, and we establish the narration of A'ishah by preference, and it is in the last third wording. Is it clear?

The questioner : Clear.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, and this is what I mentioned in the authentic hadiths in more than one place. Yes.