What is the authenticity of the report in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad (… then we brought the drink and Mu'awiyah drank, then he offered it to my father)
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The questioner : Our teacher, there is a hadith in the Musnad of Ahmad, and it is: "Abdullah said: My father narrated to us, Zayd ibn al-Habab narrated to us, Husayn narrated to me, Abdullah ibn Buraydah said: " I am asking you about, meaning the chain of this hadith, if it has passed through you, or its authenticity or weakness.
The Shaykh : Yes, it has passed through us. Do you have a paper on it, my teacher?
The questioner : Then, meaning some observations on the text.
The Shaykh : Please, this is not that paper. Okay.
The questioner : What is meant by "the drink" here?
The Shaykh : What comes to mind is certainly not intended; rather, it refers to a drink about which there has been disagreement since ancient times, namely nabidh. The Hanafis differed with the majority of scholars regarding the permissibility of drinking it. So it is possible that this drink is nabidh. The disagreement regarding nabidh arose because it is a means to drinking intoxicants. It is not hidden from you that this nabidh made from dates or raisins, for example, in water, has a specific period during which it remains sweet and lawful, then it begins to react and ferment. The difference between the state of permissibility and the state of prohibition is a matter of doubt. Therefore, some scholars may be scrupulous about drinking lawful nabidh that has been kept for a long time, fearing that it may be from the forbidden drinks. What Mu'awiyah drank may have been of the type that does not intoxicate. But our man Buraydah, who is Abu Abdullah in the hadith, says: What did he say?
The questioner : Since the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it.
The Shaykh : Ah, so he understood that this drink is forbidden, but Mu'awiyah did not understand that it was a forbidden drink. So this is where the question you mentioned earlier came from. I believe that the disagreement understood from this narration is exactly the disagreement existing between the Hanafis and the majority. Yes.
The questioner : Okay, the chain of the hadith.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The chain of the hadith.
The Shaykh : The chain of the hadith is strong, because there is nothing in it except this, what is his name, Husayn or what?
The questioner : Husayn ibn Waqid al-Marwazi.
The Shaykh : Yes, what is his name? He is among the narrators of Muslim, is there something about him?
Al-Halabi : But there is a statement from our Shaykh about him.
The Shaykh : I know, but his hadith does not drop below the level of hasan (good).
The questioner : Imam Ahmad said that the narration of al-Husayn ibn Waqid from Abdullah contains a defect (nukrah) regarding Abdullah ibn Buraydah.
The Shaykh : Yes, but you know, my brother,
The questioner : Yes, please, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : We do not take the ruling on a narrator from a memorizer alone, but we want to look at the statements of the scholars about him and extract, if we are among those who summarize, a summary from these different statements. This summary may be a preference for the vindicators absolutely, or it may be a preference for the critics absolutely, or it may be a middle ground between these and those. This is what we see, and it is often found in al-Iskandari's book *al-Taqrib*. What I want to say is that this Husayn ibn Waqid is, first, one of the narrators of Muslim, and second, what has settled in my mind throughout my work in takhrij (tracing hadiths to sources), verification, and weakening is that he is relied upon at the level of hasan (good), and his hadith is not rejected except in cases of contradiction. What you mentioned about Imam Ahmad regarding the defect (nukrah) does not contradict what I summarized recently, as is apparent. Okay, as for the rest.
I and my father entered upon Mu'awiyah, so he seated us on the mats. Then food was brought to us and we ate. Then the drink was brought to us and Mu'awiyah drank, then he offered it to my father. Then he said: I have not drunk it since the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it. Then Mu'awiyah said: I was the most handsome of the young men of Quraysh and the most beautiful of them in teeth, and there was nothing I found more pleasant than what I found when I was young, except milk, or a man of good conversation who would talk to me.
دخلت أنا وأبي على معاوية فأجلسنا على الفرش، ثم أتينا بالطعام فأكلنا، ثم أتينا بالشراب فشرب معاوية، ثم ناول أبي، ثم قال: ما شربته منذ حرمه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثم قال معاوية كنت أجمل شباب قريش وأجوده ثغرا، وما شيء كنت أجد له لذة كما كنت أجده وأنا شاب غير اللبن، أو إنسان حسن الحديث يحدثنيThe Shaykh : Yes, it has passed through us. Do you have a paper on it, my teacher?
The questioner : Then, meaning some observations on the text.
The Shaykh : Please, this is not that paper. Okay.
The questioner : What is meant by "the drink" here?
The Shaykh : What comes to mind is certainly not intended; rather, it refers to a drink about which there has been disagreement since ancient times, namely nabidh. The Hanafis differed with the majority of scholars regarding the permissibility of drinking it. So it is possible that this drink is nabidh. The disagreement regarding nabidh arose because it is a means to drinking intoxicants. It is not hidden from you that this nabidh made from dates or raisins, for example, in water, has a specific period during which it remains sweet and lawful, then it begins to react and ferment. The difference between the state of permissibility and the state of prohibition is a matter of doubt. Therefore, some scholars may be scrupulous about drinking lawful nabidh that has been kept for a long time, fearing that it may be from the forbidden drinks. What Mu'awiyah drank may have been of the type that does not intoxicate. But our man Buraydah, who is Abu Abdullah in the hadith, says:
that he had not drunk it since
أنه ما شربه منذThe questioner : Since the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it.
The Shaykh : Ah, so he understood that this drink is forbidden, but Mu'awiyah did not understand that it was a forbidden drink. So this is where the question you mentioned earlier came from. I believe that the disagreement understood from this narration is exactly the disagreement existing between the Hanafis and the majority. Yes.
The questioner : Okay, the chain of the hadith.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The chain of the hadith.
The Shaykh : The chain of the hadith is strong, because there is nothing in it except this, what is his name, Husayn or what?
The questioner : Husayn ibn Waqid al-Marwazi.
The Shaykh : Yes, what is his name? He is among the narrators of Muslim, is there something about him?
Al-Halabi : But there is a statement from our Shaykh about him.
The Shaykh : I know, but his hadith does not drop below the level of hasan (good).
The questioner : Imam Ahmad said that the narration of al-Husayn ibn Waqid from Abdullah contains a defect (nukrah) regarding Abdullah ibn Buraydah.
The Shaykh : Yes, but you know, my brother,
The questioner : Yes, please, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : We do not take the ruling on a narrator from a memorizer alone, but we want to look at the statements of the scholars about him and extract, if we are among those who summarize, a summary from these different statements. This summary may be a preference for the vindicators absolutely, or it may be a preference for the critics absolutely, or it may be a middle ground between these and those. This is what we see, and it is often found in al-Iskandari's book *al-Taqrib*. What I want to say is that this Husayn ibn Waqid is, first, one of the narrators of Muslim, and second, what has settled in my mind throughout my work in takhrij (tracing hadiths to sources), verification, and weakening is that he is relied upon at the level of hasan (good), and his hadith is not rejected except in cases of contradiction. What you mentioned about Imam Ahmad regarding the defect (nukrah) does not contradict what I summarized recently, as is apparent. Okay, as for the rest.
Source
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