What is the authenticity of the hadith regarding the delegation of Abd al-Qays? When they arrived, there was among them a young man of radiant appearance, so he sat him behind his back and said, "The sin of Dawud was only looking," and the athar
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Regarding what is related on this matter, al-Sha'bi narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that when the delegation of Abd al-Qays came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), there was among them a young man of radiant appearance, so he sat him behind his back and said, "The sin of Dawud was only looking." This is from *Al-Fatawa al-Kubra*. It is also narrated that a man used to sit with young boys, so 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) forbade sitting with them. And 'Umar met a young man and cut his hair because some women were attracted to him. Which of these reports is authentic?
The Shaykh : What concerns us from these reports is what is attributed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), which is the first hadith or the first report: "The sin of Dawud was only looking". This hadith is fabricated and has no basis. It is included in the book *Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah wa al-Mawdu'ah*. It is sufficient initially for the student of knowledge to know that this hadith is not authentic. The fact is that its narrator or its chain stops at al-Sha'bi, and al-Sha'bi is not a Companion but a Tabi'i. If a Tabi'i narrates a hadith to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and we assume the chain to the Tabi'i is correct, the hadith would still be weak. This is because one of the conditions of an authentic hadith according to the scholars of hadith is that the chain of narration be connected. It is very clear that the statement of a Tabi'i, "The Messenger of Allah said," is not the case; rather, it is a broken chain. Furthermore, there is weakness in the chain to al-Sha'bi, or more than weakness, which I do not recall at the moment; the details are where we referred to earlier. Then, this hadith, despite its weakness and invalidity, points to that Israelite story which we consider too grave to attribute to an ordinary Muslim, let alone to a noble prophet, Dawud (peace be upon him). That story, which we read in the book *Stories of the Prophets* and others, is summarized as follows: Dawud (peace be upon him) had a beautiful palace, and there was a lake in his garden. He saw a woman bathing there. The woman saw the shadow of Dawud (peace be upon him) looking over the lake, so she covered her body with her hair, which increased her beauty. Dawud (peace be upon him) fell in love with her, and his love drove him to ask about her husband. He was told it was so-and-so, a commander in his army. So he sent an army to fight the enemies, they claim, and ordered this husband, the husband of the woman, and they claim her name was Uriya, to command that army. The husband of that woman went and fought and returned victorious. He kept sending him time after time until he was killed, and the way was clear for him, so he married her, to the end of the story. It is a fabricated story, of course, a fictional tale, but it is not hidden from you what is in it of attributing what is not fitting to such a noble prophet. If we link this story with this hadith, we find that the fabricator is the same. Therefore, this hadith is not authentic. As for the athar mentioned regarding 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), they are athar, and I have told you repeatedly and repeatedly that there is no room to study all the athar narrated from all the Companions according to the method of the scholars of hadith, because we, and by "we" I mean those engaged in the science of hadith from the early centuries to today, have not yet finished purifying the authentic hadiths from the weak ones and the weak ones from the authentic ones, before we turn to purifying the athar narrated from the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). However, it can be said that these athar have acceptable meanings, and their meanings align with a prescribed rule, which is the rule of blocking the means to harm. If we assume there is a handsome young man with a radiant face and long hair, meaning long hair that is combed and he takes care of himself, so women might be tempted by him, a ruler by the Shari'ah, not a ruler by desire, might take a measure for a problem that might occur due to women seeing such a young man. This is possible because the door of blocking the means to harm is very wide. As for whether this actually happened or not, Allah knows best.
Another questioner: Can it be affirmed that it is attributed to the Companions?
The Shaykh : What is possible?
Another questioner: Affirming the attribution of this matter.
The Shaykh : No, it cannot be affirmed. But we need to pray. Who will call the adhan?
The Shaykh : What concerns us from these reports is what is attributed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), which is the first hadith or the first report: "The sin of Dawud was only looking". This hadith is fabricated and has no basis. It is included in the book *Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah wa al-Mawdu'ah*. It is sufficient initially for the student of knowledge to know that this hadith is not authentic. The fact is that its narrator or its chain stops at al-Sha'bi, and al-Sha'bi is not a Companion but a Tabi'i. If a Tabi'i narrates a hadith to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and we assume the chain to the Tabi'i is correct, the hadith would still be weak. This is because one of the conditions of an authentic hadith according to the scholars of hadith is that the chain of narration be connected. It is very clear that the statement of a Tabi'i, "The Messenger of Allah said," is not the case; rather, it is a broken chain. Furthermore, there is weakness in the chain to al-Sha'bi, or more than weakness, which I do not recall at the moment; the details are where we referred to earlier. Then, this hadith, despite its weakness and invalidity, points to that Israelite story which we consider too grave to attribute to an ordinary Muslim, let alone to a noble prophet, Dawud (peace be upon him). That story, which we read in the book *Stories of the Prophets* and others, is summarized as follows: Dawud (peace be upon him) had a beautiful palace, and there was a lake in his garden. He saw a woman bathing there. The woman saw the shadow of Dawud (peace be upon him) looking over the lake, so she covered her body with her hair, which increased her beauty. Dawud (peace be upon him) fell in love with her, and his love drove him to ask about her husband. He was told it was so-and-so, a commander in his army. So he sent an army to fight the enemies, they claim, and ordered this husband, the husband of the woman, and they claim her name was Uriya, to command that army. The husband of that woman went and fought and returned victorious. He kept sending him time after time until he was killed, and the way was clear for him, so he married her, to the end of the story. It is a fabricated story, of course, a fictional tale, but it is not hidden from you what is in it of attributing what is not fitting to such a noble prophet. If we link this story with this hadith, we find that the fabricator is the same. Therefore, this hadith is not authentic. As for the athar mentioned regarding 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), they are athar, and I have told you repeatedly and repeatedly that there is no room to study all the athar narrated from all the Companions according to the method of the scholars of hadith, because we, and by "we" I mean those engaged in the science of hadith from the early centuries to today, have not yet finished purifying the authentic hadiths from the weak ones and the weak ones from the authentic ones, before we turn to purifying the athar narrated from the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). However, it can be said that these athar have acceptable meanings, and their meanings align with a prescribed rule, which is the rule of blocking the means to harm. If we assume there is a handsome young man with a radiant face and long hair, meaning long hair that is combed and he takes care of himself, so women might be tempted by him, a ruler by the Shari'ah, not a ruler by desire, might take a measure for a problem that might occur due to women seeing such a young man. This is possible because the door of blocking the means to harm is very wide. As for whether this actually happened or not, Allah knows best.
Another questioner: Can it be affirmed that it is attributed to the Companions?
The Shaykh : What is possible?
Another questioner: Affirming the attribution of this matter.
The Shaykh : No, it cannot be affirmed. But we need to pray. Who will call the adhan?