The weak Hadith on "the virtue of dying on Friday"

In the name of Allah Most, Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, now coming to the point:

This is a Takhrij (referencing) of the Hadith which reads: "Anyone dies on Friday or on Thursday night, Allah will save them from the trial of the grave." The degree of authenticity is: it a weak Hadith which was not authentically reported by any way and the ways of its narration can not prove its authenticity. This is what Al Bukhari (may Allah be merciful with him) did when he titled the chapter of the book of funerals in his Sahih (3/253 - Fathul-Bary) with his saying: (Chapter on dying on Monday). He recorded the Hadith under No. (1387) the Hadith of the death of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) saying: Ma`la ibn Asad informed us saying: Wahib informed us from Hisham from his father on the authority of `Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: I entered upon Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), so he said: How many garments did you use to shroud the Prophet (peace be upon him)? She said: Three white garments; neither including a sewn garments nor a turban. He asked her: In which day did the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) pass away? She said: On Monday. He further asked: Which day is this? She said: Monday. He said: I wish to die in the same conditions and night. He looked at a garment he was wearing during his illness which contained some traces of Saffron and said: wash my garment and add two garments to it to shroud me in. I said: this garment is ragged. He said: the living is more entitled to wear the new. On Thursday night, he passed away and was buried before the morning.

Al Hafizh ibn Hajar said in (Fathul-Bary 3/253): (his saying: "Chapter on dying on Monday": Al Zayn ibn Al Munir said: Appointing the time of death is out of anybody's choice but a person has got a hand in causing it by asking Allah for death. If anyone wishes to die and his supplication is not responded, he shall be rewarded for his wish.

The narration reported concerning the excellence of dying on Friday is not authentic according to Al Bukhari, so he only reported the narration which has fulfilled his conditions and referred to it other narrations. The Hadith which Ibn Al Munir referred to was related by At-Tirmidhy from the Hadith of `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with him): There is no Muslim passes away on Friday or on Thursday night but Allah will save them from the trial of the grave." The chain of narration is weak. Abu Ya`la reported the Hadith on the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) with similar wordings but its chain of narration is weaker.

Al `Ayny said in `Umdat Al Qary (8 / 218): A chapter on the virtue of dying on Monday. If you say: Nobody has the choice to appoint the time of his death, so how can we interpret this? I said: He has a hand in causing that such as to wish to die, so when one's supplications are responded, it will be good otherwise he shall be rewarded for his wish.

He said about the title of the Hadith: The Prophet (peace be upon him) passed away on Monday, so whoever passes away on Monday, they shall see good because they passed away on the day in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) died, so Monday has an advantage to other days in this regard. Then he mentioned the Hadith of `Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn Al `Aas (may Allah be pleased with them) which Ibn Hajar mentioned. Then he said: (Therefore, Al Bukhari only mentioned the narration that has fulfilled his conditions) The Hadith on the virtue of dying on Friday was reported by `Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn Al `Aas, Anas and Jabir (may Allah be pleased with them):

As for the Hadith of `Abdullah ibn `Amr: Imam Ahmad related that in "Al Musnad" (2/169),At-Tirmidhy in "Al Jami`"(1074) At-Tahawy in "Sharh Mushkal Al Athar"(277) and Ibn `Asakir in "Ta`ziyat Al Muslim"(108) from Hisham ibn Sa`d from Sa`id Ibn Abu Hilal from Rabi`ah Ibn Sayf on the authority of `Abdullah ibn `Amr who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Any Muslim dies on Friday or on Thursday night, Allah will save them from the trial of the grave."

The Hadith was recorded by `Abd Al Razzaq in "Al Musannaf" (596) from Ibn Jurayj from Rabi`ah ibn Sayf on the authority of `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "He shall free himself from the trial of the grave."

Ibn Jurayj is known by deception in narration and he did not show here that he heard the Hadith directly.

At-Tirmidhy said: This Hadith is Gharib (a Hadith with a single narrator usually at the beginning of the chain of narration). He means it is a Da`if (a Hadith that fails to reach the status of Hasan, due to a weakness in the chain of narration or one of the narrators) which is later explained by his saying: This Hadith does not have a continuous chain of narration.

Rabi`ah Ibn Sayf only narrates on the authority of Abu `Abdur-Rahman Al Hably on the authority of `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with them) and we do not know that Rabi`ah ibn Sayf heard reported Hadiths from `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with them).

The Hadith was not narrated on the authority of Hisham ibn Sa`d in this narration but from Al Layth ibn Sa`d and commentators differed about.

At-Tahawy reported the Hadith in "Sharh Al Mushkal"(279) from the way of Yunus ibn `Abdul-A`la from `Abdullah ibn Wahb from Al Layth from Rabi`ah ibn Sayf that `Abdur-Rahman ibn Qahzam informed him that a son of Fayyad ibn `Uqbah died on Friday, so he was extremely sorry for him. A truthful person said to him: O father of Yunus, shall I give you a good news that I heard from `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with them)? I heard him saying: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying, and mentioned the Hadith.

The Hadith was reported by At-Tahawy (280) who said: Muhammad ibn `Abdullah ibn `Abdul-Hakam told us, my father and Shu`ayb ibn Al Layth told us from Al Layth who said that Khalid (i.e., Ibn Yazid) told him from Ibn Abu Hilal from Rabi`ah ibn Sayf that `Abdur-Rahman ibn Qahzam told him that a son of Fayyad ibn `Uqbah told him ; and then mentioned the same wordings again.

and Related by Al Bayhaqy in "Ithbat `Azab Al Qabr" (155) from the way of Ya`qub ibn Sufyan from Abu Salih; `Abdullah ibn Salih is the scribe of Al Layth and Abu Bakr; both were anonymous,from Al Layth and narrated the same narration of Ibn `Abdul-Hakam.

Al Tahawy has criticized the Hadith first (1\250) with the same criticism of Al Tirmidhy then he said about this chain of narration: "Ibn `Abdul-Hakam added to the chain of narration of Yunus between Al Layth and Rabi`ah ibn Sayf, Khalid ibn Yazid and Sa`id ibn Abu Hilal which is almost true to the correct narration. Allah knows the best. Thus, we knew the corruption of this chain of narration. It is not permissible for such a person to narrate such Hadith of `Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her)."

The Hadith of `Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) which At-Tahawy mentioned is the original narration of the Hadith which he narrated at the beginning of the chapter. Its wordings are: "There is a press for the grave and if there is one to survive of it, it will be Sa`d ibn Mu`adh." Therefore, the Hadith of `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) is weak in which is related: "Allah protects him from the trial of the grave."

In spite of the criticism mentioned above, although Rabi`ah was truthful but his memorization was weak. Al Bukhari said about him in "Al Tarikh Al Kabir" (290\3): "He narrated some strange narration in which he disagreed with his teachers". He also said in "Al Awsat" (1464): "Rabi`ah ibn Sayf Al Mu`afiry Al Iskandarany has narrated some Hadiths which contradict authentic narrations." Al Nasa'y judged him in one of his narration as "He is not bad" and said in another narration: "Weak". Al Daraqutny said in his book "Su'alat Al Barqany" (153): "He is good". Ibn Hibban mentioned him in "Al Thiqat" (301\6) and said: "He makes many mistakes" Ibn Yunus said: "He narrates many strange narrations". Al-`Ijly said in his "Tarikh" (463): "He is trustworthy." See "Tahdhib Al Tahdhib" (221\3).

Al Dhahaby counted this Hadith from the strange Hadiths that were narrated by Hisham ibn Sa`d when he said in "Al Mizan" (81\7): "of his narrations what Al Tirmidhy reported about him from Sa`id ibn Abu Hilal from Rabi`ah ibn Sayf..." then he mentioned this Hadith.

The Hadith is narrated from other ways on the authority of `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) that Imam Ahmad recorded (176\2 and 220 No. 6646 and 7050), `Abd ibn Humayd (323) and Al Tabarany in "Al Awsat" (3107). Al Daraqutny recorded the Hadith in "Al Ghara'ib wAl Afrad" as in its chain of narration (3585). Ibn `Asakir recorded it in "Ta`ziyat Al Muslim" (106 and 107) and Al Bayhaqy in "Ithbat `Azab Al Qabr" (156) from the way of Mu`awiyah ibn Sa`id Al Tijiby from Abu Qabil from `Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn Al `As (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Anyone dies on Friday or Thursday night, he will be safe of the trial of the grave."

Al Daraqutny said: "It was only narrated from the way of Mu`awiyah ibn Sa`id from Abu Qabil."

Its narration is weak because Mu`awiyah ibn Sa`id Al Tijiby was never called as trustworthy by considerable Imams. Only Al Bukhari mentioned him in his "Tarikh" (334\7 No. 1441) and Ibn Abu Hatim in "Al Jarh wa Al Ta`dil" (384\8 no. 1755) and they did not mention his status. Ibn Hibban mentioned him in "Al Thiqat" (166\9) and said: "He is an Egyptian, who narrates Hadiths with interrupted chain of narrations, therefore, Ibn Hajar said about him in "Al Taqrib" (6757): "His narration is acceptable".

It was narrated from the way of `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) Which was recorded by Al Bayhaqy in "Ithbat `Azab Al Qabr" (157) from the way of Ibn Wahb that Ibn Lahi`ah told him from Sinan ibn `Abdur-Rahman Al Sadafy that `Abdullah ibn `Amr Ibn Al `As (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: "Anyone dies On Friday or on Thursday night, they will be safe from the trial."

As for the Hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), it was narrated by Abu Ya`la in his "Musnad" (4113) from the way of Ibn `Ady in "Al Kamil" (92\7) from the way of `Abdullah ibn Ja`far from Waqid ibn Salamah from Yazid ibn Aban Al Raqashy from Anas Ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Anyone dies on Friday, they will be safe against the torment of the grave."

Its chain of narration is very weak because of Yazid ibn Aban Al Raqashy who is weak as was reported in "Al Taqrib" (7683).

The one who narrated from him is Waqid or Wafid (i.e., Ibn Salamah who is weak too). See "Lisan Al Mizan" (215\6 no. 754)

and the one who narrated from him `Abdullah ibn Ja`far who seems to be the father of `Ali ibn Al Madiny who is weak as was reported in "Al Taqrib" (3255).

There is another narration of this Hadith which ibn `Asakir narrated in "Ta`ziyat Al Muslim" (109) from the way of Al Husayn ibn `Ulwan from Aban ibn Abu Ayyash from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "No one is safe from the press of the grave except is a martyr, a crucified person or anyone who dies on Friday or Thursday night."

It is almost the same narration. Husayn ibn `Ulwan is a liar and fabricates Hadiths as was reported in "Al Kamil" of Ibn `Ady (395\2).

The narrations of Aban Ibn Abu `Ayyash are not accepted as was reported in "Al Taqrib" (p. 142).

As for the Hadith of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), it is narrated by Abu Na`im in "Al Hilyah" (155\3) from the way of `Umar ibn Musa ibn Al Wajih from Muhammad ibn Al Munkadir from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Anyone dies on Friday or on Thursday night, he shall be protected against the torment of the grave and shall come on the Day of Recompense decorated with the decoration of martyrs."

The chain of narration contains `Umar ibn Musa ibn Wajih who fabricates the Hadith see "Lisan Al Mizan" (4\332-333). The Hadith has many other ways contain either interrupted narrations or weak narrators on which we can not depend. Allah knows the best.