It has been narrated:
عَنْ أُمِّ سَلْمَى ،
قَالَتْ: اشْتَكَتْ فَاطِمَةُ شَكْوَاهَا الَّتِي قُبِضَتْ فِيهَا، فَكُنْتُ
أُمَرِّضُهَا، فَأَصْبَحَتْ يَوْمًا كَأَمْثَلِ مَا رَأَيْتُهَا فِي شَكْوَاهَا
تِلْكَ، قَالَتْ: وَخَرَجَ عَلِيٌّ لِبَعْضِ حَاجَتِهِ، فَقَالَتْ: " يَا
أُمَّهْ اسْكُبِي لِي غُسْلًا "، فَاغْتَسَلَتْ كَأَحْسَنِ مَا رَأَيْتُهَا
تَغْتَسِلُ، ثُمَّ قَالَتْ: " يَا أُمَّهْ أَعْطِينِي ثِيَابِيَ الْجُدُدَ
"، فَأَعْطَيْتُهَا فَلَبِسَتْهَا، ثُمَّ قَالَتْ: " يَا أُمَّهْ
قَدِّمِي لِي فِرَاشِي وَسَطَ الْبَيْتِ " فَفَعَلْتُ، وَاضْطَجَعَتْ،
وَاسْتَقْبَلَتِ الْقِبْلَةَ، وَجَعَلَتْ يَدَهَا تَحْتَ خَدِّهَا ثُمَّ قَالَتْ:
" يَا أُمَّهْ إِنِّي مَقْبُوضَةٌ الْآنَ، وَقَدْ تَطَهَّرْتُ الْآَنَ ،
فَلَا يَكْشِفُنِي أَحَدٌ " فَقُبِضَتْ مَكَانَهَا قَالَتْ: فَجَاءَ عَلِيٌّ
فَأَخْبَرْتُهُ
From Umm Salma, she said: When
Fatimah (radiallah anha) had the illness which took her life, I nursed her.
During this time, on one occasion her condition was slightly better one
morning. Ali (radiallah anhu) had gone out for some job. Fatimah (radiallah anha)
said, ‘O mother! Bring some water for me to bath.’ I brought some water and as
far as I saw she bathed perfectly. Then she said, ‘O mother, bring me new
clothes’ so I gave her clothes to her and she put them on. Then she said, ‘O
mother! Make my bed for me in the middle of the house,’ so I did accordingly.
Then she laid down, faced towards the Ka’bah, placed her hand under her cheek
and said, ‘O mother! It is time for my death and I have purified myself. Do not
let anybody undress me.’ Fatimah passed away in that very position.” Umm Salma continues,
“Then Ali (radiallah anhu) came back and I informed him of Fatimah’s death.
The other version adds at the
end: “Thus she was buried with the same Ghusl (bath)”
[Al-Abaateel wal Manaakeer by
Al-Jurqaani (2/79), Chain Hasan up to Ibn Ishaaq]
This hadeeth is Da’eef, Munkar.
It is narrated by Imaam Ahmed bin Hanbal (rahimahullah) in his Musnad (45/587-588
H. 27615) with the following chain of transmission:
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو النَّضْرِ، حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ،
عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ
بْنِ إِسْحَاقَ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ
اللهِ بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي رَافِعٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أُمِّ
سَلْمَى
Abu al-Nadr narrated to us,
he said: Ibraaheem bin Sa’d narrated to us, from Muhammad
bin Ishaaq, from Ubaydullah bin Ali bin Raafi’, from his Father (Ali bin Abi Raafi’), from Umm Salma…
Moreover, this narration is also
narrated through Imaam Ahmed with the same chain in Asad ul-Ghaabah fi Ma’rifat-is-Sahaabah
(5/590) & Ma’rifat-is-Sahaabah by Abu Nu’aym al-Asbahaani (6/3507 H. 7944).
And it is narrated through the
route of Ibraaheem bin Sa’d by Ibn Sa’d in Tabaqaat al-Kubra (8/22), Umar bin
Shabbah in Taareekh al-Madeenah (1/108, 109), Ibn Shaaheen in Naasikh
al-Hadeeth (1/482), Abu Abdullah al-Jurqaani in Al-Abaateel wal Manaakeer (2/78),
and Ibn al-Jawzee in Al-Ilal al-Mutanaahiyah (419) and Al-Mawdoo’aat (3/277).
This chain is Da’eef and Munkar,
due to the following reasons:
Imaam Ahmed bin Hanbal said: “Ibn Ishaaq commits Tadlees”
[Taareekh Baghdaad: 2/22, Chain
Saheeh]
Imaam Ibn Hibbaan said: “He commits tadlees from weak narrators, thus there
occurred Munkar narrations in his reports due to those (Mudallas narrations)…”
[Kitaab ath-Thiqaat: 7/383-384]
Haafidh Ibn Hajar mentioned him
among the fourth level of Mudalliseen and said: “He
is Sadooq, famous with Tadlees from weak and Majhool narrators and from the
evil of those (men), and he is attributed with this by Ahmed, Ad-Daaraqutni and
others.”
[Tabaqaat al-Mudalliseen: P. 73
with Tahqeeq of Shaykh Zubayr Ali Za’ee]
2 –
Moreover, this chain also contains the Father of Ubaydullah, Ali bin Abi
Raafi’ who is unknown i.e. Majhool ul-Haal.
After mentioning this hadeeth, Haafidh
Noor ud-Deen al-Haythami said:
“رَوَاهُ أَحْمَدُ، وَفِيهِ مَنْ لَمْ
أَعْرِفْهُ”
“It is narrated by Ahmed and it contains someone whom I
don’t know”
[Majma
az-Zawaaid (9/211)]
Shaykh al-Muhaddith, Zubayr Alee
Za’ee (rahimahullah) said: “I do not know of the
Tawtheeq of Ali bin Abi Raafi”
[Fataawa Ilmiyah (1/518)]
Haafidh Ibn al-Jawzee said:
“هَذَا حَدِيث لَا يَصح”
“This hadeeth is not authentic”
[Al-Mawdoo’aat
& Al-Ilal al-Mutanaahiyah]
Imaam Dhahabi said:
“هذا منكر”
“This is Munkar”
[Siyar
A’laam al-Nabula (3/423)]
Imaam Jurqaani said:
“هَذَا حَدِيثٌ لَا يَرْجِعُ مِنْهُ
إِلَى الصِّحَّةِ، وَلَيْسَ لِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَصْلٌ”
“This hadeeth is not authentic, and this hadeeth does not
have any basis”
[Al-Abaateel
wal Manaakeer (2/81)]
Ibn al-Hammaam al-Hanafi said
about this narration:
“ضعيف”
“It is Da’eef”
[Sharh
Fath ul-Qadeer (2/105)]
This narration has another
Shaahid in Musannaf Abdur Razzaaq (3/411 H. 6126), other version (6152),
Al-Ahaad wal Mathaani by Ibn Abi Aasim (5/356 H. 2940), Al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer by
At-Tabaraani (22/399 H. 996), and Hilyat al-Awliya by Abu Nu’aym al-Asbahaani (2/43)
from the narration of
Abdullah
bin Muhammad bin Aqeel.
However, this narration is weak
because Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Aqeel did not see the era of Faatimah
(radiallah anha), hence it is Munqati (disconnected).
Haafidh Noor ud-Deen al-Haythami
said about this chain:
“عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ لَمْ
يُدْرِكِ الْقِصَّةَ فَالْإِسْنَادُ مُنْقَطِعٌ”
“Abdullah bin Muhammad did not witness the story,
therefore, the chain is disconnected”
[Majma
az-Zawaaid (9/211)]
Zayla’ee al-Hanafi said:
“سَنَدٍ ضَعِيفٍ وَمُنْقَطِعٍ”
“Its chain is weak and disconnected”
[Nasb
ur-Raayah (2/251)]
The text of this hadeeth is as
well Munkar because how is it possible for us to imagine that, Faatimah
(radiallah anha) the Aalimah and the Faqeehah did not know that her bath before
her death would not suffice the bath that becomes obligatory only after the
death.
Thus, Imaam Jurqaani said:
“وَكَيْفَ اغْتَسَلَتْ فَاطِمَةُ رَضِيَ
اللَّهُ عَنْهَا قَبْلَ الْمَوْتِ، وَهِيَ عَالِمَةٌ فَقِيهَةٌ، قَدْ عَلِمَتْ
أَنْ غُسْلَهَا قَبْلَ الْمَوْتِ لَا يُجْزِيهَا مِنْ غُسْلِ الْمَوْتِ الَّذِي
يَجِبُ بَعْدَ الْمَوْتِ”
“And how can Faatimah radiallah anha take bath before the
death, when she (herself) is a Scholar and a Faqeehah, indeed she knew that her
ghusl before the death would not suffice her from the funeral ghusl which becomes
obligatory after the death”
[Al-Abaateel
(2/81)]
Similarly, Haafidh Ibn al-Jawzee
said:
“وَكَيْفَ يَكُونُ صَحِيحًا وَالْغُسْلُ
إِنَّمَا شُرِّعَ بَحَدَثِ الْمَوْتِ فَكَيْفَ يَقَعُ قَبْلَهُ وَلَوْ قَدَرْنَا
خَفِيَ هَذَا عَنْ فَاطِمَةَ وَحَوْسَبٍ فكَانَ يُخْفَى عَلَى عَلِيٍّ عَلَيْهِ
السَّلامُ ثُمَّ إِنَّ أَحْمَدَ وَالشَّافِعِيَّ يَحْتَجَّانِ فِي جَوَازِ غَسْلِ
الرَّجُلُ زَوْجَتَهُ أَنَّ عَلِيًّا غَسَّلَ فَاطِمَةَ عَلَيْهَا السَّلامُ”
“And how can it be Saheeh when (it is known that) Ghusl only
becomes legislated with the occurrence of Death, so how can it happen before
it? And even if we suppose that Faatimah did not know about this (ruling), so
(does it mean) that it remained hidden from Ali alayhi as-salaam as well?
Moreover, indeed Ahmed and Shaafi’ee have taken evidence for the permissibility
of a man giving ghusl to his wife based on the very fact that Ali (himself) had
given ghusl to Faatimah alayha as-salaam”
[Al-Ilal
by Ibn al-Jawzee (1/260)]
What makes this narration
severely weak and Munkar is the fact that Faatimah (radiallah anha) was actually
washed by Ali (radiallah anhu) after her death as it is narrated in
Al-Mustadrak Ala as-Saheehayn (3/179), Hilyat al-Awliyaa (2/43), Sunan al-Kubra
lil Bayhaqi (3/556), Taareekh al-Madeenah (1/109), Al-Abaateel wal Manaakeer (2/81-82),
Naasikh al-Hadeeth of Ibn Shaaheen (1/483), and Al-Talkhees al-Habeer (2/326)
etc. It is authenticated by Imaam al-Jurqaani and Haafidh Ibn Hajar.
And it is supported by what’s
narrated from Muhammad bin Moosa bin Abi Abdullah al-Fitri (Thiqah Taba Taabi’ee
and a Shi’aa) that he said:
“أَنَّ عَلِيَّ بْنَ أَبِي طَالِبٍ
غَسَّلَ فَاطِمَةَ”
“Ali bin Abi Taalib gave ghusl to Faatimah”
[Tabaqaat
al-Kubra (8/23), Chain Saheeh]
Therefore, this leaves no doubt
that this story is made-up and Munkar!
Finally, Haafidh Ibn Katheer
said about this story:
“وَمَا رُوِيَ مِنْ أنَّها اغتسلت قبل
وفاتها وأوصت أن لَا تغسَّل بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَضَعِيفٌ لَا يعوَّل عَلَيْهِ
وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ”
“And whatever is narrated that she gave herself a ghusl
before her death and willed that she should not be washed after that, then this
is Da’eef, it is not to be relied upon, wallahu a’lam”
[Al-Bidaayah
wal Nihaayah (6/337)]
