Saheeh Seerah Al Albaanee English

to this route of yours.’ So he asked: ‘Is there anyone better (superior) than you coming
along behind you?’ They said: ‘No! It’s just the information we have about him that
brought us along this road of yours.’ He said: ‘Do you think that if there is a matter
which Allaah wishes to bring about, is there anyone among the people who can reverse
it?’ They said: ‘No.’” He (Abu Moosaa) said: “So they gave him their pledge, and they
stayed with him. And he said: ‘I adjure you by Allaah, which of you is his guardian?’
They said: ‘Abu Ṭaalib.’ So he kept admonishing him until Abu Ṭaalib returned him
(back to Makkah) and Abu Bakr sent Bilaal along with him. And the monk gave him
provisions of Ka`k (a type of bread) and (olive) oil.”
Reported by al-Tirmidhee, al-Ḥaakim, al-Baihaqee, Ibn `Asaakir and others. Al-
Tirmidhee said: “(This narration) is “Ḥasan Ghareeb”, we do not know it except from
this route.] 39
I (Ibn Katheer) say: There are (things mentioned in) this (narration) which are weird and
strange. This is from the Mursal narration of the Companions (i.e. a smaller Companion
skipping the name of the senior Companion from whom he heard the incident). Abu
Moosaa al-Ash`aree arrived in Madeenah in the year of the incident of al-Khaybar, i.e.
the seventh year after Hijrah. So this narration is Mursal (hurried). This incident
happened when the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ was, like some claimed, to be around
twelve years old. Perhaps Abu Moosaa heard it from the Prophet ‏,ﷺ or from some
of the senior Companions ‏,رضيُاهللُعنهم or that it was common knowledge and he heard it
from many routes. 40
[Shaikh al-Albaanee’s addendum]
39 [TN: Sunan al-Tirmidhee (3620), Mustadrak al-Ḥaakim (4229), al-Baihaqee in al-Dalaa’il (2/25) and Shaikh al-
Albaanee said: It is “Ṣaḥeeḥ”, but the mentioning of Bilaal in this narration is rejected because he was not born
yet.]
40 I (al-Albaanee) say: These types of “could be” and “possibilities” have been discussed in the science of Ḥadeeth:
The Mursal narrations of the Ṣaḥaabah are Ḥujjah (evidence). The defect in the narration is that there is the
mention of Abu Bakr and Bilaal. Abu Bakr at that time would have been only nine or ten years old. This is based
on the claim that the Prophet ﷺ at that time was twelve years old – but this is not proven authentically.
Rather, the one who mentioned this age was from the narration of al-Waaqidee, as the author (Ibn Katheer) had
mentioned, and al-Waaqidee is accused of lying and his narrations are abandoned. So it could be that the incident
happened years later than what is supposed. I have spoken about the authenticity of this Ḥadeeth in details in my
refutation of Dr. al-Bootee, in the book “Difaa` al-Ḥadeeth” (pg. 62-72). I have mentioned seven Ḥuffaaẓh
(scholars of Ḥadeeth) who have preceded me in authenticating this narration, one may refer to it.
[TN: At this age which al-Waaqidee is claiming, Bilaal was not even born [See the above book of Shaikh al-
Albaanee (pg.68).]
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