16 False Narrations About Wearing Turbans (Imaamahs) [Updated]

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

While it is authentically established that our Messenger (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) did wear ‘imaamahs (turbans), there are a number of fabricated and extremely weak hadeeth narrations that many Sufis, Shia, and other fanatical turban enthusiasts pass on without verification, seeking to make the issue of wearing a turban an essential part of the Islaamic dress code, more than a historical tradition of dress shared by the Muslims and non-Muslims of many Arab regions.

The following is a brief list of some of the fabricated and unauthentic narrations that many turban enthusiasts often try to pass off as authentic hadeeth:

1 – Turbans are the Mark of the Angels?

عليكم بالعمائم فإنها سيما الملائكة، وأرخوها خلف ظهوركم
“Upon you is (to wear) ‘imaamahs (turbans), as they are the mark of the Angels. Fix them so their tails are down your backs.”

Munkar (unauthentic and contradictory): It was collected by al-Bayhaqee in Shu’ab al-Eemaan, at-Tabaraanee in al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer, and Ibn ‘Adee in al-Kaamil with contradictory chains narrated by weak and unknown narrators. See: Al-Maqaasid al-Hasanah (no.717) and Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth ad-Dha’eefah (no.677).

2 – Multiplied Rewards and Angels Continue reading

Q&A: Hadeeth about not Sleeping Alone?

In the Name of Allaah…

QUESTION: Is there a hadeeth in which sleeping alone has been prohibited and, if so, what is the proper understanding of this hadeeth? Someone read that on a website providing tips on how not to miss Fajr, and one of those tips was not to sleep alone. It said al-Albaanee authenticated the hadeeth in as-Silsilatus-Saheehah.

ANSWER: There does exist a hadeeth in the Musnad of Ahmad (2/91) which alledgedly states that the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) prohibited people from sleeping alone:

نهى عن الوحدة أن يبيت الرجل وحده أو يسافر وحده

He forbade (us) from seclusion: that a man sleeps alone or travels alone.

The chain appears to be authentic at first glance, since all of the narrators are from the narrators used in the two Saheeh collections of al-Bukhaaree and Muslim, except for one who was not used in Saheeh Muslim, Aboo ‘Ubayd ‘Abdul-Waahid ibn Waasil al-Haddaad.  At face value, scholars have graded its chain to be saheeh (authentic), one of them being the great scholar of Hadeeth and its sciences, Muhammad Naasir ad-Deen al-Albaanee in his Silsilah Saheehah (#60), as mentioned in the question.

Al-Haythamee said about this hadeeth in Majma’ az-Zawaa’id (8/104), “Its narrators are from the narrators of the Saheeh (collections of al-Bukhaaree and/or Muslim).”  I learned a very important thing about this kind of statement from al-Haythamee, when he refrains from calling the chain or the hadeeth saheeh, and suffices with profiling the narrators as reliable – that this is not sufficient as authentication, as other factors are involved in declaring a hadeeth authentic beyond the reliability of its narrators, like the connectivity of the chain and the absence of any hidden defects. In fact, when al-Haythamee refrains from calling the hadeeth or its chain saheeh, there is often a hidden defect somewhere in the chain, a very fine point of hadeeth criticism I learned from al-Albaanee himself, from his highly beneficial hadeeth commentary in his two massive works – as-Saheehah and adh-Dha’eefah.

Furthermore, referring to the narrators as being from those used in the Saheeh collections of al-Bukhaaree and Muslim is insufficient by itself to establish their reliability in a general sense for a number of reasons, the easiest of which to explain in English would be that sometimes al-Bukhaaree and Muslim only relied on a narrator when he was maqroon, or paired with someone else relaying the same narration – meaning they would not rely on his narration independently.  This connects us directly to this hadeeth…

The narrator, Aboo ‘Ubayd al-Haddaad, was from those used by al-Bukhaaree, when paired with another narrator, not independently, as mentioned by ath-Thahabee in al-Meezaan.  This helps us understand the criticism levelled against him regarding his precision as a narrator, while he was from those used in Saheeh al-Bukhaaree, the most authentic source book of Hadeeth available.

Furthermore, Aboo ‘Ubayd al-Haddaad has narrated this hadeeth from his shaykh, ‘Aasim ibn Muhammad, as eight or nine other reliable students did, except that none of them mentioned sleeping alone, their narrations only mention travelling!

From this, we can understand clearly that the mention of sleeping alone in this narration was a mistake added by Aboo ‘Ubayd, and thus is not authentic as a hadeeth of the Messenger (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace).

This very fine of point of criticism of this hadeeth can only be detected when gathering the chains together and inspecting them very closely, as done by a number of scholars and hadeeth researchers who have come to this same conclusion.  The one most worthy of mention was the great scholar of Hadeeth criticism of Yemen, Muqbil ibn Haadee al-Waadi’ee (may Allaah have mercy on him), in his book, Ahaadeeth Mu’allah Thaahiruhas-Sihhah (#269).

In conclusion, the part of the hadeeth mentioning the prohibition of sleeping alone is not authentic.

Even without this hadeeth, however, it is still an acceptable point to say that one way to wake up for Fajr prayer on time is to sleep with or around others who can help each other to wake up together at the right time.  And Allaah knows best.

Written by: Moosaa Richardson

Shaykh Al-Albaanee Lights a Soofee Magician on Fire – Really!

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful…

The great scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ad-Deen al-Albaanee (d.1420) – may Allaah have Mercy on him – tells an amazing story about his encounter with a soofee performing acts of illusionary magic.  This story comes after his detailed academic discussion of the narration of Jundub (may Allaah be pleased with him) and its chains of transmission.

To summarize the story: A governer in Iraq during the the Caliphate of ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan was being entertained by a magician Continue reading

Did Prophet Adam Commit Shirk by Naming His Son Abdul-Haarith?

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Merciful…

Allaah, the Most High says, what means:

( He is the One who created you (all) from a single soul, and from it He created its mate, so he could dwell with her (harmoniously).  When he (Adam) covered her (Eve, in intimacy), she became pregnant, a light pregnancy (not difficult) that she went through.  When she got heavier, they called upon Allaah, their Lord, ‘If you give us a sound child we would surely be of the thankful.  And when He gave them sound offspring, they set up partners unto Him regarding what He had given them.  Exonerated is Allaah above the partners they ascribe to Him! ) [Soorah al-A’raaf, 7:189-190]

This Qur’aanic passage may seem to indicate that it was Adam and Eve that committed the act of shirk (setting up partners unto Allaah), especially when one reads the following report, with many similar wordings and meanings, which has been reported in the books of Tafseer:

When Hawwaa’ (Adam’s wife, Eve) became pregnant, Iblees came to her, after she had not had any offspring that had lived, saying: Name him Abdul-Haarith!  So she named him Abdul-Haarith and he lived.  And that is a kind of revelation (of misguidance) from Shaytaan and how he orders the people (with misguidance).

Other narrations mention that he threatened them, saying that he would make the baby deformed.

The great scholar of Hadeeth, Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ad-Deen al-Albaanee – may Allaah have Mercy on him – said:

Dha’eef (unauthentic) – It was collected by at-Tirmithee (2/181, Boolaaq), al-Haakim (2/545), Continue reading