The Blazing Star in Defence of a Narration from
Malik al-Dar
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The following work by Dr. Abul Hasan Hussain Ahmed
is a defence of the authenticity of the
following narration:
It is related from Malik al-Dar,`Umar’s
treasurer, that the people suffered a drought during the time of `Umar (his
khilafah), whereupon a man came to the grave of the Prophet and said: “O
Messenger of Allah, ask for rain for your Community, for verily they have but
perished,” after which the Prophet appeared to him in a dream and told him: “Go
to `Umar and give him my greeting, then tell him that they will be watered.
Tell him: You must be clever, you must be clever!” The man went and told `Umar.
The latter said: “O my Lord, I spare no effort except in what escapes my
power!”” (Musannaf ibn Abi Shayba, no. 32665 and other
works)
It is entitled: “The
Blazing star in defence of a narration from Malik al-Dar.”
It is in essence a complete rebuttal
of some contemporary pseudo-Salafis who
attempted to weaken
this narration like:
Nasir al-Albani (d.
1999), Zubair Ali Za’i (d. 2013) and their avid fellow sect members like the following
who know each other:
Abu Hibbaan Kamran Malik, Abu Khuzaimah Imran Masoom,
Abu Alqama Ali Hassan Khan and the self-styled
Hanafi-Athari-Sufi, Abu Turab Ali Rida Qadri.
It also addressed indirectly
other diatribes made by other members of pseudo-Salafism on some forums and websites in
recent times.
The response is in excess of 400 pages and
it is replete with original references as well
as responses to most of the major claims by the detractors
of this narration, insha Allah.
The following are the contents of this work:
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The conclusions drawn from the above work include
the following significant points:
To
conclude this rejoinder to the detractors from Birmingham, it is worth
summarising for the benefit of the readers, who from the past and present
scholars, and writers of various schools of jurisprudence authenticated the narration of Malik al-Dar, as well as those who
mentioned it without rejecting its authenticity in any way. In listing
the names, we are not advocating anyone who may be branded as being a
controversial writer, but merely mentioning their verdict on this specific
narration at hand.
In
this riposte, the following issues and points have been detailed:
1) Abu
Khuzaima and Abu Hibban have not shown originality in many of their claims, but have merely plagiarised whole source references, and several quotes from
two short articles mentioned earlier by their late authority
– Zubair Ali Za’i (d. 2013)
2) Their
contention that al-Imam al-A’mash al-Kufi committed Tadlees when reporting from Abu Salih al-Samman was
shown to be unproven, and quotes from the likes of Ahmed ibn Hanbal,
al-Fasawi, al-Humaydi and al-Dhahabi were brought forth to disprove their counter arguments
3) Malik al-Dar is not unknown (majhul), but should be considered
as a type of reliable narrator based on the expressions quoted from
al-Bukhari, Ibn Sa’d, Ibn Hibban and al-Khalili. While he is known as a
Tabi’i, some like al-Dhahabi and ibn Fahd considered him to be a Sahabi.
4) The report from Malik al-Dar is supported from the identical report
emanating from the known Sahabi, Anas ibn Malik (ra)
5) No one from the reputable Hadith
scholars or jurisprudents of the past was named
by the detractors to have weakened the
narration from Malik
al-Dar. They took their cue from the late Nasir
al-Albani (d. 1999) and those who are from the same mentality in creed
or jurisprudential approaches in this age after him, like Zubair Ali Za’i et al.
6) Nasir
al-Albani was refuted by
one from his own sect; namely, the late Nasib al-Rifa’i on
this very narration at hand. Al-Albani was also refuted on this narration by
other contemporaries like –
(a) Dr. Umar Mas’ud al-Tijani in his Kashf
al-Ithar fi tad’if Khabr Malik al-Dar
(b) Shaykh Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Tahir
ibn Yahya Ba’Alawi al-Hussaini, who wrote the work known as Hidayatul
Mutakhabbitin in reply to al-Albani’s claims on Tawassul,
(c) Dr Mahmud Mamduh in his Raf
al-Minara li-takhrij ahadith al-Tawassul wal Ziyara and
(d) Shaykh Ali ibn Na’if al-Shahud al-Khulasa
fi ahkam al-Istigatha wal-Tawassul (pp. 137-156)
7) Despite
al-Albani
weakening this specific narration from Malik
al-Dar mentioned above, it is surprising to note that al-Albani has also declared another
narration via the route of Malik al-Dar to be Hasan (good) in his editing of Imam al-Mundhiri’s (d. 656
AH) al-Targhib wal Tarhib.
8) Of
the major schlolars of the past before the first Islamic millennium who authenticated the narration from Malik al-Dar (be its sanad or its matn), the
following names have been mentioned earlier:
1) Al-Hafiz ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH)
2) Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d.
852 AH)
3) Imam Al-Samhudi (d. 911 AH)
4) Imam Al-Qastallani (d. 923 AH)
5) Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974
AH)
9) Amongst those that knew of this
narration explicitly and mentioned it in either full, abridged format, or by
agreeing or mentioning it to being authentic (see the relevant section for full
references) included the following Imams and lesser known writers of the past
and present:
1) Imam Muhammad Ibn Allan al-Siddiqi (d. 1057 AH)
2) Shaykh Dawud ibn Sulayman al-Baghdadi
al-Khalidi (d. 1299 AH)
3) Shaykh Ibrahim ibn Uthman al Samnudi
al-Mansuri
4) Shaykh Jamil Effendi al-Zahawi (1355 AH)
5) Qadi Yusuf al-Nabhani (d. 1350 AH)
6) Shaykh Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari (d. 1371
AH)
7) Shaykh Abdullah al-Ghumari (d. 1993 CE)
8) Sayyid Muhammad ibn Alawi al-Maliki
al-Makki (d. 2004 CE)
9) Dr. Mahmud Sa’id Mamduh
10) Shaykh Wahbi ibn Sulayman Ghawiji (d. 2013 CE)
11) Shaykh Muhammad Awwama
12) Shaykh Abdullah al-Harari (d. 2008)
13) Shaykh Sarfraz Khan Safdar (d. 2009 CE)
14) Shaykh Yunus al-Jawnpuri
15) Shaykh Yusuf Khattar Muhammad
16) Dr Umar Abdullah Kamil
17) Shaykh Farid al-Baji al-Maliki
18) Shaykh Adil Murshid
19) Shaykh Nabil al-Ghamri
20) Shaykh Abdal Hadi Kharsa al-Dimashqi
21) Dr. Samir an-Nass al-Dimashqi
22) Shaykh Hussain Muhammad Ali Shukri
23) Shaykh Abduh Muhammad Jaan al-Na’imi
24) Dr. Isa al-Himyari
25) Shaykh Ali ibn Na’if al-Shahud
10) Those who transmitted or recorded
the narration without explicitly weakening it or rejecting it in some way include the following names:
1) Imam Ali Ibn al-Madini (d. 234 AH)
2) Imam Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Shayba (d. 235 AH)
3) Imam Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari (d.
256 AH)
4) Imam Ibn Abi Khaythama (d. 279 AH)
5) Imam Abu Ya’la al-Khalili (d. 446 AH)
6) Imam Abu Umar Ibn Abd al-Barr (d. 463 AH)
7) Imam al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH)
8) Imam Abul Qasim Ibn Asakir (d. 571 AH)
9) Imam Shamsud-Din al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH)
10) Imam Taqiud Din al-Subki (d. 756 AH)
11) Imam Taqiud Din al-Hisni (d. 829 AH)
12) Imam al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH)
13) Imam Ali al-Muttaqi al-Hindi (d.
975AH)
14) Imam Muhammad ibn Abdal Baqi al-Zarqani
al-Maliki (d. 1122 AH)
15) Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (d. 1176
AH/1763 CE)
16) Imam Muhammad Abid al-Sindi (d. 1257 AH)
17) Shaykh Abdal Ghani al-Dehlawi (d. 1296 AH)
18) Shaykh Mustafa ibn Ahmad al-Shatti
al-Hanbali (1857-1929 CE)
19) Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya Kandehlawi
al-Madani (d. 1982 CE)
20) Shaykh Muhammad Abdal Hakim Sharaf
21) Dr. Umar Mas’ud al-Tijani
22) Shaykh Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Tahir ibn
Yahya
23) Shaykh Sa’eed Fawda
In concluding this epistle in
reply to the detractors and their like-minded writers from the same sect, the names and testification of
literally dozens of scholars and writers of various schools of jurisprudence is
a testimony that the narration from Malik al-Dar is free of weakness in
its chain of transmission, and its wording is thus authentic (Sahih) to
the vast majority. Additionally, it is strengthened by the
corroboratory report mentioned in this work from the Sahabi, Anas ibn Malik (ra).
The following appendices have been attached to show
the reality of these detractors as opined
from the advice of their late Muhaddith, Nasir
al-Albani (d. 1999 CE). The last piece was compiled by another
person from their sect who exposed the
reality of one of these detractors known as Abu Hibban Kamran Malik for his reprehensible
behaviour that lead him to a period behind bars.
Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad
Abul Hasan Hussain Ahmed
Darul-Tahqiq
London, UK
Friday 27th Ramadan 1435 AH/July 25th 2014
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