The Prophet said to one of his companions: ‘Tell the people to listen’. He wanted them to be attentive as he was about to give them some very important rules and instructions which they must implement.
The hadith mentions that this was during the ‘Farewell Pilgrimage’. The Prophet’s pilgrimage is described as such because during it, he bid them farewell, summed up the essentials of believers’ faith and urged them to inform others who were not then present. He told them: ‘Let those of you who are present now inform those who are absent’.
In one version, the Prophet is quoted as having said to his audience, ‘how is it with you’, or ‘woe to you’. These are possible translations of the two Arabic words, wayhakum and waylakum, respectively. Qadi [Iyad said: these are two words the Arabs used to express exclamation and sorrow. Sibawayh said: ‘The second is said to someone who happens to be in a dire situation while the first expresses compassion’. It is also reported that he said that the first is meant to restrain someone from following a course that leads to mischief. Other scholars said that they are not meant as supplication to inflict harm, but rather to express sympathy. [Umar ibn al-Khattab is reported to have said that wayh is meant for compassion. Al-Harawi said: Wayh is said to someone who encounters some trouble that he does not deserve to express sorrow and compassion, while wayl is said to someone who deserves the trouble he is facing. He deserves no sympathy, but God knows best.
Transmission
Abu Zur[ah is mentioned in the chain of transmission. There are widely different reports of his name which is said to be Harim, [Amr, [Abd al-Rahman or [Ubayd, but he was Ibn [Amr ibn Jarir.
i.Related by al-Bukhari, 121, 4405, 6869 and 7080; al-Nasa’i, 4142; Ibn Majah, 3942.
ii.Related by al-Bukhari, 4402, 4403, 6043, 6166, 6785, 6868 and 7077; Abu Dawud, 4686; al-Nasa’i, 4136; Ibn Majah, 3943.
CHAPTER 31
TO DESCRIBE SOMEONE’S ANCESTRY AS FALSE AND LAMENTATION ARE ACTS OF DISBELIEF
[123–121]. (Dar al-Salam 0128) Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated: Abu Mu[awiyah narrated [H]. Also Ibn Numayr narrated [his text]: my father and Muhammad ibn [Ubayd narrated; all of them from al-A[mash; from Abu Salih; from Abu Hurayrah: ‘God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Two characteristics of people are indeed disbelief: to allege that another person’s ancestry is false and to lament for a deceased person”.’13
وَحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ، ح. وَحَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ نُمَيْرٍ - وَاللَّفْظُ لَهُ – قال: حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُبَيْدٍ، كُلُّهُمْ عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ «اثْنَتَانِ فِي النَّاسِ هُمَا بِهِمْ كُفْرٌ: الطَّعْنُ فِي النَّسَبِ وَالنِّيَاحَةُ عَلَى الْـمَيِّتِ».
Text Explanation
13. Scholars mention different views concerning the meaning of this hadith. The most accurate is that it means these actions are normally done by unbelievers and they belong to their standards of manners. A second view is that these actions lead to disbelief. A third is that they represent a denial of God’s favours and bounty, and the fourth is that they apply to a person who considers such actions lawful. This hadith is meant to stress the prohibition of both actions. Indeed, there are well known texts speaking of each of them, but God knows best.
CHAPTER 32
CALLING A FLEEING SLAVE AN UNBELIEVER
[124–122]. (Dar al-Salam 0129) [Ali ibn Hujr al-Sa[di narrated: Isma[il (meaning Ibn [Ulayyah) narrated; from Mansur ibn [Abd al-Rahman; from al-Sha[bi; from Jarir that he heard him say: ‘Any slave who runs away from his people is an unbeliever until he goes back to them’.
Mansur said: ‘By God, this has been reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him), but I hate that it should be reported from me here in Basrah’.
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ حُجْرٍ السَّعْدِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ عُلَيَّةَ - عَنْ مَنْصُورِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ، عَنْ جَرِيرٍ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَهُ يَقُولُ: «أَيُّمَا عَبْدٍ أَبَقَ مِنْ مَوَالِيهِ، فَقَدْ كَفَرَ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْهِمْ». قَالَ مَنْصُورٌ: قَدْ وَ اللهِ رُوِيَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَلَكِنِّي أَكْرَهُ أَنْ يُرْوَى عَنِّي هَا هُنَا بِالْبَصْرَةِ.
[125–123]. (Dar al-Salam 0130) Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated: Hafs ibn Ghiyath narrated; from Dawud; from al-Sha[bi; from Jarir: ‘God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Any slave who runs away forfeits his rights”.’
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا حَفْصُ بْنُ غِيَاثٍ، عَنْ دَاوُدَ، عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ، عَنْ جَرِيرٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ «أَيُّمَا عَبْدٍ أَبَقَ فَقَدْ بَرِئَتْ مِنْهُ الذِّمَّةُ». .
[126–124]. (Dar al-Salam 0131) Yahya ibn Yahya narrated: Jarir reported; from Mughirah; from al-Sha[bi: ‘Jarir ibn [Abdullah used to narrate from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that: “If a slave runs away, his prayer is not acceptable”.’14
حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ يَحْيَى، أَخْبَرَنَا جَرِيرٌ، عَنْ مُغِيرَةَ، عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ قَالَ: كَانَ جَرِيرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ يُحَدِّثُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «إِذَا أَبَقَ الْعَبْدُ لَمْ تُقْبَلْ لَهُ صَلاَةٌ».
Text Explanation
14. The same views mentioned in the previous chapter apply here with regard to considering such a slave an unbeliever. The Prophet says in the second of these three hadiths that the runaway forfeits his rights. Slaves in the Muslim state were treated differently from everywhere else, they had rights and the Prophet repeatedly stressed that they must be treated with kindness and never overworked or abused in any way. The Prophet refers here to the fact that slaves were given guarantees that they would not be punished or locked up by their masters. By running away, however, they forfeited such guarantees.
The third hadith quotes the Prophet as saying that when a slave runs away, his prayer is not acceptable. Qadi [Iyad agrees with Imam al-Mazari’s view that this applies to one who considers running away lawful. In this case, he