The Ink of Scholars is superior to the Blood of Martyrs

On several different occasions a number of our scholars use to cite the following ḥadīth:

“The ink of the scholars is superior to the blood of martyrs.”

And every once in a while those who recite this ḥadīth encounter detractors who consider this ḥadīth to be weak (ḍa‘īf) or very weak (ḍa‘īf jiddan), if not fabricated (mawḍū‘).

I admit that, although this ḥadīth was narrated through multiple distinct chains of narrators (asānīd), almost all of them are extremely weak. However, as it has turned out, a second glance, away from judgments of pseudo-Salafīs like al-Munajjid or al-Albānī, has proven itself to be quite worthwhile.

Hereinafter I will put on record two asānīd through which the fact will be established that in truth this ḥadīth qualifies to bear the judgment (ḥukm) “good” (ḥasan).

The first ḥadīth was recorded by Imām as-Sam‘ānī (d. 562 AH) as follows:

أخبرنا أبو غانم المظفر بن الحسين بن المظفر المفصلي، ببروجرد، أنا أبو الفتح عبد الواحد بن إسماعيل بن عثمان النغاري، حدثني أبو نعيم أحمد بن عبد الله بن أحمد الحافظ، ثنا أبو بكر بن خلاد، ثنا الحارث بن أبي أسامة، ثنا روح بن عبادة، وإسحاق بن عيسى الطباع، قالا: ثنا مالك بن أنس، عن سهيل بن أبي صالح، عن أبيه، عن أبي هريرة، رضي الله عنه، أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، قال: "يوزن مداد العلماء يوم القيامة بدم الشهداء، فيرجح مدادهم على دماءهم أضعافا مضاعفة."

Isnād:

Abū Ghānim al-Muẓaffar ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Muẓaffar al-Mufaṣṣalī[1] – Abū al-Fatḥ ‘Abd al-Wāḥid ibn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Uthmān an-Naghārī – Abū Nu‘aym Aḥmad ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Ḥāfiẓ – Abū Bakr ibn Khālid – al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Usāmah – Rauḥ ibn ‘Ubādah and Isḥāq ibn ‘Īsā at-Ṭabbā‘ – Mālik ibn Anas – Suhayl ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ – His Father – Abū Hurayrah (ra) – The Holy Prophet (saw)

Matn:

Yūzanu midādu l-‘ulamā’i yawma l-qiyāmati bi-dami sh-shuhadā’i, fa-yarjaḥu midāduhum ‘alā dimā’ihim aḍ‘āfan muḍā‘afatan

Translation:

“The ink of the scholars will be weighed against the blood of the martyrs on the Day of Judgment and their ink will outweigh their blood manifold times.”[2]

Those narrators that are contested by the critics are just the last two. It is said that both of them would be of unknown integrity (majhūl al-ḥāl). [3]

The last narrator is Abū Ghānim al-Muẓaffar ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Muẓaffar ibn ʻUbayd Allāh al-Mufaḍḍalī al-Burūjirdī. Imām as-Sam‘ānī himself said about him that he was an elder (shaykh), a scholar (‘ālim), an eminence (fāḍil), virtuous (ṣāliḥ), of well-disposed character (sadīd as-sīrah), someone minding his own business (mushtaghilan bi-mā ya‘nīhi) and staying at his home (lāziman manzilahu).[4] Imām Ibn al-Athīr (d. 630 AH) said that he was an eminence (fāḍil), virtuous (ṣāliḥ) and an expert in Islamic jurisprudence (faqīh).[5] Imām as-Subkī (d. 771 AH) said that he studied Islamic jurisprudence under as-Sayyid Abū al-Qāsim ad-Dabūsī.[6]

That by now is the first indication whereby it has been found that al-Munajjid, al-Albānī and the likes have worked sloppily and have failed to do their homework properly. By no means is this narrator unknown, rather is he a highly respectable and trustworthy scholar.

The penultimate narrator is Abū al-Fatḥ ‘Abd al-Wāḥid ibn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Uthmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Naghārah an-Naghārī (al-Jabalī) al-Burūjirdī.

Now, before I put forward arguments in favour of his credibility, some words will be made disclosing a fundamental of the topic of obscurity (jahālah) which is less well-known to the laity.

Imām al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī (d. 463 AH) wrote:

المجهول عند أصحاب الحديث هو كل من لم يشتهر بطلب العلم في نفسه ولا عرفه العلماء به ومن لم يعرف حديثه إلا من جهة راو واحد. […] وأقل ما ترتفع به الجهالة أن يروى عن الرجل اثنان فصاعدا من المشهورين بالعلم.

“According to the adherents of ḥadīth (asḥāb al-ḥadīth) unknown (majhūl) is anyone whose acquiring of knowledge is not known of per se and neither do the scholars know about him and he whose ḥadīth is not known, except from the direction of a single narrator. […] And the least that cancels out their obscurity (jahālah) is that two or more men narrate from him which are known for knowledge.”[7]

Imām ad-Dāraquṭnī (d. 385 AH) said:

من روى عنه ثقتان فقد ارتفعت جهالته، وثبتت عدالته.

“Anyone of who two reliable (thiqah) people have narrated, his obscurity (jahālah) cancels out and his trustworthiness (‘adālah) is proven.”[8]

Among other scholars, Imām al-Aʻẓam Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150 AH) [9], Imām al-Bazzār (d. 292 AH) [10], Imām Ibn Ḥibbān (d. 354 AH)[11] and Imām Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH) [12] advocated this same opinion (madhhab).

I was unable to find any testimonies of specific scholars reviewing the probity of the narrator in discussion, but in an isnād recorded by Imām Ibn ʻAsākir he was characterized as an expert in Islamic jurisprudence (faqīh)[13] and in two different asānīd recorded by Imām as-Sam‘ānī he was characterized as a preserver [of narrations] (ḥāfiẓ).[14] In spite of everything, based on the aforementioned methodological principle it can be duly proven that he has to be considered as credible.

Apart from the above-mentioned al-Mufaḍḍalī al-Burūjirdī and others, the following two narrators reported from an-Naghārī:

Abū ‘Alī al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī ‘Alī al-Muqri’ al-Burūjirdī – Imām Ibn ʻAsākir described him as an elder (shaykh) and virtuous (ṣāliḥ).[15] Imām as-Sam‘ānī said he was from the people of the Qur’ān (ahl al-qur’ān), virtuous (ṣāliḥ), pious (dayyinan) and of decent character (hasan as-sīrah).[16]

Abū an-Najm Badr ibn Ṣaliḥ ibn ‘Abd Allāh aṣ-Ṣaydalānī al-Burūjirdī ar-Rāzānī – Imām Ibn ʻAsākir said he was an expert in Islamic jurisprudence (faqīh).[17] Imām as-Sam‘ānī decribed him as an expert in Islamic jurisprudence (faqīh), virtuous (ṣāliḥ) and moral (‘afīf).[18] Imām Ibn al-Athīr said that he was an expert of the Shāfi‘ī school of Islamic jurisprudence (faqīh Shāfi‘ī), virtuous (ṣāliḥ) and that he studied Islamic jurisprudence under Imām Abū Naṣr ibn aṣ-Ṣabbāgh (d. 477 AH).[19] Imām al-Ḥamawī (d. 626 AH) writes that he was from the people of Islamic jurisprudence (ahl al-fiqh).[20] Imām adh-Dhahabī (d. 748 AH) said that he studied Islamic jurisprudence under Imām al-Kiyā al-Harrāsī (d. 504 AH) in Baghdad.[21]

Hereby the fact has now been unearthed that at least three reliable narrators have reported from an-Naghārī and no discrediting (jarḥ) whatsoever could be discovered, whereby he has to be acknowledged as a trustworthy narrator.

The second ḥadīth was recorded by Imām Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH) as follows:

وأما حديث النعمان: فأنا ابن ناصر، قال: أنا محمد بن إبراهيم، قال: أنا محمد بن الفضل، قال: أخبرنا ابن مردويه، قال: نا عبد الله بن إبراهيم الجرجاني، قال: نا إبراهيم بن يومرد، قال: نا أحمد بن بهرام، قال: نا سهل بن عبد الكريم، عن يعقوب القمي، عن هارون بن عنترة، عن الشعبي، قال: خطبنا النعمان بن بشير، فقال: سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، يقول: "يوزن مداد العلماء مع دم الشهداء يرجح مداد العلماء على دم الشهداء."

Isnād:

Ibn Nāṣir – Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm – Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl – Ibn Mardawayh – ‘Abd Allāh ibn Ibrāhim al-Jurjānī – Ibrāhīm ibn Yawmard – Aḥmad ibn Bahrām – Sahl ibn ‘Abd al-Karīm – Ya‘qūb al-Qummī – Hārūn ibn ‘Antarah – ash-Sha‘bī – an-Nu‘mān ibn Bashīr – The Holy Prophet (saw)

Matn:

Yūzanu midādu l-‘ulamā’i ma‘a dami sh-shuhadā’i yarjuḥu midādu l-‘ulamā’i ‘alā dami sh-shuhadā’i

“The ink of the scholars will be weighed against the blood of the martyrs; the ink of the scholars will outweigh the blood of the martyrs.”[22]

Those narrators that are contested by the critics are Hārūn ibn ‘Antarah and Ya‘qūb al-Qummī. It is said that Ibn Ḥibbān weakened both of them.[23]

The narrator mentioned first is Abū ‘Amr Hārūn ibn ‘Antarah ibn ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ash-Shaybānī al-Kūfī. Even though the objection is valid that Ibn Ḥibbān at one place weakened him, but the fact is that he also mentioned him as being from amongst the trustworthy people (thiqāt).[24] Apart from that Imām Ibn Sa‘d (d. 230 AH), Imām Yaḥyā ibn Ma‘īn (d. 233 AH), Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241 AH) and Imām al-‘Ijlī (d. 261 AH) said that he was trustworthy (thiqa). Imām Abū Zur‘ah (d. 264 AH) and Imām Ya‘qūb ibn Sufyān (d. 277 AH) said that there was no harm in him (lā ba’sa bihi), i.e. he was reliable, and Imām Abū Zur‘ah added that he was righteous (mustaqīm al-ḥadīth). Imām ad-Dāraquṭnī said that he was authoritative (yuḥtajju bihi).[25] Furthermore, Imam adh-Dhahabī declared him to be trustworthy (waththaqūhu)[26] and Imām Ibn Ḥajar al-‘Asqalānī (d. 852 AH) was also of the opinion that he was reliable (lā ba’sa bihi).[27]

The second narrator is Abū al-Ḥasan Ya‘qūb ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘d al-Ash‘arī al-Qummī. Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him as being from amongst the trustworthy people (thiqāt).[28] Imām an-Nasa’ī (d. 303 AH) said that he was reliable (laysa bihi ba’s). Imām aṭ-Ṭabarānī (d. 360 AH) said that he was trustworthy (thiqa). Imam Muḥammad ibn Ḥamīd ar-Rāzī (d. 248 AH) said that both Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Imām Yaḥyā ibn Ma‘īn came to him to copy off his aḥādīth, wherefrom is apparent that both regarded him as reliable.[29] Imam ad-Dhahabī said that he was veracious (ṣadūq)[30] and good in his narrations (ṣāliḥ al-ḥadīth).[31] Even Imām al-Bukhārī (d. 256 AH) mentioned him in a narration with an incomplete isnād (ḥadīth mu‘allaq).[32] ad-Duktūr Bashshār ʻAwwād Maʻrūf and ash-Shaykh Shuʻayb al-Arnaʼūṭ said that he was truthful and reliable (ṣadūq hasan al-ḥadīth).[33]

Hereby now both the former and the latter asānīd of this ḥadīth are proven to be valid, true and correct.

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[1] correctly “al-Mufaḍḍalī” with aḍ-ḍād

[2] Kitāb Adab al-imlā’ wa-l-istimlā’ by Abū Sa‘d ‘Abd al-Karīm ibn Muḥammad at-Tamīmī as-Sam‘ānī al-Marwazī, ed. Max Weisweiler, 1401 AH, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmiyyah, p. 162

[3] For example refer to: http://islamqa.info/en/11920 or http://foodiefahoodie.blogspot.com/2012/11/weakness-of-hadeeth-ink-of-scholar-is.html

[4] al-Ansāb by Abū Sa‘d ‘Abd-al-Karīm ibn Muḥammad at-Tamīmī as-Sam‘ānī al-Marwazī, 1408 AH, Beirut: Dār al-Jinān, vol. 5, p. 357

[5] al-Lubāb fī tahdhīb al-Ansāb by Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ‘Izz ad-Dīn ibn al-Athīr ash-Shaybānī al-Jazarī, n.d., Baghdad: Maktabat al-Muthannā, vol. 3, p. 243

[6] Ṭabaqāt ash-Shāfi‘iyyah al-kubrā by Tāj ad-Dīn ʻAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʻAlī as-Subkī, ed. Maḥmūd Muḥammad aṭ-Ṭanāḥī; ʻAbd al-Fattāḥ Muḥammad al-Ḥulw, 1396 AH, Cairo: Dār Iḥyāʼ al-Kutub al-ʻArabiyyah, vol. 7, p. 300

[7] Kitāb al-kifāyah fī ʻilm ar-riwāyah by Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, 1357 AH, Hyderabad Deccan: Idārat Jamʻiyyat dāʼirat al-Maʻārif al-ʻUthmāniyyah, p. 88

[8] Fatḥ al-mughīth sharḥ Alfiyyat al-ḥadīth li-l-ʻIrāqī by Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd ar-Raḥmān as-Sakhāwī, 1403 AH, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmiyyah, vol. 1, p. 322

[9] Sharḥ Sharḥ Nukhbat al-fikar fī muṣṭalaḥāt ahl al-athar by al-Mulla Alī ibn Sulṭān Muḥammad al-Harawī al-Qārī, ed. Muḥammad Nizār Tamīm; Haytham Nizār Tamīm, n.d., Beirut: Dār al-Arqam, p. 518

[10] an-Nukat ʻalā Muqaddimat Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ by Muḥammad ibn Bahādur az-Zarkashī, ed. Zayn al-ʻĀbidīn ibn Muḥammad Bilā Furayj, 1419 AH, Riyadh: Aḍwāʼ al-Salaf, vol. 3, p. 376

[11] Muqaddimat Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ wa-Maḥāsin al-iṣṭilāḥ by ʻUthmān ibn ʻAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ ash-Shahrazūrī; Sirāj ad-Dīn ʻUmar ibn Raslān al-Bulqīnī, ed. ʻĀʼishah ʻAbd al-Raḥmān, 1411 AH, Cairo: Dār al-Maʻārif, p. 297

[12] Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīyah wa-juhūduhu fī khidmat as-sunnah an-Nabawiyyah wa-ʻulūmuhā by Jamāl ibn Muḥammad as-Sayyid, 1424 AH, Medina: ʻImād al-Baḥth al-ʻIlmī bi-l-Jāmiʻat al-Islāmiyyah, vol. 1, p. 478

[13] Muʻjam ash-shuyūkh by ʻAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʻAsākir, ed. Shākir al-Faḥḥām; Wafāʼ Taqī ad-Dīn, 1421 AH, Damascus: Dār al-Bashāʼir, p. 1214

[14] al-Muntakhab min muʻjam shuyūkh as-Samʻānī by Abū Sa‘d ‘Abd-al-Karīm ibn Muḥammad at-Tamīmī as-Sam‘ānī al-Marwazī, ed. Muwaffaq ibn ʻAbd Allāh Ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir, 1417 AH, Riyadh: Dār ʻĀlam al-Kutub, vol. 1, p. 653, 1122

[15] Muʻjam ash-shuyūkh, ibid., p. 262

[16] al-Muntakhab min muʻjam shuyūkh as-Samʻānī, p. 652

[17] Muʻjam ash-shuyūkh, ibid., p. 184

[18] al-Ansāb ibid., vol. 3, p. 23

[19] al-Lubāb fī tahdhīb al-Ansāb ibid., vol. 2, p. 6

[20] Muʻjam al-buldān by Shihāb ad-Dīn Abī ʻAbd Allāh Yāqūt ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Ḥamawī ar-Rūmī al-Baghdādī, 1397 AH, Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, vol. 3, p. 13

[21] al-Mushtabih fi-r-rijāl: asmā’ihim wa-ansābihim by Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ‘Uthmān ibn Qaimāz adh-Dhahabī, ed. ʻAlī Muḥammad al-Bajāwī, 1381 AH, Cairo: Dār Iḥyāʼ al-Kutub al-ʻArabiyyah, vol. 1, p. 296

[22] al-ʻIlal al-mutanāhiyah fi l-aḥādīth al-wāhiyah by Abū al-Faraj ʻAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn ʻAlī ibn al-Jawzī at-Taymī al-Qurashī, ed. ash-Shaykh Khalīl al-Mays, 1403 AH, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmiyyah, vol. 1, p. 81

[23] Refer anon to: http://islamqa.info/en/11920 or http://foodiefahoodie.blogspot.com/2012/11/weakness-of-hadeeth-ink-of-scholar-is.html

[24] Kitāb ath-Thiqāt by Abū Ḥātim Muḥammad ibn Ḥibbān ibn Aḥmad at-Tamimī ad-Dārimī al-Bustī, ed. Ad-Duktūr Muḥammad ‘Abd al-Mu‘īd Khān, 1393 AH, Hyderabad Deccan: Idārat Jamʻiyyat dāʼirat al-Maʻārif al-ʻUthmāniyyah, vol. 7, p. 578

[25] Tahdhīb at-Tahdhīb by Abī al-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī ibn Ḥajar Shihāb ad-Dīn al-‘Asqalānī ash-Shāfi‘ī, ed. Ibrāhīm az-Zaybaq; ʻĀdil Murshid, 1416 AH, Beirut: Mu’assasat ar-Risālah, vol. 4, p. 255

[26] al-Kāshif fī maʻrifat man la-hu riwāyah fī al-Kutub as-sittah by Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ‘Uthmān ibn Qaimāz adh-Dhahabī, ed. Muḥammad ʻAwwāmah; Aḥmad Muḥammad Nimr al-Khaṭīb, 1413 AH, Jeddah: Dār al-Qiblah li-th-Thaqāfah al-Islāmiyyah; Muʼassasat ʻUlūm al-Qurʼān, vol. 2, p. 330

[27] Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb by Abī al-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī ibn Ḥajar Shihāb ad-Dīn al-‘Asqalānī ash-Shāfi‘ī, ed. Muḥammad ‘Awwāmah, 1406 AH, Aleppo: Dār ar-Rashīd, p. 569

[28] Kitāb ath-Thiqāt, ibid., vol. 7, p. 645

[29] Tahdhīb at-Tahdhīb by Abī al-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī ibn Ḥajar Shihāb ad-Dīn al-‘Asqalānī ash-Shāfi‘ī, ed. Ibrāhīm az-Zaybaq; ʻĀdil Murshid, 1416 AH, Beirut: Mu’assasat ar-Risālah, vol. 4, p. 444

[30] al-Kāshif fī maʻrifat man la-hu riwāyah fī al-Kutub as-sittah, ibid., vol. 2, p. 394

[31] ‪Man tukullima fīhi wa-huwa muwaththaq aw ṣāliḥ al-ḥadīth by Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ‘Uthmān ibn Qaimāz adh-Dhahabī, ed. ʻAbd Allāh ibn Ḍayf Allāh ar-Ruḥaylī, 1426 AH, Medina, p. 558

[32] al-Jāmi‘ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ by Abū ʻAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʻīl al-Juʻfī al-Bukhārī, ed. Muḥammad Zuhayr ibn Nāṣir an-Nāṣir, 1422 AH, Beirut: Dār Ṭawq al-Najāh, vol. 7, p. 122

[33] Taḥrīr Taqrīb at-Tahdhīb by ad-Duktūr Bashshār ʻAwwād Maʻrūf; ash-Shaykh Shuʻayb al-Arnaʼūṭ, 1417 AH, Beirut: Muʼassasat al-Risālah, vol. 4, p. 126

Time of death of the Holy Prophet (saw)'s father

Allegation

Opponents of the Promised Messiah (as) make the charge that the Promised Messiah (as) allegedly would have made a mistake in the indication of the time of death of the father of the Holy Prophet (saw). The following passages are concerned. The Promised Messiah (as) said:

آنحضرت صلی اﷲ علیہ وسلم کو والدین سے مادری زبان سیکھنے کا بھی موقعہ نہیں ملا کیونکہ چھ ماہ کی عمر تک دونوں فوت ہو چکے تھے۔

“The Holy Prophet (saw) did not even have the possibility to learn the mother tongue from his parents, as both had died when he had reached the age of six months.” (Ayyām aṣ-ṣulḥ, Rūḥānī khazāʼin, vol. 14, p. 396)

Original Scan

And he also said:

تاریخ کو دیکھو کہ آنحضرت صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم وہی ایک یتیم لڑکا تھا جس کا باپ پیدائش سے چند دن بعد ہی فوت ہو گیا۔

“Have a look at history; the Holy Prophet (saw) was that one orphaned boy whose father died just a few days after his birth.” (Paig̲hām-i ṣulḥ, Rūḥānī khazāʼin, vol. 23, p. 465)

Original Scan

Response

Below several primary sources will be quoted which establish the fact that the father of the Holy Prophet (saw) may have died after his birth.

Ibn Isḥāq (d. 768 AD) writes in as-Sīrah an-nabawiyyah:

ويقال : إن عبد الله هلك والنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ابن ثمانية وعشرين شهرا.

“And it is said: Certainly, ‘Abdu llāh died while the Prophet (saw) was twenty-eight months of age.”

Original Scan

Ibn Sa’d (d. 845 AD) writes in Kitāb aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr:

أخبرنا هشام بن محمد بن السائب الكلبي، عن أبيه، وعن عوانة بن الحكم، قالا: توفي عبد الله بن عبد المطلب بعدما أتى على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثمانية وعشرون شهرا، ويقال: سبعة أشهر.

“Hishām ibn Muḥammad ibn as-Sā’ib al-Kalbī told us from his father and from ‘Awānah ibn al-Ḥakam, they both said: ‘Abdu llāh ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib died after twenty-eight months had gone by upon the Apostle of Allāh (saw), and it is said: Seven months.”

Original Scan

Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb al-Baghdādī (s. 859 AD) writes in al-Muḥabbar:

وتوفي عبد الله، أبوه، بعد ما أتى له ثمانية وعشرون شهراً.

“And ‘Abdu llāh, his father, died after twenty-eight months had gone by upon him.”

Original Scan

al-Quḍā’ī (d. 1062 AD) writes in ‘Uyūn al-ma’ārif wa-funūn akhbār al-khalā’if:

وقال الطبري: ومات أبوه بعد ولادته بثمانية وعشرين شهرا.

“And aṭ-Ṭabarī said: And his father died after his birth by twenty-eight months.”

Original Scan

al-Bayhaqī (d. 1066 AD) writes his Dalā’il an-nubuwwah:

ويقال: إن عبد الله هلك، والنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ابن ثمانية وعشرين شهرا. […] وقال بعضهم: مات أبوه وهو ابن سبعة أشهر.”

“And it is said: Certainly, ‘Abdu llāh died while the Prophet (saw) was twenty-eight months of age. […] And some said: His father died while he was seven months of age.”

Original Scan

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (d. 1071 AD) writes in al-Istī’āb fī ma’rifat al-aṣḥāb:

وقيل : بل توفي أبوه بالمدينة والنبي صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ ابن ثمانية وعشرين شهرًا […] وقيل: بل خرج به إلى أخواله زائرًا وهو ابن سبعة أشهر، وقيل: بل توفي أبوه وهو ابن شهرين، […] وقد قيل: إن عَبْد الله ابن عَبْد المطلب توفي والنبي صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ ابن ثمانية وعشرين شهرًا.

“And it was said: Rather, his father died in al-Madīnah while the Prophet (saw) was twenty-eight months old. […] And it was said: Rather, he went out with him to his maternal uncles for a visit while he was seven months old, and it was said: Rather, his father died while he was two moths old. […] And it has been said: Certainly, ‘Abdu llāh ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib died while the Prophet (saw) was twenty-eight months old.”

Original Scan

Ibn ‘Asākir (d. 1176 AD) writes in Ta’rīkh madīnat Dimashq:

توفي عبد الله بن عبد المطلب بعدما أتى على رسول اللَّه صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ثمانية وعشرون شهرا وَيُقَالُ سبعة أشهر. […] عن ابن خربوذ، قال: توفي عبد الله بن عبد المطلب بالمدينة، ورسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم من شهر.

“‘Abdu llāh ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib died after twenty-eight months had gone by upon the Apostle of Allāh (saw). […] Ibn Kharrabūdh said: ‘Abdu llāh ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib died in al-Madīnah while the Aposte of Allāh (saw) was one month old.”

Original Scan

And in another passage he writes:

ويُقَالُ : إن عبد اللَّه هلك والنبي ابن ثمانية وعشرين شهرا

“And is it said: Indeed, ‘Abdu llāh died while the Prophet was twenty-eight months of age.”

Original Scan

as-Suhaylī (d. 1185 AD) writes in ar-Rawḍ al-unuf fī tafsīr mā shtamala ‘alayhi aḥādīth as-sīrah an-nabawiyyah:

وأكثر العلماء على أنه كان في المهد. ذكره الدولابي وغيره، وقيل ابن شهرين ذكره ابن أبي خيثمة. وقيل: أكثر من ذلك، ومات أبوه عند أخواله بني النَّجار. ذهب ليمتار لأهله تمراً، وقد قيل: مات أبوه، وهو ابن ثمانٍ وعشرين شهراً.

“And most of the scholars consider that he was in the cradle. ad-Dūlābī and others have expressed this and it is said that that he was two months old, how Ibn Abī Khaythamah reports it. Furthermore, it is said that he was older and that his father died at his maternal uncles, the Banū an-Najjār. He went to provide his family with dates. In addition, is said that his father died when he was twenty-eight months old.”

Original Scan

Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 1201 AD) writes in al-Muntaẓam fī sulūk al-mulūk wa-l-umam:

وروي لنا: أن عبد الله توفي بعد ما أتى على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثمانية وعشرين شهرا، وقيل: سبعة أشهر.

“And it has been reported to us that ‘Abdu llāh died after twenty-eight months had gone by upon the Apostle of Allāh (saw), and it was said: Seven months.”

Original Scan

And in Talqīh fuhūm ahl al-athar fī ‘uyūn at-ta’rīkh wa-s-siyar he writes:

وقيل: لم يمت حتى أتى على رسول الله شهران، وقيل: سبعة أشهر، وقيل: ثمانية وعشرون شهرا.

“And it was said: He did not die until two months had gone by upon the Apostle of Allāh, and it was said: Seven months, and it was said: Twenty-eight months.”

Original Scan

And in Ṣifat aṣ-ṣafwah he writes:

وقد روي عن عوانة بن الحكم أن عبد الله توفي بعد ما أتى على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثمانية وعشرون شهرا، وقيل سبعة أشهر.

“And it was related from ‘Awānah ibn al-Ḥakam that ‘Abdu llāh died after twenty-eight months had gone by upon the Apostle of Allāh (saw), and it was said: Seven months.”

Original Scan

an-Nawawī (d. 1277 AD) writes in Tahdhīb al-asmā’ wa-l-lughāt:

قال الحاكم أبو أحمد: يقال: مات عبد الله والد رسول الله – صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – ولرسول الله – صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – ثمانية وعشرون شهرًا، وقيل: تسعة أشهر، وقيل: سبعة أشهر، وقيل: شهران.

“al-Ḥākim Abū Aḥmad said: It is said: ‘Abdu llāh, the father of the Apostle of Allāh (saw), died while the Apostle of Allāh (saw) was twenty-eight months old, and it was said: Nine months, and it was said: Seven months, and it was said: Two months.”

Original Scan

Ibn Sayyid an-Nās (d. 1334 AD) writes in ‘Uyūn al-athar fī funūn al-maghāzī wa-sh-shamā’il wa-s-siyar:

إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان في المهد حين توفي أبوه. رويناه عن الدولابي، وذكر ابن أبي خيثمة أنه كان ابن شهرين، وقيل: ابن ثمانية وعشرين شهرا. […] وقيل : بل خرج به إلى أخواله زائرا ، وهو ابن سبعة أشهر.

“Verily, the Apostle of Allāh (saw) was in the cradle when his father died. This was reported to us from ad-Dūlābī, and Ibn Abī Khaythamah expressed that that he was two months old, and it was said: He was twenty-eight months old. […] And it was said: Rather, he went out with him to his maternal uncles for a visit while he was seven months old.”

Original Scan

al-Mizzī (d. 1341 AD) writes in Tahdhīb al-kamāl fī asmā’ ar-rijāl:

ومات أبوه عَبد الله بن عبد المطلب وقد أتى له ثمانية وعشرون شهرا، وقيل: أقل من ذلك.

“And his father, ‘Abdu llāh ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib, died while twenty-eight months had gone by on him, and it was said: Less that that.”

Original Scan

adh-Dhahabī (d. 1348 AD) writes in Siyar a’lām an-nubalā’:

وتوفي عبد الله أبوه وللنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ثمانية وعشرون شهرا. وقيل: أقل من ذلك.

“And ‘Abdu llāh, his father, died while the Prophet (saw) was twenty-eight months old, and it was said: Less that that.”

Original Scan

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d. 1350 AD) writes in Zād al-ma’ād fī hady khayr al-’ibād:

توفي بعد ولادته بسبعة أشهر.

“And the second [opinion] is that he died seven months after his birth.”

Original Scan

‘Izz ad-Dīn ibn Jamā’ah al-Kinānī (d. 1366 AD) writes in al-Mukhtaṣar al-kabīr fī sīrat al-Rasūl:

وقيل: توفي وله شهران، وقيل: سبعة أشهر، وقيل: ثمانية وعشرون شهرا.

“And it was said: He died while he was two months of age, and it was said: Seven months, and it was said: Twenty-eight months.”

Original Scan

Ibn Kathīr (d. 1373 AD) writes in al-Bidāyah wa-n-nihāyah:

قال محمد بن سعد: وقد أنبأنا هشام بن محمد بن السائب الكلبي عن أبيه، وعن عوانة بن الحكم قالا: توفي عبد الله بن عبد المطلب بعدما أتى على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثمانية وعشرون شهرا، وقيل: سبعة أشهر. […] وقال الزبير بن بكار، حدثني محمد بن حسن، عن عبد السلام عن، ابن خربوذ، قال: توفي عبد الله بالمدينة، ورسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ابن شهرين. […]

ويقال : إن عبد الله هلك والنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ابن ثمانية وعشرين شهرا.

“Muḥammad ibn Sa’d said: And Hishām ibn Muḥammad ibn as-Sā’ib al-Kalbī told us from his father and from ‘Awānah ibn al-Ḥakam, they both said: ‘Abdu llāh ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib died after twenty-eight months had gone by upon the Apostle of Allāh (saw), and it was said: Seven months. […] And az-Zubayr ibn Bakkār said, Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan related to me from ‘Abd as-Salām, from Ibn Kharbūdh, he said: ‘Abdu llāh ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib died in al-Madīnah while the Aposte of Allāh (saw) was two month old. […]

And it is said: Certainly, ‘Abdu llāh died while the Prophet (saw) was twenty-eight months of age.”

Original Scan

al-Maqrīzī (d. 1442 AD) writes in Imtā’ al-asmā’ bi-mā li-n-nabī min al-aḥwāl wa-l-amwāl wa-l-ḥafadah wa-l-matā’:

وقيل: مات بعد ولادته بثمانية وعشرين يوما، وقيل: بسبعة أشهر، وقيل: بسنة، وقيل: بسنتين، وقيل: بشهرين.

“And it was said: He died twenty-eight days after his birth, and it was said: Seven months after, and it was said: One year after, and it was said: Two years after, and it was said: Two months after.”

Original Scan

al-’Aynī (d. 1453 AD) writes in ‘Umdat al-qārī fī sharḥ ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī:

وقال مقاتل: بعد ولادته بثمانية وعشرين شهرا، وقيل : بعد ولادته بسبعة أشهر.

“And Muqātil said: Twenty-eight months after his birth, and it was said: Seven months after his birth.”

Original Scan

al-Qasṭallānī (d. 1517 AD) writes in al-Mawāhib al-laduniyyah bi-l-minaḥ al-Muḥammadiyyah:

وقيل: توفى وهو فى المهد، قاله الدولابى. وعن ابن أبى خيثمة: وهو ابن شهرين. وقيل: وهو ابن سبعة. وقيل: وهو ابن ثمانية وعشرين شهرا.

“And it was said: He died while he was in the cradle, ad-Dūlābī said this. And from Ibn Abī Khaythamah: While he was two months old. And it was said: While he was seven. And it was said: While he was twenty-eight months old.”

Original Scan

aṣ-Ṣāliḥī ash-Shāmī (d. 1536 AD) writes in Subul al-hudā wa-r-rashād fī sīrat khayr al-’ibād:

وقيل: إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان في المهد حين توفي أبوه. وعليه فقيل: وله شهران. وقيل: ثمانية وعشرون شهراً. وقيل: تسعة أشهر.

“And it was said: Surely, the Apostle of Allāh (saw) was in the cradle when his father died. And it is said: He was two months of age. And it is said: Twenty-eight months. And it is said: Nine months.”

Original Scan

My View on the "Age" Debate

Disclaimer
One thing should be clear beforehand. My intention is not to tread on anybody’s toes or to offend anyone, au contraire my intent is to take part in a healthy and constructive, but critical disputation.

Clarification of some realities
In my humble opinion, some Ahmadi Muslims who have been influenced by a Western type of cultivation tend to assume that the structures and restrictions according to which the West is operating and living are some kind of summit which would make these unsurpassable.

However, what is overlooked is that these rules and regulations which have steeped their perception have at the very most been installed in the last century, so only a small fraction of the total time since the mental evolution of man has found its conclusion in Islam. What that means is that these laws are totally experimental; they have experienced no empirical probation whatsoever.

On the other hand, we have Islam, the laws of Allah, about which Allah says that they are valid timelessly and even the Promised Messiah (as) did not come to improve or alter these laws, but to revert them to their original state.

So, instead of diluting our view of things by newfangled phenomena, we should think back to what Islam and our role models have taught us.

Role Models
Let us see how our role models have conducted themselves in this regard:

	Birth	Nikah	Rukhsati	First Child
‘A’ishah (ra)	4 Nabawi	10 Nabawi	2 AH
		Aged 7	Aged 12
The Promsied Messiah (as)	May 13, 1835			1853
		aged 15		aged 17/18
Khalifatu l-Masih II. (ra)	Jan 13, 1889	Oct 2, 1902	Oct 11, 1903	1906
		aged 13	aged 14	aged 17
Mirza Bashir Ahmad M.A. (ra)	Apr 20, 1893	Sept 12, 1902	May 10, 1906
		aged 9	aged 13
Mirza Sharif Ahmad (ra)	May 24, 1895	Nov 15, 1906	May 9, 1909
		aged 11	aged 13

The age gap between the Holy Prophet (saw) and ‘A’ishah (ra) was 44 years and the age gap between the Promised Messiah (as) and Hadrat Amman Jan (ra) was 30 years.

The argument that these people had another spiritual status or were of a different time and age must not be applied, because otherwise all things that these people did become doubtful and could no longer be regarded as being worthy of imitation and people would start cherry-picking things they want and declare them legally permissible resp. impermissible.

Giving an example Khalifatu l-Masih V. (aba) said that there would be absolutely no concern whatsoever, if, the age gap between the girl and the boy would e.g. be 9 years.

Some Statistics
Teen sexuality
According to the "Youth Risk Behavior Survey" a study of Centers for Disease Control, which is an authority subordinate the Ministry of Health of the United States, in year 1995 9% of American teenagers had sexual intercourse before the age of 13. According to a study which was published in the September 1997 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, there are 17% of 12 to 13 year olds, who already had sexual intercourse. That means that nearly one in five people aged 12 years had sexual intercourse. So the need for legally valid sexual intercourse exists.

Age of consent
Now let us look at the age of consent. The age of consent is that age at which a person is legally considered as capable of giving consent regarding sexual acts. Sexual acts with persons who have reached that age of consent are regarded as absolutely legal. The age of consent in Germany is 14. By 1929, the age of consent in Italy was at the age of 12. In Spain the age of consent of 12 was increased to 13 years in 1999. Sir Edward Coke, an eminent English judge and politician in the 17th century England had made it clear that the marriage of girls less than 12 years was normal. In the 1880s, in most states of the USA the age of consent has been 10-12 years.

Teen births
The US Department of Health & Human Services writes that in 2013, there were about 26,6 births for every 1000 adolescent females ages 15-19 and nearly 89 % of these births occurred outside of marriage. In 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 & 1994 the birth rate for 10-14 year old girls was 1,4 births for every 1000.

Fiqh
Islam is a religion the laws and regulations of which are intended by Allah to be for all times and the entire world population. So, Islam has not specified any undue culturally biased constraints. It just has given the universal requirement that the sexual maturity must be achieved. So, according to Islamic jurisprudence the minimum age for a boy or a girl to marry is after reaching sexual maturity. Mental maturity is nugatory, as it is a self-created, impractical and unnatural precondition for marriage.

Adequate financial means are a requirement for marriage. But one must consider this injunction from the Islamic point of view. The Holy Prophet (saw) has taught contentedness. He even once said to a companion who had nothing that if he would give a ring of steel as dowry, he could be married, but this companion did not even have that, so the Holy Prophet (saw) asked him to teach his bride some verses from the Holy Qur’an, which were then considered his dowry. It is on the husband, how he ensures the financing. If the parents take a favourable view of the marriage of their child and want to contribute to the success of the marriage financially, then there is nothing to say against it. And if not, then the Holy Prophet (saw) said to be patient and to fast.

Conclusion
To sum it up, there is no compulsion for anyone to marry at any specific age, but this equally gives no one the right to look with crooked eyes at anyone who is marrying while keeping him or herself within the limits of the above mentioned legal framework.