Questionable Authenticity of a Hadith on the Reward for a Child’s Merciful Glance at His Parents
Answered by Abu Amina Elias for FaithinAllah.org
Question:
As-Salaamu Alaykum brother, I have a question. How sound is this Hadith?
Ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu) narrated that the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “A righteous child who looks upon his parents, even a single glance of genuine affection, receives a reward from Allah equal to the reward of an accepted Hajj.” The Sahaba asked: “O Prophet of Allah, if someone looks to their parent a hundred such glances of love and affection, what then?” The Prophet said: “Yes, indeed, even if one does so a hundred times a day, he will get a hundred times the reward. Allah is far greater than you imagine and is completely free from petty narrow mindedness.” [Sahih Muslim]
Answer:
Wa Alaykum Salaam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,
Thank you very much for your question. According to our research, this Hadith is not recorded in Sahih Muslim. Rather, it was recorded by Al-Bayhaqi in his Shu’b Al-Iman. The Arabic text is as follows:
عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَنّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ مَا مِنْ وَلَدٍ بَارٍّ يَنْظُرُ نَظْرَةَ رَحْمَةٍ إِلا كَتَبَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ نَظْرَةٍ حَجَّةً مَبْرُورَةً قَالُوا وَإِنْ نَظَرَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ مِائَةَ مَرَّةٍ ؟ قَالَ نَعَمْ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ وَأَطْيَبُ
7356 شعب الإيمان للبيهقي الخامس والخمسون من شعب الإيمان وهو
المحدث الألباني خلاصة حكم المحدث موضوع
المحدث الذهبي خلاصة حكم المحدث منكر
Ibn Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “There is no righteous child who glances with a merciful glance except that Allah will record for every glance the reward of an accepted Hajj pilgrimage.” They said, “What if he glances at them one hundred times a day?” The Prophet said, “Yes, for Allah is greater and better.”
[Al-Bayhaqi, Shu’b Al-Iman, Number 7356]
The takhreej (collation) of this Hadith can be found at this link on Islamweb.net.
According to our online resources, there has been no scholar who has graded this Hadith as sahih (authentic) or hasan (good). Rather, the only scholars I found who have commented on this Hadith are Al-Albani who said this Hadith is mawdu’ (fabricated), and Adh-Dhahabi who said this Hadith is munkar (rejected). Neither have I found any other authentic narrations in the Hadith’s collation which might strengthen its status.
I have noticed that some Islamic websites are narrating this Hadith on the authority of Sahih Muslim and this is incorrect. This is an example of why we should be very careful regarding what we read about Islam on the internet. We have an obligation to accurately cite and source every saying that is attributed to the Prophet, peace be upon him, so that we will not be guilty of ascribing something to him that he did not say. This is what we intend to do at dailyhadithonline.com and if you notice any mistakes on our website, please inform us so that we may correct them as soon as possible.
Success comes from Allah, and Allah knows best.
Category: Sunnah السنة
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