Introduction
The long hadith about first revelation is famous. It was narrated by the scholar Ibn al-Shihab al-Zuhri from Urwah ibn al-Zubair from his aunt Aisha (RA).
The hadith contains the following events:
- The Prophet (SAW) started having prophetic dreams
- The Prophet (SAW) started going to the cave of Hira to worship in seclusion
- An angel came to the Prophet (SAW) and taught him the first verses of Surah Alaq
- The Prophet (SAW) came back to Khadijah (RA) afraid
- Khadijah (RA) took the Prophet (SAW) to Waraqah
- Waraqah identified the angel as the same one sent to past prophets
- Waraqah warned the Prophet (SAW) that his people will oppose him
- Then, revelation paused for some time
Then, one version of the hadith recorded in Sahih Bukhari adds the following sentences:
… Revelation paused and the Prophet (SAW) became so distressed that, according to what reached us, he sometimes went to the tops of mountains wanting to throw himself off before Jibril appeared and said, “O Muhammad, you are truly the Messenger of Allah.” Then, he would calm down and return. Then, again, when the fatrah (the pause of revelation) seemed long, he would do the same and go to the mountain and Jibril would appear and say the same.
This part of the hadith is not authentic to Aisha (RA) or even Urwah ibn al-Zubair. It is actually an addition by Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, and thus, it is not authentic.
Unreliability of Zuhri’s Disconnected Reports
Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri was an imam of hadith and an extremely reliable scholar from Madinah in the generation of the younger tabi’een. His memory and knowledge were well-known. As such, he was accepted as an authority in hadith when narrating with a connected and reliable chain to the Prophet (SAW).
Imam Malik used to say, “There is no one in the world equivalent to Ibn Shihab.”
At the same time, Zuhri’s disconnected reports, whenever he did not give a complete chain back to the Prophet (SAW) were considered unreliable and weak.
Ibn Maeen used to say, “The disconnected reports of Zuhri are nothing.” (Maraseel Ibn Abi Hatim)
Someone may ask: How is it possible a scholar can be reliable in one case but unreliable in another case?
I would say: There is a big difference between being reliable and everything you say being true.
Being reliable means your attribution to your teachers is correct and accurate. That does not mean everything your teachers said was correct, nor does it mean that everything you say is true.
Zuhri was reliable. So, if Zuhri said, “Urwah (one of his teachers) said Aisha (RA) said the Prophet (SAW) said X,” we would believe Urwah narrated this hadith from the Prophet (SAW). But, we would only believe X in turn if Urwah himself was reliable.
If Zuhri narrated from a weak narrator that the Prophet (SAW) said Y, then we would believe Zuhri that the weak narrator narrated Y from the Prophet (SAW). However, we would not believe the Prophet (SAW) said Y. The problem is in the weak source, not in Zuhri.
In the same way, when Zuhri does not mention his source, we cannot verify whether it is reliable or unreliable, so his disconnected narrations are not authentic.
This is further exacerbated by the fact that Zuhri’s omission of a source itself implies the source was not someone important or well-known, thus correlating with weakness.
Yahya al-Qattan said about Zuhri and some other scholars, “These were people of great memory. If they had heard something (i.e. a proper source), they would have remembered it.” (Maraseel Ibn Abi Hatim)
Who is the speaker?
Someone may say: How do we know that part of the hadith is not part of the words of Aisha (RA)? How do we know they were spoken by Zuhri?
There are three possible speakers of that portion of the hadith:
- Aisha (RA)
- Urwah ibn al-Zubair
- Zuhri
Let us go through the evidence to see if Aisha (RA) or Urwah could have been the speakers.
Evidence 1: The Word “Balaghanaa”
The story about the mountains starts with the phrase, “according to what reached us.” There are two indications in this phrase: 1) Its very existence, and 2) Its form.
As for its very existence, the phrase implies a switch from the previous content of the hadith. If the whole hadith was narrated by Aisha (RA) even until this part, there would be no need to say “according to what reached us” for this part of the story. The existence of the phrase indicates a different source is being used, and that is Zuhri switching from his narration from Urwah from Aisha (RA) to something that just reached him without a proper chain.
As for its form, the way “reach” (balaagh) and “us” (instead of “me”) are used is technical hadith terminology used by later narrators of hadith. It is not something Aisha (RA) or Urwah (RA) would have said simply because this type of language was not common at the time.
There are other examples of Zuhri using this exact phrase: 1, 2, 3, and 4. Zuhri would often use this phrase to add more information to a narration that he did not receive from the given chain.
Evidence 2: Ma’mar vs. Yunus and Uqail
Several students of Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri narrated this hadith.
Yunus and Uqail narrated the hadith from Zuhri and stopped after Waraqah and did not mention anything about the mountains.
Only Ma’mar went on to narrate this added “reached” information about the mountains, and only from the transmission of his student Abd al-Razzaq.
If Zuhri considered this part of the hadith or taught his students it was part of the hadith, Yunus and Uqail would have also narrated that part of the hadith.
Rather, it is clear that Abd al-Razzaq (or Ma’mar) mentioned the added information Zuhri gave after the hadith in their version. They did not consider it a part of the hadith nor did Zuhri consider it a part of the hadith. It was extra information.
Evidence 3: Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq
In Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq, the story of the mountains is mentioned by itself through the route of Ma’mar from Zuhri. This is extremely useful evidence because it directly informs us what chain was understood for this portion of the hadith. Was this story understood to come from Zuhri himself or from Zuhri from Urwah or from Zuhri from Urwah from Aisha as the beginning of the hadith?
The chain mentioned in Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq is only Abd al-Razzaq from Ma’mar from Zuhri. (Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq)
This settles the case that the story of the mountains was added information from Zuhri without a valid chain.
Why would Zuhri add information after a hadith?
Zuhri was a knowledgeable scholar and an experienced teacher. It is common that good and engaging teachers go into tangents in their classes to emphasize or explain a certain point.
Zuhri was especially known for this. He did not just mention hadith in his classes. He would mention a hadith, then some other information, then some other information, then a hadith, and so on.
In this case, the hadith of Aisha (RA) says that revelation paused for some time and the Prophet (SAW) became sad. To emphasize this point, Zuhri mentioned after the hadith in his class that one story that reached him about the Prophet (SAW)’s sadness at this time is the story of the mountains.
What is important is that Zuhri clearly demarcates between the hadith and other information, and he used to do that. In this case, he demarcated by saying this is what “reached” him.
Why is it in Sahih Bukhari?
Someone may ask: If the story of the mountains is not authentic or does not come from Aisha (RA), why would it be in Sahih Bukhari?
I would say: A lot of people misunderstand Sahih Bukhari and think it is a book for non-specialists and then ask questions under that assumption.
Sahih Bukhari was written for people who would be able to read the word balaghanaa and tell immediately that part of the hadith was an addition by one of the narrators.
Bukhari often kept additional comments by narrators that were made after a hadith or before a hadith as long as they were clearly demarcated. These comments and additions are not claimed to be Sahih or authentic themselves but the actual hadith they are before or after is what is actually Sahih.
The story of the mountains is clearly demarcated to the person who is paying attention and understands hadith terminology.
Bukhari also mentioned the hadith of first revelation in other parts of the Sahih through Yunus and Uqail without mentioning the story of the mountains.
