Sahih Bukhari 2 - How does the Divine Revelation [Wahi] come towards Rasoolullah ﷺ
Volume: The Book of the Commencement of Divine Revelation [Wahi]
Chapter: The chapter discussing the Commencement of Divine Revelation [Wahi] towards Rasoolullah ﷺ
﷽
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا مَالِكٌ، عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ أُمِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ أَنَّ الْحَارِثَ بْنَ هِشَامٍ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ سَأَلَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ كَيْفَ يَأْتِيكَ الْوَحْىُ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم : أَحْيَانًا يَأْتِينِي مِثْلَ صَلْصَلَةِ الْجَرَسِ ـ وَهُوَ أَشَدُّهُ عَلَىَّ ـ فَيُفْصَمُ عَنِّي وَقَدْ وَعَيْتُ عَنْهُ مَا قَالَ، وَأَحْيَانًا يَتَمَثَّلُ لِيَ الْمَلَكُ رَجُلاً فَيُكَلِّمُنِي فَأَعِي مَا يَقُولُ ". قَالَتْ عَائِشَةُ رضى الله عنها وَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُهُ يَنْزِلُ عَلَيْهِ الْوَحْىُ فِي الْيَوْمِ الشَّدِيدِ الْبَرْدِ، فَيَفْصِمُ عَنْهُ وَإِنَّ جَبِينَهُ لَيَتَفَصَّدُ عَرَقًا.
Abdullah ibn Yusuf narrated to us a Hadith. He says that Malik reported us, who reports from Hishaam ibn Urwah. He reports from his father, he reports from Ummul Momineen A’isha Siddiqa رضى الله تعالى عنها that Haarith ibn Hishaam رضى الله تعالى عنه asked Nabi Kareem ﷺ that, Ya Rasool’Allah ﷺ! How Does The Wahi Come To You, So Rasoolullah ﷺ Said, At Times The Wahi Descends Upon Me In The Form Of The Sound Of The Ringing Of A Bell, And That Is Most Intense Upon Me, And By The Time This Condition Subsides, I Memorise All Of It, And Sometimes The Angel Appears To Me In The Form Of A Man And Converses With Me, And I Memorise All That Which He Mentions. Sayyidatuna A’isha رضى الله تعالى عنها Then Further Said, Indeed I Saw That When The Wahi Descended Upon Rasoolullah ﷺ On An Extremely Cold Day, Blessed Perspiration Would Drip From His ﷺ Sacred Forehead.
The Narrators of This Hadith
There are six narrators in this chain of transmission.
The First Narrator is Abdullah ibn Yusuf: He is Misri and Tunisi. He is one of the distinguished narrators of Mu’atta Imam Malik. He heard Hadith from greats such as Malik and Laith etc. and Yahya and Zahli etc. narrated from him, and Imam Bukhari رضى الله تعالى عنه narrated many Ahadith in his Sahih from him and he said that he was the most firm amongst the Shaamis (i.e. the Syrian Scholars). Imam Abu Dawud, Nasa’i and Tirmizi narrated from him through one intermediary, and Muslim did not cite from him i.e he did not report any narration from him. He passed away in 218 Hijri in Egypt. Imam Bukhari رضى الله تعالى عنه says, I met with him in Egypt in 217 Hijri and there is none in the books of Sit’ta except him, by the name Abdullah ibn Yusuf.
The Second Narrator is Imam Dar ul Hijrat Imam Malik: His lineage is Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik. Abul Qasim Dawlqi said that Imam Malik رضى الله تعالى عنه narrated Hadith from nine-hundred Shuyukh (i.e. Hadith Masters), amongst whom were three-hundred Tabi’ee. Amongst those who narrated from him are, Ibrahim ibn Abi ‘Abla Maqdisi, Ayub Sikhtiyaani, Thawr ibn Zaid Dailami, Ja’far ibn Muhammad Saadiq and Humaid Taweel etc. It is written in Manaaqib Abu Hanifa that Malik ibn Anas رضى الله تعالى عنه used to ask a lot of questions to Imam Abu Hanifa رضى الله تعالى عنه and he used to adopt his statement i.e. view. He also mentioned that Imam Abu Hanifa رضى الله تعالى عنه also heard (Hadith) from him. Sufyan ibn Uyaynah and Shu’ba ibn Hajjaj etc. also narrated Hadith from him. Ibn Jauzi said that because Imam Malik رضى الله تعالى عنه did not issue Fatwas which were in accordance with the wish of the Sultan, he was whipped with seventy lashes. He was born in Rabi ul Awwal 94 Hijri. He passed away on the eve of the 14th of Safar and according to one view it was on the eve of the 14th of Rabi ul Awwal in the year 179 Hijri.
The Third Narrator is Hishaam bin Urwah bin Zubair bin Awaam: He is Qarshi, Asadi. His epithet was Abu Mundhir. According to one view it is Abu Abdullah. He is Tabi’ee and Madani He was born in 61 Hijri in the year when Imam Husain رضى الله تعالى عنه was martyred. He passed away in Baghdad in 145 Hijri (some say 146). All the compilers of the Books of Sit’ta have narrated from him.
The Fourth Narrator is Urwah: His epithet is Abu Abdullah. He is the father of Hishaam. All are in agreement concerning his eminence, leadership and his in-depth knowledge. He is counted amongst the Seven Great Fuqaha (Jurists). He was born in 20 Hijri and passed away in 94 Hijri, and according to one view in 93 Hijri, while another view mentions 99 Hijri. All the compilers of the Books of Sit’ta narrated Hadith from him. There is none else in the Books of Sit’ta by the name Urwah bin Zubair except for him, and there is also none other amongst the Sahaba by this name.
The Fifth Narrator is Ummul Momineen A’isha bint Abu Bakr Siddique رضى الله تعالى عنها: Her epithet is Umm e Abdullah. Rasoolullah ﷺ kept her epithet i.e. filial appellation with her nephew (sister’s son) Abdullah ibn Zubair. Her mother is Umm e Rumaan, Zainab bint Aamir. According to Waaqidi and Zubair she passed away in 6 Hijri.
Rasoolullah ﷺ married her two years before Hijrat in Makkah, and according to one view, three years before and according to another view, eighteen months before (Hijrat) in the month of Shawwal. She was six years of age at that time, and according to one statement i.e. view, she was seven years old. In the month of Shawwal after the episode of Badr, Huzoor ﷺ became close to her. She remained in the company of Sarkaar ﷺ for eight years and five months, and she was eighteen years of age at the time of the journeying from this world of Sarkaar ﷺ who was sixty-five years of age at this time.
She was the most eminent amongst the Fuqaha amongst the Sahaba, and she was from amongst those six Sahaba who narrated Ahadith in abundance. Two thousand two-hundred and ten Ahadith have been narrated from her in which there are one hundred and seventy-four Ahadith which are agreed upon by both Bukhari and Muslim. With the exception of these, Bukhari narrated fifty-four Ahadith individually and Muslim narrated fifty-eight Ahadith individually.
She narrated Hadith from a huge Jama’at of Sahaba and a Jama’at of almost two hundred Sahaba and Tabi’een narrated Hadith from her. She journeyed from this world during the month of Ramadan, in 55, 56, 57, or 58 Hijri and according to one view in the month of Shawwal. She had already made a bequest that she should be buried at night after the Witr Namaaz. Her Janaazah Namaaz was performed by Hazrat Abu Hurairah رضى الله تعالى عنه. There is difference of opinion as to whether she was more eminent than Hazrat Khadija رضى الله تعالى عنها. Some have said that Hazrat A’isha رضى الله تعالى عنها is Afdal and some have said that Hazrat Khadija رضى الله تعالى عنها is Afdal and there is also a difference of opinion as to whether she is more eminent than Hazrat Sayyida Faatima رضى الله تعالى عنها. The proper view is that she is more eminent than Hazrat Faatima رضى الله تعالى عنها and Imam Aini رضى الله تعالى عنه says that I heard from some distinguished teachers that Hazrat Faatima رضى الله تعالى عنها is more eminent in the world, and Hazrat A’isha رضى الله تعالى عنها is more eminent in the hereafter.
The Sixth Narrator is Haarith ibn Hishaam ibn Mughira ibn Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Makhzoom: He was the brother of Abu Jahl and the paternal cousin of Hazrat Khalid bin Waleed رضى الله تعالى عنه. He fought in the battle of Badr in the condition of kufr (i.e. on the side of the unbelievers) and was defeated, and on the day of Fateh Makkah, he accepted Islam. On the day of the battle of Hunain Nabi Kareem ﷺ gifted him one hundred camels. He was martyred in 15 Hijri during the Battle of Yarmook. He was the leader of his people and he was blessed with thirty-two children. From his descendants is Abu Bakr ibn Abdur Rahman ibn Hishaam ibn Haarith ibn Hishaam.
Amongst the Sahaba, those by the name Haarith ibn Hishaam include him and also Haarith ibn Hishaam Juhani. Ibn Abdul Birr said that the Egyptian Scholars had narrated from him and some of the annotators have said that this Hadith has been included in Musnad e A’isha by the Huf’faz e Hadith and not in the Musnad of Haarith. There is no narration in the Sahihain (Bukhari and Muslim) from Haarith. His narration is only present in Sunan Ibn Majah, and the Haarith which are mentioned in Sahihain are Abu Qatadah Haarith ibn Rab’ee and Haarith ibn Awf Abu Waaqid Laithi, and both of them are famously known by their epithets. With the exception of in Sahihain, there are one hundred and fifty narrators by the name Haarith.
Subtleties of The Chain of Transmission
With the exception of the Shaykh e Bukhari, all its narrators are Madani. In this the Tabi’ee has narrated from the Tabi’ee and in the statement of Hazrat A'isha رضى الله تعالى عنها that - there are two reasons for probability. One is that Hazrat A’isha رضى الله تعالى عنها was present at that time in the Sacred Court of Sarkaar ﷺ and the other being that Haarith gave this information to Hazrat A’isha رضى الله تعالى عنها. In the first case, this Hadith will be classified as Mut’tasil and in the second case, it will be classified as Mursal of a Sahabi, and this is in the ruling of the Musnad. This narration has Tahdith, Ikhbaar and ‘An’ana. Imam Bukhari رضى الله تعالى عنه narrated it under Bad-ul Khalq as well, and Imam Muslim رضى الله تعالى عنه narrated it in Kitaab ul Fada’il.
References
Sahih Bukhari 2, The Book of the Commencement of Divine Revelation, The chapter discussing the Commencement of Divine Revelation [Wahi] towards Rasoolullah ﷺ
[Translator]
Mufti Afthab Cassim Qadri Ridawi Noori
Imam Mustafa Raza Research Center, IMRRC
Durban, South Africa