4 of 4 · c. 40–78 AH · the later years · Syria, Egypt and Madinah
Jabir ibn 'Abdullah رضي الله عنه
A Month's Journey for One Hadith
Jabir was devoted to hadith and reportedly travelled a full month to Syria to hear a single hadith from 'Abdullah ibn Unays, concerning retribution on the Day of Judgement. He asked the doorman to announce him, was admitted, and heard the hadith from its source.
In old age he taught in the Prophet's Mosque, where students gathered around him, and he lost his sight. He was among the last of the Companions to die in Madinah, reaching about ninety-four years of age.
He died around 78 AH. Al-Hajjaj's governor, Aban ibn 'Uthman, is reported to have led his funeral prayer. He left behind more than 1,500 hadith in the books of the Sunnah.
Knowledge of the Prophet's words is worth real effort, travel and patience.
What effort would you make for a lesson of real value?
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-'Ilm (chapter on travelling in search of knowledge)Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical report
- al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'Historical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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