3 of 3 · 10 AH · the day of his death · Madinah
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad رضي الله عنه
The Day the Sun Darkened
On the day Ibrahim died, the sun was eclipsed over Madinah. The people said that the sun had darkened because of Ibrahim's death. It would have been easy to let them believe it: it honoured the Prophet's ﷺ son, and it came from love.
But the Prophet ﷺ, grieving as he was, corrected them: "The sun and the moon are not eclipsed for the death or the life of anyone. When you see that, pray and call upon Allah" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1043).
Years later, a Companion who had seen Ibrahim, 'Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa, was asked about him and said that he died young, and that had it been decreed that there would be a prophet after Muhammad ﷺ, his son would have lived; but there is no prophet after him (Sahih al-Bukhari 6194).
Even in his grief, the Prophet ﷺ would not let a falsehood stand, even one that honoured his own son.
Would you correct a mistaken belief if it flattered you or someone you loved?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1043 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 6194 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
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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