2 of 3 · 10 AH · 632 CE · The house of Abu Sayf, Madinah
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad رضي الله عنه
The Eyes Shed Tears
In the year 10 AH, when Ibrahim was about eighteen months old, he fell ill. Anas ibn Malik was there when the Prophet ﷺ came to the house of Abu Sayf and found the boy breathing his last, and the Prophet's ﷺ eyes filled with tears.
'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf said, "Even you, O Messenger of Allah?" He answered, "O Ibn 'Awf, this is mercy." Then he wept more and said: "The eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, and we say only what pleases our Lord. O Ibrahim, we are truly saddened by your parting" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1303).
When Ibrahim died, the Prophet ﷺ said, "He has a wet-nurse in Paradise" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1382). The child who had died before he was weaned would have his nursing completed there.
Weeping is mercy, not weakness. What the believer holds back is not tears, but words that displease Allah.
When you grieve, what words do you allow yourself, and which do you hold back?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1303 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1382 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 2315 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical 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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