The Issue of Tabarruk through Relics

By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Translated by Muzzammil Husayn

Text of Sahih Muslim

Hamid ibn ‘Umar narrated to us: Abu ‘Awanah narrated to us: from Tariq: from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab: he said: ‘My father was one of those who pledged (allegiance) to Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) at the tree. (Al-Musayyab) said “Then we went in the following (year) as pilgrims and (the tree’s) location was hidden from us, so if it is clear to you then you are more knowledgeable (than us)!”’

Mufti Taqi Usmani’s commentary from Takmilatu Fath al-Mulhim:

His statement “its place was hidden from us”: (it is mentioned) in the following narration (of Sahih Muslim) “then they forgot (its location) the following year” and in the narration of al-Bukhari “It was unclear to us”. Ibn ‘Umar said the same thing according to al-Bukhari in (Kitab) al-Jihad (no. 2958), (in which) he said “We returned the following year and no two of us agreed about [the location of] the tree beneath which we pledged (allegiance). This was a blessing from Allah.”

Al-Hafiz said in al-Fath (6:118) under the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar: “The explanation of the wisdom behind this is that no trouble will result due to the good that occurred beneath (the tree). Were it to remain it would not be safe from some ignorant people glorifying it till it may lead them to the belief that it has the power to benefit or harm, as we see (is happening) today clearly in (things) that are of less (importance) than (this tree). Ibn ‘Umar alluded to this by his statement ‘this was a blessing from Allah’ i.e. its obscurity to them was a blessing from Allah (Most High) afterwards. It is possible that the meaning of his statement ‘a blessing from Allah’ is that the tree was the place of Allah’s mercy and the location of His pleasure due to the descent of pleasure over the believers at it.”

Al-Hafiz said in al-Maghazi (7:448): “Further, I found that according to Ibn Sa‘d, with an authentic chain from Nafi‘, ‘Umar was informed that a group (of people) approached the tree and prayed near it, so he admonished them, and commanded it be cut (down) so it was cut (down).”

The Issue of Seeking Blessing (Tabarruk) through the Relics (Athar) of the Prophets and Pious

Some ‘ulama adduce from this narration of ibn Sa‘d proof that tabarruk through the relics of the pious is prohibited. However, this inference is not strong, because it is possible ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) cut (down) the tree because of his being aware that the tree (at which) the pledge was taken is not known to anyone, and because the tree that people claim is the tree of Ridwan [lit. pleasure i.e. at which the pledge of allegiance took place] and pray near it, should not be identified as the tree (at which) the pledge was taken. This is proven by what al-Bukhari transmitted in al-Maghazi with the complete (wording) of the hadith of this chapter whose wording is “from Tariq ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman: he said: ‘I went as a pilgrim and I passed by people praying, so I said ‘What is this mosque?’ They said ‘This is the tree at which Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) pledged the allegiance of Ridwan.’ So I went to Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab and told him, so Sa‘id said ‘My father narrated to me that he was of those who pledged (allegiance) to Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) under the tree. (Al-Musayyab) said “When we went out the following year we forgot (its location) so we did not take possession of it.”’ Then Sa‘id said ‘Verily the companions of Muhammad (Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not know and you know [where it is], so you are more knowledgeable (than them)!’”

It is thus clear that the tree which the people would pray near was not the tree at which the pledge of Ridwan occurred under, and for that (reason) Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab did not repudiate them for their tabarruk through praying near it and he only repudiated their assurance in specifying (the location of) that tree. So it is possible ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) cut (down) the tree from this angle, not because he did not believe in tabarruk through relics. As for what has passed from Jabir that he said “If I could see I would show you the place of the tree”, this does not prove (anything) except that he (Allah be pleased with him) was confident in his knowledge of the location of the tree and that he could guide to it to the best of his belief. That (however) does not entail that it corresponds to the same thing.

The permissibility of tabarruk through the relics of the Prophets and the pious has been established from a number of hadiths:

From them is what al-Bukhari transmitted in (Kitab) al-Libas, Bab ma Yudhkaru fi l-Shayb (no. 5896) from ‘Uthman ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Mawhab (that) he said “My people sent me with a bowl of water to Umm Salama.” Isra’il approximated three fingers (‘indicating the small size of the container) in which there was some hair of the Prophet. (‘Uthman added) “If any person suffered from evil eye or some other disease, he would send a vessel (containing water) to Umm Salama. I looked into the container (that held the hair of the Prophet) and saw a few red hairs in it.” Al-Hafiz said under it in al-Fath (10:353) “and the meaning is that one who complained (of an illness) was sent to Umm Salamah (with) a vessel, in which she placed those hairs and bathed them in it and returned (the vessel) [to the owner]. Then the owner of the vessel would drink (from it) or bathe with it to seek remedy through it. Thus, he would acquire its blessing.”

From them is what al-Bukhari transmitted in (Kitab) al-Isti’dhan (no. 6271) from Anas “Umm Sulaym used to spread a leather sheet for the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and he used to take a midday nap on that leather sheet at her home.” (Anas) added “When the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) had slept, she would take some of his sweat and hair and collect it in a bottle and then mix it with suk (a kind of perfume) while he was still sleeping.” (Abu Thumamah) said: “When the death of Anas ibn Malik approached, he advised that some of that suk be mixed with his hanut (perfume for embalming the dead body)”; he added “and it was mixed with his hanut.” Muslim added in his narration “The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) woke up and said ‘What are you doing?’ She said ‘We hope for its blessing for our children.’ He said ‘You have done (what is) right.’” This is clear in the Prophet’s (Allah bless him and grant him peace) approval of her act.

From them is what al-Bukhari transmitted in (Kitab) al-Ashribah, Bab al-Sharb min Qadh al-Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam) (no. 5637) in the hadith of Sahl ibn Sa‘d “Then the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and his companions went towards the shed of Bani Sa’ida and sat there. Then he said, ‘Give us to drink, O Sahl!’ So I took out this bowl and gave them to drink from in it.” (The sub-narrator added): “Sahl took out for us that very bowl and we all drank from it.” He added: “Later on Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz requested (Sahl) to gift it to him, and he gifted it to him.” This hadith is to appear from (the hadiths of) this compiler (Muslim ibn Hajjaj) in (Kitab) al-Ashribah (Bab Ibahatu al-Nabidh) if Allah wills, and al-Nawawi said under it “In it (is proof) of tabarruk through the relics of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), that which he touched, wore or took a means by. This is close to what (the companions) agreed upon. The Predecessors [salaf] and the Successors [khalaf] practiced tabarruk through praying at the prayer-place of Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) at the Noble Rawdah, and entering the cave which he entered and other things (besides this). (An example) of this (kind of tabarruk) is the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) giving Abu Talha his hair to distribute it between people and his (Allah bless him and grant him peace) giving his loincloth to shroud his (dead) daughter…”

From them is what al-Bukhari transmitted in (Kitab) al-Ashribah (no. 5638) from ‘Asim al-Ahwal (that) he said “I saw the bowl of the Prophet with Anas ibn Malik, and it had been broken, and he had mended it with silver (plates). That bowl was quite wide and made of nadar wood. Anas said, ‘I gave the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) to drink from that bowl more than so-and-so (times).’” Look at how Anas cares for it to (the extent that) he mended it with silver (plates) after it broke, and that is nothing besides tabarruk through it.

From them is what Ibn al-Sakan transmitted from Thabit al-Banani (that) he said “Anas ibn Malik said to me ‘This is a hair from the hairs of Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace). Put it beneath my tongue’” He said “So I placed it beneath his tongue and he was buried while it was beneath his tongue.” Al-Hafiz ibn Hajar mentioned this in al-Isabah (1:84) in the biography of Anas (Allah be pleased with him).

As for tabarruk through (religious) sites [mashahid] and visiting them, the most balanced of views on this is what Ibn Taymiyya transmitted from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal that “he was asked about (whether) a man (should) go to those (religious) sites in Medina and other (places)? He said ‘With regards to the hadith of ibn Umm Maktum that he asked the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) to come and pray in his house so he could adopt (that area) as a place of prayer, or regarding what ibn ‘Umar used to do by tracing the places from the journey of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) until (once) he was seen pouring water at a place and was asked about this and said the Prophet would pour water here.’ (Ahmad) said ‘As regards to this, there is no harm’ (and) he said ‘there is a dispensation (in it).’ Then he said ‘However people go too far in excess and go overboard on this purpose’. He then mentioned the grave of al-Husayn and what the people do near it. Al-Khallal narrated these in Kitab al-Adab.”

Al-Hafiz ibn Taymiyyah (Allah have mercy on him) after relating the statement of Imam Ahmad said “Abu ‘Abd Allah (Ahmad ibn Hanbal) distinguished, with regards to (religious) sites which are places in which relics of the Prophets and pious are (present) and are not their mosques, like (certain) places in Medina, between a few which (people) do not take as (places of) celebration [‘id] and many which they take as (places of) celebration, as has passed. This distinction combines between the narrations and statements of the companions, for indeed al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Musa ibn ‘Uqbah (that) he said ‘I saw Salim ibn ‘Abd Allah searching for places in the road and praying at them, and he narrated that his father (ibn ‘Umar) would pray at them, and that (ibn ‘Umar) saw the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) pray at those places.’ Musa said ‘Nafi‘ narrated to me that ibn ‘Umar would pray in those places.’” See Iqtida al-Sirat al-Mustaqim by Ibn Taymiyya (pp. 374, 375)

The upshot is that if visiting these (religious) sites is like visiting historical (places where) glorious deeds (were enacted), or to be present (at those sites) due to what happened there of blessed things, and increasing faith and illumination by remembering them and attaining blessing from them, there is no harm in that. As for taking them as (places of) celebration or believing that they benefit or harm or glorifying them in (ways) that resemble worship [bima yushbih al-‘ibada], that is not permissible. By this (principle) is understood what Sa‘id ibn Mansur narrated in his Sunan from Ma‘rur ibn Suwayd about ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him); (Ma‘rur) said “We went out with him in the Hajj he performed…When he returned from his Hajj he saw people hastening to a mosque. He said ‘What is this?’ they said ‘The mosque in which Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) prayed.’ He said ‘This is how the Ahl al-Kitab before you perished. They took the relics of their Prophets as synagogues. One who finds the prayer (there) should pray and one who does not find the prayer (there) should pass.’”

And in a narration from him “he saw the people going (along) paths and said ‘where are these (people) going?’ and it was said ‘O Commander of the Believers! The mosque in which the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) prayed.’ So he said ‘those before were destroyed for the like of this. They would trace the relics of their Prophets and take them as churches and synagogues, so whoever from you acquires the prayer in these mosques should pray and whoever (does) not should pass (by) and not (pray) there purposefully.’”

Thus ‘Umar disliked taking the praying-place of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) as (a place of) celebration, fearing that that will lead to innovations and evils. Otherwise it has been proven from him zeal in protecting the relics (of the Prophet) in what al-Bukhari transmitted from al-Zubayr that Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) requested from (al-Zubayr) the spear with which he killed Abu Dhat al-Karish on the day of Badr, and in (this hadith is mentioned) “When Allah’s Messenger died, (al-Zubayr) took it (back). After that Abu Bakr demanded it and he gave it to him, and when Abu Bakr died, (al-Zubayr) took it (back). ‘Umar then demanded it from him and he gave it to him. When ‘Umar died, (al-Zubayr) took it (back), and then ‘Uthman demanded it from him and he gave it to him. When ‘Uthman was killed, the spear remained with Ali’s offspring. Then ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr demanded it, and it remained with him till he was martyred.” See (Kitab) al-Maghazi in Sahih al-Bukhari, Bab Shuhud al-Mala’ikati Badran

This proves the importance the rightly guided caliphs, particularly al-Faruq (Allah be pleased with him), attached to preserving a spear although (there are) many spears in the world. This was not (done for any reason) besides (the fact) that (the spear) remained with Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) for a time, so they sought tabarruk through it.

(Takmilatu Fath al-Mulhim, 3: 301-5)