mentions in al-Tabaqat that he was called Sa[d while he mentions him in al-Kuna as Abu Murawih without mentioning a name for him. He is said to belong to the Ghifar tribe or to al-Layth, but al-Ghassani said that he is al-Ghifari al-Laythi. Ibn [Abd al-Barr said that scholars are unanimous in grading him as ‘reliable’. The chains of transmission also mention al-Shaybani reporting from al-Walid ibn al-[Ayzar. Al-Shaybani is Abu Ishaq Sulayman ibn Fayruz from Kufah. Abu Ya[fur’s name is [Abd al-Rahman ibn [Ubayd ibn Nistas al-Tha[labi, also from Kufah, and he is graded as ‘reliable’, as are two other narrators named Abu Ya[fur.
The chain of transmission that mentions ‘Ma[mar reported; from al-Zuhri; from Habib, [Urwah ibn al-Zubayr’s mawla; from [Urwah ibn al-Zubayr; from Abu Murawih; from Abu Dharr’ features an interesting point. It includes four reporters from the Tabi[in generation reporting from each other. These are al-Zuhri, Habib, [Urwah and Abu Murawih. The second of these, Habib, is not as well known as the other three. He was [Urwah’s mawla, and he reported from Asma’ bint Abu Bakr, [Urwah’s mother. Muhammad ibn Sa[d said that he died towards the end of the Umayyad Caliphate. The fact that he reports from Asma’ means that he met her and he met other companions of the Prophet. As such, he belonged to the Tabi[in generation, but God knows best.
i.Related by al-Bukhari, 26 and 1447; al-Nasa’i, 5000.
ii.Al-Nasa’i, 2623 and 3130.
i.Related by al-Bukhari, 2518; al-Nasa’i, 3129; Ibn Majah, 2523.
i.Related by al-Bukhari, 504, 2630, 5625 and 7096; al-Tirmidhi, 173; al-Nasa’i, 609 and 610.
i.he Prophet uses the Arabic word ahl, which refers to one’s wife and one’s family.
i.This is how the poet puts it in Arabic, ‘then before that …’.
CHAPTER 38
ASSOCIATING PARTNERS WITH GOD IS THE WORST OF ALL SINS; THE GRAVEST SINS AFTER THAT
[146–141]. (Dar al-Salam 0156) [Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah and Ishaq ibn Ibrahim narrated:i Ishaq said: Jarir reported, but [Uthman said: Jarir narrated; from Mansur; from Abu Wa’il; from [Amr ibn Shurahbil; from [Abdullah, who said: ‘I asked God’s Messenger (peace be upon him): “Which sin is the most serious in God’s sight?” He said: “To set up an equal to God when it is He who has created you.” I said: “That is grave indeed. Which comes next?” He said: “To kill your child so that you do not have to feed it”. I said: “Which is next?” He said: “To commit adultery with your neighbour’s wife”.’
حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، وَإِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، قَالَ إِسْحَاقُ أَخْبَرَنَا جَرِيرٌ، وَقَالَ عُثْمَانُ حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، عَنْ مَنْصُورٍ، عَنْ أَبِي وَائِلٍ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ شُرَحْبِيلَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَىُّ الذَّنْبِ أَعْظَمُ عِنْدَ اللهِ؟ قَالَ: «أَنْ تَجْعَلَ للهِ نِدًّا وَهُوَ خَلَقَكَ». قَالَ: قُلْتُ لَهُ: إِنَّ ذَلِكَ لَعَظِيمٌ. قَالَ: قُلْتُ ثُمَّ أَىٌّ؟ قَالَ: «ثُمَّ أَنْ تَقْتُلَ وَلَدَكَ مَخَافَةَ أَنْ يَطْعَمَ مَعَكَ». قَالَ: قُلْتُ ثُمَّ أَىٌّ؟ قَالَ: «ثُمَّ أَنْ تُزَانِيَ حَلِيلَةَ جَارِكَ».
[147–142]. (Dar al-Salam 0157) [Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah and Ishaq ibn Ibrahim narrated both from Jarir: Ishaq said: Jarir narrated; from al-A[mash; from Abu Wa’il; from [Amr ibn Shurahbil: [Abdullah said: ‘A man asked: “Messenger of God, which sin is the most serious in God’s sight?” He said: “That you set up an equal to God when it is He who has created you”. The man said: “Which comes next?” He said: “To kill your child so that you do not have to feed it”. I said: “Which is next?” He said: “To commit adultery with your neighbour’s wife”. God then revealed its confirmation: “[God’s servants] never invoke any deity side by side with God, and do not take any human being’s life—[the life] which God has willed to be sacred—except for a just cause, and do not commit adultery. Whoever does any of this will face punishment”.’ (25: 68)20
حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، وَإِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، جَمِيعًا عَنْ جَرِيرٍ، قَالَ عُثْمَانُ حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي وَائِلٍ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ شُرَحْبِيلَ قَالَ: قَالَ عَبْدُ اللهِ: قَالَ رَجُلٌ: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، أَىُّ الذَّنْبِ أَكْبَرُ عِنْدَ اللهِ؟ قَالَ: «أَنْ تَدْعُوَ للهِ نِدًّا وَهُوَ خَلَقَكَ». قَالَ ثُمَّ أَىٌّ؟ قَالَ: «أَنْ تَقْتُلَ وَلَدَكَ مَخَافَةَ أَنْ يَطْعَمَ مَعَكَ». قَالَ ثُمَّ أَىٌّ؟ قَالَ: «أَنْ تُزَانِيَ حَلِيلَةَ جَارِكَ». فَأَنْزَلَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ تَصْدِيقَهَا: «وَالَّذِينَ لاَ يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلاَ يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللهُ إِلاَّ بِالْحَقِّ وَلاَ يَزْنُونَ وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا».
Text Explanation
20. The Prophet makes clear that the gravest sin of all is to associate partners with God, which is at times expressed as setting up equals to Him. The next is to kill one’s child so that one does not have to feed it. This is similar to the Qur’anic order: ‘Do not kill your children for fear of poverty’. (17: 31)
The Prophet mentions that committing adultery with one’s neighbour’s wife is one of the gravest sins. The way he expresses this confirms that the offender does it with the woman’s consent, but the man would have tempted and seduced her. To go to such temptation with any woman is worse than merely committing adultery with her, but to do it with a neighbour’s wife is far more repugnant and a more serious crime. Neighbours are expected to protect one another and to take care of their neighbours’ families. Moreover, Islam commands us to be kind to our neighbours and be generous with them. To do the opposite and go beyond that so as to reach the stage of corrupting a neighbour’s wife and seducing her to the point of adultery is a most ghastly sin.
The verse quoted in the second hadith gives the commandment: ‘Do not take any human being’s life—[the life] which God has willed to be sacred—except for a just cause’. This means that human life is initially sacred. It may not be taken away, except for a just cause, which means committing an offence that incurs the death penalty.
This hadith, in its two versions, tell us that the worst of all sins is to associate
