Fatwa ID: 02673

Answered by: Maulana Imran Mughal

Question:

Asalamualaikum.

Deobandis and Barelwis quote a Hadith where the Prophet (SAW) requested his parents to come back to life, take the shahadah, and then they were laid to rest one more time.

Please quote the original source, and whether it is deemed authentic.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The hadith in question is that which is narrated by Aisha (RA), this hadith is mentioned by Khatib Baghdadi, Ibn Asakir, Daraqutni, Ibn Al-Jawzi and Ibn Shahin.

The text of the hadith is as follows:

Aisha (RA) narrates: “The Prophet (SAW) performed Hajj with us (the farewell Hajj), he passed by me at (a place called) Aqabah Al-Hajun and he (SAW) was crying and extremely distraught, he went away for a while and when he returned he was extremely happy. I asked him (what happened) and he said: “I went (to visit) my mother's grave, and I asked to Allah to make her come back to life, she believed in me after which Allah returned her to her resting place.”

This hadith is no doubt a Daif hadith, some scholars have also said it is Munkar and even Mawdoo’.[1]

Note: A Daif hadith means it is weak. Munkar means it is rejected due to convincing evidences to support that claim. Mawdoo’ is when it is certain this hadith is made up entirely.

To sum up everything concisely, there are four ways of understanding this issue:

1. Both the parents of our beloved Prophet (SAW) are from the people of the Fire.

2. Both the parents are from the people of Fatrah. The People of The Time of Fatrah are known as those people who were alive between Isa (peace be upon him) and Muhammad (peace be upon him) who did not receive the message of Islam. It is believed that these people will be tested by Allah on the Day of Judgement to see if they are to enter Jannah or Jahannam.

3. Some scholars have alluded to the hadith aforementioned and claimed that in fact the parents of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are alive. However, this was not the stance of many scholars and the evidences against this opinion are many.

4. This is to say that Allah (SWT) knows best about the parents of the beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Nevertheless, an important point has been mentioned by Ibn Abidin regarding this topic, he says:

“Many scholars have said that it is not appropriate to mention this ruling except with extreme propriety, and this topic is not from the things which one will be asked about in the grave, it is one of those topics which not knowing about it and knowing about will not change anything. Rather, it is sounder and safer for someone to not talk about these issues except with goodness.”[2]

And Allah SWT alone knows best.

Answered by Maulana Imran Mughal

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

[1]Kasani, Badai’ As-Sanai’ (Beriut: DKI, 2003), Vol 4 Pg 230.