A khateeb (orator) of a masjid in my area mentioned in a khutbah (sermon) a hadeeth narrated by Salman (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), gave them a khutbah in the last day of Sha’aban … etc. Some brothers objected to what the khateeb said in front of the worshippers saying that this hadeeth is fabricated. He also said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever feeds a fasting person, Allah will bless him a drink of my Cistern (Al-Hawdh), he will never feel thirsty after it until he is in Paradise” and also said: “Whoever makes it easy on his slave, Allah will forgive him and free him of the Hellfire”. The brother objected and said: this is lying and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not say this. A person tells lies about what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said should expect his place in Hell”. Is the hadeeth mentioned correct or not?
Praise be to Allah
The hadeeth of Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) was
narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Saheeh. He said: Chapter on the virtues of
the month of Ramadhan if the report is saheeh. Then he said: ‘Ali ibn Hijr
al-Sa’di told us, Yoosuf ibn Ziyad told us, Humam ibn Yahya told us, from
‘Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jad’an, from Sa’eed ibn al-Musayyab, from Salman (may
Allah be pleased with them) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) addressed us on the last day of Sha’ban and
said: “O people, there has come to you a great month, a blessed month, a
month in which there is a night that is better than a thousand months. Allah
has made fasting it obligatory and spending its nights in prayer a voluntary
act. Whoever draws close (to Allah) during it by doing a good deed will be
like one who did an obligatory deed in any other month, and the one who does
an obligatory deed in it will be like one who did seventy obligatory deeds
in any other month. It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience
is Paradise. It is the month of helping others. It is a month in which the
believer’s provision is increased. Whoever gives a fasting person food with
which to break his fast will have his sins forgiven and he will be ransomed
from the Fire, and he will have a reward like his without it detracting from
his reward in the slightest.” They said: Not all of us can find something to
give to the fasting person with which to break his fast. He said: “Allah
will give this reward to the one who gives a fasting person a date or a
drink of water or a sip of milk. It is a month the beginning of which is
mercy, the middle of which is forgiveness and the end of which is ransom
from the Fire. The one who reduces the burden for his slave will be forgiven
by Allah, and He will ransom him from the Fire. So do a lot of four good
deeds during it, two with which you will please your Lord and two which you
cannot do without. As for the two good deeds with which you will please your
Lord, they are bearing witness that there is no god except Allah, and
seeking His forgiveness. As for those which you cannot do without, they are
asking Allah for Paradise and seeking refuge with Him from Hell. Whoever
feeds a fasting person until he is full, Allah will give him to drink from
my Cistern, a drink after which he will not thirst again until he enters
Paradise.”
Its isnad (chain of narration) includes ‘Ali ibn Zayd ibn
Jad’an, who is da’eef (weak) because of his bad memory. Its isnad also
includes Yoosuf ibn Ziyad al-Basri, whose hadeeth is munkar (rejected). It
also includes Humam ibn Yahya ibn Dinar al-‘Awadi, concerning whom Ibn Hajar
said in al-Taqreeb: He is trustworthy but he may make mistakes.
Based on this, the hadeeth with this isnad is not false, but
it is weak. However, many of the virtues of Ramadhan are proven in the
saheeh ahadeeth (authentic narrations).
Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas
Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah li’l-Buhooth
al-‘Ilmiyyah wa’l-Ifta (10/84-85).
And Allah knows best.
