Relying on such narrators like Sufyān ibn Sa‘īd ath-Thawrī, ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Muḥammad ad-Darāwardī, and Layth ibn Sa‘d, some authors (and compilers) like Bukhārī and Muslim attribute the following two statements to the Holy Prophet (ṣ):
a.
“.ضحضاح إلىٰ فأخرجته النّار من غمراتٍ في وجدته”
“He is in a shallow place of Fire [ḍuḥḍāḥ].[1] But had it not been for me he would have been in the lowest part of the Fire.”[2]
b.
من ضحضاح فى فيجعل القيامة يوم شفاعتى تنفعه لعلّه”
“.دماغه منه يغلى كعبيه يبلغ النّار
“Perhaps my intercession will be helpful to him on the Day of Resurrection so that he may be put in a shallow fire reaching only up to his ankles. His brain will boil from it.”[3]
Although the aforementioned set of traditions and clear proofs which testify to Abū Ṭālib’s faith prove the groundlessness of this grave calumny and libel of Ḥadīth aḍ-Ḍuḥḍāḥ, we shall discuss this ḥadīth and concentrate on two aspects in it:
- The groundlessness of its chain of transmission, and
- The discordance of its contents with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet (ṣ).
[1] Ḍuḥḍāḥ, literally “a shallow spot”, refers to a pit whose depth is less than a man’s height.
[2] Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (Egypt), vol. 8, “Kitāb al-Adab,” “Bāb Kuniyyat al-Mushrik,” p. 46.
Muḥammad Muḥsin Khān (trans.), Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (English Translation), vol. 8, book 73, ḥadīth 227. [Trans.]
[3] Ibid., vol. 5, “Abwāb Manāqib,” “Bāb Qiṣat Abī Ṭālib,” p. 52.
Muḥammad Muḥsin Khān (trans.), Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (English Translation), vol. 5, book 58, ḥadīth 224. [Trans.]
