Status of the Hadeeth “If you see a man frequently coming to the mosque, then bear witness that he is a believer”

Question

Praise be to Allah.

It was
narrated that Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “If you
see a man frequently coming to the mosque, then bear witness that he is a
believer, for Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): ‘The mosques of
Allah shall be maintained only by those who believe in Allah and the Last
Day; perform as-Salah, and give Zakah …’ [al-Tawbah 9:18].”

Narrated
by al-Tirmidhi (2617), Ahmad in al-Musnad (27325) and others, all via Darraj
Abu’l-Samah, from Abu’l-Haytham, from Abu Sa’eed (may Allah be pleased with
him).

This is a
da’eef (weak) isnad (chain of transmission), because of Darraj ibn Sam’an
Abu’l-Samah al-Qurashi. Al-Daraqutni said: he is da’eef. Al-Imam Ahmad and
Abu Dawood regard him as da’eef only in the ahadeeth (narrations) that he
narrated from Abu’l-Haytham, as in this case. See Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb
(3/209).

Hence
al-Tirmidhi commented, after narrating the hadeeth: it is ghareeb hasan
(rare but sound). He said in the second place: it is hasan ghareeb.

Al-‘Allamah ‘Ala’ al-Deen Maghlatawi said: This hadeeth has a da’eef isnad.
End quote.

Sharh
Sunan Ibn Majah (1/1345)

When
al-Hakim classed this hadeeth as saheeh in al-Mustadrak, al-Dhahabi
commented by saying: Darraj narrated many munkar (disapproved) reports. End
quote.

Al-Shaykh
al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Its isnad
is neither saheeh nor hasan, because it is narrated via Darraj Abu’l-Samah
from Abu Haytham from Abu Sa’eed, and al-Hafiz said concerning this Darraj
in al-Taqreeb: He is sadooq (truthful) but in his hadeeth from Abu’l-Haytham
there is some weakness. Hence al-Dhahabi commented on al-Hakim by saying: I
say: Darraj narrated many munkar reports. End quote.

Tamam
al-Minnah (p.291)

It was
also classed as da’eef in a fatwa of the Standing Committee (4/444), and by
al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) in Sharh Riyadh
al-Saliheen. This has been published previously on our website in the answer
to question no.

34593.

Al-Hafiz
Ibn Rajab suggested that the matn (text) of the hadeeth is also
objectionable, because it is not possible to testify to anyone’s being a
believer, rather it is only possible to testify to his being a Muslim,
because being a Muslim is an outward attribute whereas being a believer is
an inward attribute,

As it says
in the hadeeth of Sa’d ibn Abu Waqqas (may Allah have mercy on him),
according to which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) distributed (some wealth) to some people, and Sa’d (may Allah be
pleased with him) was sitting among them. Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with
him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
left out some of them and did not give them anything, although they were
better in my view. I said: O Messenger of Allah, what about so and so? For
by Allah, I think he is a believer. The Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Or a Muslim.” I kept quiet for a
while, then what I knew got the better of me and I said: O Messenger of
Allah, what about so and so? For by Allah, I think that he is a believer.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Or
a Muslim.” I kept quiet for a while, then what I knew got the better of me
and I said: O Messenger of Allah, what about so and so? For by Allah, I
think that he is a believer. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) said: “Or a Muslim. I may give to one man although
someone else is more beloved to me, for fear lest he be thrown on his face
into the Fire.” Narrated by al-Bukhari (27) and Muslim (150).

Al-Hafiz
Ibn Rajab (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

It seems –
and Allah knows best – that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) rebuked Sa’d for testifying to people’s faith (or their being
believers), because faith is something hidden in the heart, and no one can
see it, so testifying to it is testimony that is based on conjecture, and it
is improper to make definite statements about that, as he said: “If you must
praise anyone then say: I think that so and so is such and such, but I do
not praise anyone before Allah.”

He told
him to testify that the person was a Muslim, because that is something that
can be seen, as it is narrated in al-Musnad from Anas in a marfoo’ report
(traced directly to the Prophet): “Islam is outward and faith is in the
heart.” Al-Shaykh al-Albani said: it is munkar (al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah,
6906).

Hence,
many of the salaf (pious predecessors) regarded it as makrooh (disliked) for
a person to describe himself as a believer, and said: This is flattering and
praising oneself on the basis of what is hidden in the heart; rather he
should testify that he is a Muslim because this is something visible.

As for the
hadeeth: “If you see a man frequently coming to the mosque, then bear
witness that he is a believer”, it was narrated by Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi and
Ibn Majah from the hadeeth of Darraj, from Abu’l-Haytham, from Abu Sa’eed
(may Allah be pleased with him) in a marfoo’ report. Ahmad said: It is a
munkar hadeeth; Darraj narrated munkar reports. End quote.

Fath
al-Bari (1/122)

And Allah
knows best.