Dought & clear - The story of Tha‘labah who saw a woman doing ghusl, and died from fear of Allah

I would like to find out whether a story I have heard is saheeh
(sound, true). If it turns out to be da'eef (weak), is it still
permissible to tell it?Because telling it has a good effect on
people's hearts. When I tell it, do I have to do point out that it is
da'eef? The story is as follows:
Tha'labah ibn 'Abd ar-Rahmaan was an orphan boy of the Ansaar, who was
no older than sixteen years. He often used to sit with the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), who sent him on an errand
one day to the markets of Madinah. He passed by one of the houses of
the Ansaar, and looked at the door of the house, which was open. There
was a curtain to the hamaam (bathroom) that was closed, but the wind
came and lifted thecurtain, behind which there was a woman whowas
doing ghusl. He glanced at her once or twice, then he realised what
was happening and took the matter veryseriously. He was afraid that
verses would be revealed concerning himand that he would be described
as one of the hypocrites because of this sin. He was afraid to go back
to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), so he went
out into the desert, and no one knewwhere he had gone. When three days
had gone by, (the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him))
instructed some of the Sahaabah to go and lookfor him in Madinah, but
they found no trace of him. He waited until forty days had passed,
then he instructed them to look for him in the wilderness areas,
because he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was worried
about him. They went and looked for him, and they came to a group of
Bedouin and described him to them. The Bedouin said: Perhaps you are
looking for the weeping boy? They said:Where is he? They said: On the
slopes of this mountain; he will come down at the end of the day. So
they lay in wait for him then they caughthim and carried him to his
house, because he was exhausted from weeping so much. The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) went to him, and Tha'labah
asked him whether any verses had been revealed concerning him. He
said: "No." Tha'labah became very sick, and the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) sat beside him untilhe died (may Allah be
pleased with him). Then they offered the funeral prayer for him and
when they carried the bier to bury him, the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) was walking on tiptoe. 'Umar asked him
about that and he said: "Woe to you, O 'Umar. ByAllah, I cannot find
any place to put my feet because so many of the angels are crowding
around me."
Praise be to Allah.
The story mentioned in the question is a summary of a lengthy story
that was narrated from Jaabir ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with
him) who said:
A young man of the Ansaar who was called Tha'labah ibn 'Abd ar-Rahmaan
became Muslim, and he used to serve the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him). He sent him on an errand, and he passed by the
door of a man among the Ansaar, where he saw an Ansaari woman doing
ghusl. He looked repeatedly at her, after which he became afraid that
Revelation would come down to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him), so he went out, fleeing, and came to a
mountainous area between Makkah and Madinah, where he hid. The
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) missed
him for forty days, and these were thedays when they said his Lord had
forsaken him and was displeased withhim, then Jibreel (peace be upon
him) came down to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) and said: O Muhammad, your Lord conveys greetings of
peace (salaam) to you, and says: The man from your ummah who has fled
is in these mountains, seeking refuge with Me from My Fire. The
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "O
'Umar! O Salmaan! Go and bring Tha'labah ibn 'Abd ar-Rahmaan to me."
They set out through thestreets of Madinah and were met by one of the
shepherds of Madinah whose name was Dhufaafah. 'Umar said tohim: O
Dhufaafah, do you know anything about a young man in these mountains?
Dhufaafah said to him: Perhaps you are looking for the one who is
fleeing from Hell? 'Umar said to him: How do you know that he is
fleeing from Hell? He said: Because in the middle ofthe night he came
out tous from these mountainswith his hand on his head, saying: Would
thatYou took my soul as You took other souls and my body as You took
other bodies, and not expose me on the Day of Judgement! 'Umar said:
He is the one we are looking for. So Dhufaafah set out with them, and
in the middle of the night he came outto them from those mountains,
with his hand on his head, saying: Would that You took my soul as You
tookother souls and my body as You took other bodies, and not expose
me on the Day of Judgement! 'Umar went to him and embraced him and
(Tha'labah) said: I want to be safe from the Fire. 'Umar said to him:
I am 'Umar ibn al-Khattab. He said: O 'Umar, does the Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) know of my sin? He
said: All I know is that he remembered you yesterday, and the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) wept.
Tha'labah said: O 'Umar, do not let me enter upon him except when he
is praying, and Bilaal is sayingQad qaamat as-salaah(Prayeris about to
begin – i.e., the iqaamah or call immediately preceding the prayer).
'Umar said: I shall do that. Then they brought him to Madinah and
arrived when the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) was praying Fajr. 'Umar and Salmaan hastened to join the row
(of worshippers), and no sooner did Tha'labah hear the recitation of
the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), but
he fell unconscious. When the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said the salaam (at the end of the prayer), he
said: "O 'Umar, O Salmaan, what happened to Tha'labah ibn 'Abd
ar-Rahmaan?" They said: He is over there, O Messenger of Allah. The
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) stood up
and said: "O Tha'labah!" He said: Here I am, O Messenger of Allah. He
looked at him and said: "What kept you away from me?" He said: My sin,
O Messenger of Allah. He said: "Shall I not tell you about a verse
that will expiate sins and errors?"He said: Yes, O Messengerof Allah.
He said: "Say:Allaahumma aatina fi'd-dunya hasanah wa fi'l-aakhirati
hasanah waqinna 'adhaab an-naar(O Allah! Give us in this world that
which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us
from the torment of the Fire) (cf. al-Baqarah 2:201)." He said: My sin
is too great, O Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah(blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Rather the word of Allah is
greater."Then the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) instructed him to go home. He fell sick for eight days, then
Salmaancame to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, do you want to visit
Tha'labah, because he is sick? The Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Let us go to him." When he entered
upon him, the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) took hold of his head and placed it in his lap, but he pulled his
head away from the lap of the Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to him: "Why did
you pull your head away from my lap?" He said: Because it is full of
sins. He said: "What do you feel?" He said: I feel something like the
crawling of ants between my skin and mybones. He said: "What doyou
long for?" He said: The forgiveness of my Lord. Then Jibreel (peacebe
upon him) came down to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) and said: Verily your Lord conveys greetings of
salaam to you and says: If this slaveof Mine were to meet Mewith an
earthful of sins, Iwould meet him with a similar measure of
forgiveness. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) said: "Should I not tell him about that?" He said: Yes
indeed. So the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) told him about that, and he gave a shout then died. The
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) gave
instructions that he should be washed and shrouded, and he offered the
funeral prayer for him. Then the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) began walking on tiptoeand they said: O
Messenger of Allah, why do we see you walking on tiptoe? He said: By
the One Who sent me with the truth as a Prophet, I could not put my
feet on the ground because of the many wings of the angels whocame
down to accompany his funeral procession.
Narrated by Abu Na'eem inHilyat al-Awliya', 9/329-331; and inMa'rifat
as-Sahaabah, 1/498, and via him by Ibn al-Jawzi inal-Mawdoo'aat, 3/121
Al-Kharaa'iti narrated it inI'tilaal al-Quloob, 272; it was narrated
via him by Ibn Qudaamah inat-Tawwaabeen, 105-108
It was narrated by Abu 'Abd ar-Rahmaan as-Sulami inTabaqaat
as-Soofiyyah, p. 51; and by Ibn Mandah in brief, as mentioned
inal-Isaabahby Ibn Hajar, 1/405
All of them narrated it via Sulaym ibn Mansoor ibn 'Ammaar: my father
told us, from al-Munkadir ibn Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, from his
father, from Jaabir ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him)… And
he quoted the story.
But the report of al-Kharaa'iti does not refer to the verse in which
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):"your
Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased withyou" [ad-Duha
93:3].
This hadeeth is da'eef, and has a number of problems.
1.
None of the scholars stated in clear terms thatSulaym ibn Mansoor ibn
'Ammaar was reliable.
Ibn Abi Haatim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: My father narrated
from him, and Iasked him about him. I said: The scholars of Baghdad
criticise him. He said: Stop. I asked IbnAbi'th-Thalj about him. I
said to him: They are saying that he wrote down hadeeth from Ibn
'Aliyyah when he was young. He said: No; rather he was older thanus.
End quote.
Al-Jarh wa't-Ta'deel, 4?216
Adh-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
He was criticised but his hadeeth was not rejected. End quote.
Al-Mughni fi'd-Du'afa', 1/285
Some of the scholars stated that there was an investigation to see if
there were any similar reports, but it was not thorough.
Ibn 'Iraq said:
There was an investigation to see if there were any other reports that
were similarto that of Sulaym. That was narrated by 'Uthmaan ibn 'Umar
ad-Darraaj in his book. He said: Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn
Hishaam at-Taaliqaani told us: my grandfather told me: Mansoor ibn
'Ammaar told us. But I donot know who this at-Taaliqaani was. End
quote.
Tanzeeh ash-Sharee'ah, 1/349
2.
The preacher Mansoor ibn 'Ammaar.
He was extremely eloquent in preaching and was able to move people
deeply. He preached in Baghdad, Syria and Egypt, and he became very
famous.
Abu Haatim said: He is not qawiy (strong). Ibn 'Adiyy said: His
hadeeth is odd. Al-'Uqayli said: Heis influenced by Jahami views.
Ad-Daaraqutni said: He narrated from da'eef narrators hadeeths that
were not narrated by others.
See:Mizaan al-I'tidaal, 4/187-188
3.
Al-Munkadir ibn Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir
Ibn 'Uyaynah said: He was not a scholar of hadeeth. It was
narratedfrom Yahya ibn Ma'een: He is insignificant. On one occasion he
said: There is nothing wrong with him. Abu Zar'ah said: He is not
qawiy (strong). Abu Haatim said: He was a man who did not understand
hadeeth. He made many mistakes and did not memorise the hadeeth of his
father. Al-Jawzjaani and an-Nasaa'i said: (He is) da'eef . al-Haafiz
Ibn Hajar summed up the ruling on him inat-Taqreeb, where he said: His
hadeeth is not very strong.
See:Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb, 10/318
4.
There are also problems in the text of the hadeeth:
The verse referred to in the hadeeth –"your Lord has not forsaken you,
nor is He displeasedwith you" [ad-Duha 93:3]– was revealed in Makkah
before the Hijrah, but this hadeeth suggests that it was revealed in
Madinah after the Hijrah. This is a serious contradiction.
Ibn al-Jawzi (may Allah have mercy on him) was certain that it is
fabricated, as he said:
This is a fabricated hadeeth that is very strange, and the fabricator
exposed his fabrication when he said: that was when the verse"your
Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased with you" [ad-Duha
93:3]was revealed to him. But this verse was revealed to him in
Makkah, and there is no scholarly disagreement concerning that.
Moreover there was no one among the Sahaabah who was called Dhufaafah.
Its isnaad contains a number of da'eef narrators, including
al-Munkadir, of whom Yahya said: He is insignificant, and Ibn Hibbaan
said: He used to say things on the basis of his imagination. So his
reports are not valid to be used as proof. Another (of these da'eef
narrators) is Sulaym ibn Mansoor, who was criticized by some scholars
of hadeeth. End quote.
Al-Mawdoo'aat, 3/123. As-Suyooti agreed with him inal-La'aali
al-Masnoo'ah, 1/416
Ibn al-Atheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
There are other issues in it apart from its isnaad. The verse"your
Lord hasnot forsaken you, nor is He displeased with you" [ad-Duha
93:3]was revealed in the early days of Islam, in Makkah,and the
hadeeth which proves that is saheeh. But this story supposedlytook
place after the Hijrah, and the two reports cannot be reconciled. End
quote.
Asad al-Ghaabah, 1/385
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Ibn Mandah said – after narrating it in brief: Mansoor is the only one
who narrated it. I [i.e., al-Haafiz ibn Hajar] say: There is some
weakness in him, and his shaykh is weaker than him. The content of the
hadeeth also indicates that it is weak, because the verse"your Lord
has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased with you" [ad-Duha 93:3]was
revealed before the Hijrah, and there is no difference of scholarly
opinion concerning that.End quote.
Al-Isaabah, 1/405. It was narrated and confirmed by as-Sakhkhaawi
inat-Tuhfah al-Lateefah fi Tareekh al-Madinah ash-Shareefah, 152.
To sum up: the isnaad of this story is a chain of weak narrators, and
its text also shows that it is strange. So it is not permissible to
narrate it or speak of it unless one explains that it is da'eef (weak)
and that it has todo with heart-softening reports (raqaa'iq) which we
cannot be less stringent about. That is because its isnaad is
extremely weak, and those scholars who regarded it as permissible to
narrate da'eef hadeeths in the category of heart-softening reports
stipulated that they should not be extremely weak and should not have
any odd content.
And Allah knows best.