Shubuhat From This Hadith
Muʿādh b. Jabal returned from al-Shām, prostrated to the Prophet ﷺ
“If I were to command anyone to prostrate to other than Allah, I would command a woman to prostrate to her husband …”
This hadith is Weak (ḍaʿīf) due to the condition of al-Qāsim b. ʿAwf and his iḍṭirāb (this when a narrator interchanges the names in a chain)
The Narrator al-Qāsim b. ʿAwf al-Shaybānī
- al-Nasāʾī: “al-Qāsim is weak in ḥadīth.”
- Ibn Ḥajar: “Ṣadūq (truthful) but narrates odd reports (yaghrib); he sent mursal from Abū Dharr.”
- al-Dhahabī: “Differed over (mukhtalaf fīh).”
- Abū Ḥātim: “His ḥadīth is muḍṭarib though he is ṣidq to me.”
- al-Mizzī: Noted his mursal transmissions.
- Yaḥyā b. Saʿīd (via ʿAlī b. al-Madīnī): Shuʿbah saw al-Qāsim and avoided taking from him.
Detailed isnād analysis and iḍṭirāb noted by the Muhaditheen
1) Musnad Aḥmad 19403 (route of Ayyūb → al-Qāsim)
- Ismāʿīl b. ʿUlayyah → Ayyūb → al-Qāsim → Ibn Abī Awfā: “Muʿādh came (to Yemen or al-Shām) …” and the Prophet ﷺ said the prostration statement.
- Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ: “This is a ḥasan ḥadīth, and this chain is weak due to iḍṭirāb.”
- He mentions the confusion created by al-Qāsim:
- Some made it Musnad of Ibn Abī Awfā (e.g., Ismāʿīl b. ʿUlayyah; also Ḥammād b. Zayd via several students).
- Others made it Musnad of Muʿādh (e.g., Maʿmar from Ayyūb with ʿAbd al-Razzāq 20596).
- Others route it through Zayd b. Arqam (e.g., Muʿammal from Ḥammād b. Zayd; also Qatādah from al-Qāsim).
- Another route: Hishām al-Dastuʾāʾī from al-Qāsim → ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā → his father → Muʿādh.
- Yet another: al-Nuḥās b. Fahm from al-Qāsim → ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā → his father → Suhayb → Muʿādh.
Bottom line is that there are multiple conflicting attributions (to different Companions and different intermediaries) all trace back to al-Qāsim, so the hadith is still weak.
2) Musnad Aḥmad 19404 (route through ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā)
- Chain: ʿAlī → Muʿādh b. Hishām → (his father) Hishām → al-Qāsim b. ʿAwf → ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā → his father → Muʿādh.
- Matn: Only Mentions Christians prostrating; Muʿādh proposes greeting by prostration; the Prophet ﷺ rejects this and affirms salām as the better greeting.
- Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ: “Jayyid (good) except the sentence ‘They have lied about their prophets…’; this chain is weak due to its iḍṭirāb, explained under 19403.”
3) Route of al-Aʿmash → Abū Ẕibyān
- Versions:
- Wakīʿ / Jarīr: al-Aʿmash → Abū Ẕibyān → Muʿādh.
- al-Thawrī / Abū Nuʿaym: al-Aʿmash → Abū Ẕibyān → a man from the Anṣār → Muʿādh.
- Main defect: Abū Ẕibyān did not hear from Muʿādh, so the correct view is this is also weak.
4) Additional problematic route (Abū al-Waraqāʾ)
- A narrative where a camel prostrates to the Prophet ﷺ and he says the “If I were to command …” statement.
- Abū al-Waraqāʾ (Qāʾid b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān): al-Bukhārī: munkar al-ḥadīth (his hadith are denounced); Aḥmad abandoned him.
- Weak corroboration.
What the foremost ʿilal critic concluded Imam al-Dāraquṭnī, al-ʿIlal (6/37–40)
- He says the many contradictory routes (Ibn Abī Awfā; Zayd b. Arqam; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā; Suhayb; direct from Muʿādh; with/without an Anṣārī intermediary).
- The Imam says “The inconsistency in all these routes is from al-Qāsim bin ʿAwf.”
- Abū Ẕibyān did not hear from Muʿādh.
Matn criticism (context & plausibility)
- Rabīʿ b. Hādī al-Madkhalī:
- Points out chronological issues: no proof Muʿādh visited al-Shām during the Prophet’s lifetime; his established travel there is in ʿUmar’s era, where he died in the plague.
- The report mentions return from Yemen at the end of the Prophet’s life, while the Prophet ﷺ passed away and Muʿādh returned later in Abū Bakr’s caliphate.
- Also, Muʿādh’s stature as a senior, learned Companion makes such prostration highly improbable.
- Concludes: “Its isnād is not authentic and its meaning is not authentic; there is also matn disagreement.”
What is supported by other aḥādīth (without relying on al-Qāsim’s chain)
- The concept of strong marital rights appears in independent reports:
- Abū Hurayrah: Ṣaḥīḥ (Muslim 1436; also al-Bukhārī 5193) about the angels cursing a wife who refuses her husband’s call to bed.
- Ṭalīq b. ʿAlī (al-Tirmidhī 1160; al-Ṭabarānī): “If the man calls his wife … let her come to him even if she is at the oven.”—sound via Qays b. Ṭalīq (per al-Tirmidhī).
- Other supporting narrations exist (Ibn Ḥibbān 1757; al-Tirmidhī 360; Ibn Khuzaymah 940; Ibn Ḥibbān 5355), though some chains have weaknesses; still, the general meaning regarding marital rights has independent support.
These shawāhid support marital-duty of the wife, not the specific scenario of Muʿādh’s prostration or a hypothetical command to prostrate.
حَدَّثَنَا أَزْهَرُ بْنُ مَرْوَانَ، حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، عَنْ أَيُّوبَ، (راوٍ ضعيف)عَنِ الْقَاسِمِ الشَّيْبَانِيِّ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي أَوْفَى، قَالَ لَمَّا قَدِمَ مُعَاذٌ مِنَ الشَّامِ سَجَدَ لِلنَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ ” مَا هَذَا يَا مُعَاذُ ” . قَالَ أَتَيْتُ الشَّامَ فَوَافَقْتُهُمْ يَسْجُدُونَ لأَسَاقِفَتِهِمْ وَبَطَارِقَتِهِمْ فَوَدِدْتُ فِي نَفْسِي أَنْ نَفْعَلَ ذَلِكَ بِكَ . فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ” فَلاَ تَفْعَلُوا فَإِنِّي لَوْ كُنْتُ آمِرًا أَحَدًا أَنْ يَسْجُدَ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ لأَمَرْتُ الْمَرْأَةَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِزَوْجِهَا وَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ لاَ تُؤَدِّي الْمَرْأَةُ حَقَّ رَبِّهَا حَتَّى تُؤَدِّيَ حَقَّ زَوْجِهَا وَلَوْ سَأَلَهَا نَفْسَهَا وَهِيَ عَلَى قَتَبٍ لَمْ تَمْنَعْهُ ” .
It was narrated that: Abdullah bin Abu Awfa said “When Muadh bin Jabal came from Sham, he prostrated to the Prophet ﷺ who said: ‘What is this, O Muadh?’ He said: ‘I went to Sham and saw them prostrating to their bishops and patricians and I wanted to do that for you.’ The messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Do not do that. If I were to command anyone to prostrate to anyone other than Allah, I would have commanded women to prostrate to their husbands. By the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad! No woman can fulfill her duty towards Allah until she fulfills her duty towards her husband. If he asks her (for intimacy) even if she is on her camel saddle, she should not refuse.’ ” (Sunan Ibn Majah 1853)
There are two doubts from this, one is that Muadh Ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه prostrated to the prophet ﷺ and that women would have been commanded to prostrate to their husbands. Neither of these claims are true because this hadith is weak.
It is weak because of al Qasim bin Awf al Shaybani.
al Qasim ibn Awf al Shaybani al Bakri al Kufi, from the clan of Banu Murrah ibn Hammam.
He narrated from al Bara ibn Azib, Zayd ibn Arqam (mentioned in Muslim, Sunan al Sughra, and Sunan Ibn Majah), Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa (mentioned in Sunan Ibn Majah), Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al Khattab (mentioned in Fiqh sources), Abd al Rahman ibn Abi Layla, Ali ibn al Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abu Barzah al Aslami, and Abu Dharr, from whom he narrated mursal (disconnected) hadith.
Ali ibn al Madini said: We mentioned to Yahya, meaning Yahya ibn Saeed al Qattan, the narrator al Qasim ibn Awf al Shaybani. He said: Shuabah said, I entered upon him and he shook his head. I said to Yahya, what is his condition? He said, he kept avoiding.
I said, do you mean his weakness in hadith?
Yahya said, if Shuabah had known it was from al Qasim ibn Awf, he would not have transmitted it, for he saw him and refrained from taking hadith from him.
Abu Hatim Ar Razi said: His hadith is mudtarib (this refers to the narration which is ‘mixed up‘ either in its Isnad or in its Matn or both), though his status with me is that of sidq (truthfulness).
Tahdeeb Al Kamal By Al Mizzi (23/400)
النسائي
قال النسائي عقب تخريج حديثه في “اليوم والليلة”: القاسم ضعيف الحديث. (تهذيب التهذيب 3/416)
الذهبي
مختلف في حاله. (الكاشف في معرفة من له رواية في الكتب الستة 4/32)
ابن حجر
وأرسل عن أبي ذر. (تهذيب التهذيب 3/416)
صدوق يغرب. (تقريب التهذيب 1/793)
المزي
مرسلا. (تهذيب الكمال 23/399)
Al Dhahabi said: There is ikhtilaf (disagreement) regarding his condition. (al Kashif 4 32).
Al Mizzi said: He narrated mursal. (Tahdhib al Kamil 23 399).
Rabee bin Hadi Al Madkhali said:
ثمَّ هو من كبار الصَّحابة وفقهائهم الكبار، بعيدٌ جدًّا أن يكون بهذه الدَّرجة من الجهل.
This hadith was also narrated in Musnad Ahmad 19403. Through the route of Ismail bin Ulayyah from Ayyub from al Qasim bin Awf al Shaybani from Abdullah bin Abi Awfa which does not mention Muadh Ibn Jabal prostrating to the prophet but it does mention the saying
“I would command the woman to prostrate to her husband, and a woman does not fulfil the right of Allah”
19403: Ismail narrated to us, Ayyub from al Qasim al Shaybani (weak narrator), from Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa, who said: Muadh came to Yemen, or he said al Sham, and he saw the Christians prostrating to their patricians and bishops.
He considered within himself that the Messenger of Allah, was more deserving of being venerated. When he arrived he said, O Messenger of Allah, I saw the Christians prostrating to their patricians and bishops, and I considered within myself that you are more deserving of being venerated.
He said, If I were to command anyone to prostrate to anyone, I would command the woman to prostrate to her husband, and a woman does not fulfil the right of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, upon her entirely until she fulfils the right of her husband upon her entirely, even if he were to ask her for herself while she is on the back of a saddle pad she should give herself to him.
Shuyab Al Aran’ut said: This is a hasan hadith, and this chain is weak due to its Iḍtirāb (this is when a narrator interchanges the names in a chain).
The disorder (Iḍtirāb) in it is from al Qasim al Shaybani, who is Ibn Awf. Ayyub narrates from him, and there is disagreement about him. Ismail ibn Ulayyah narrated in this route from Ayyub, from al Qasim, from Ibn Abi Awfa, who said, Muadh arrived, so he made it among the Musnad of Ibn Abi Awfa. Maamar narrated from Ayyub with Abd al Razzaq, number 20596, he said, from Awf ibn al Qasim, or al Qasim ibn Awf, that Muadh ibn Jabal, so he made it among the Musnad of Muadh. Hammad ibn Zayd narrated from Ayyub, and there is disagreement about him. Yahya ibn Adam and Ishaq ibn Hisham the date seller and Affan narrated from Hammad, from Ayyub, from al Qasim al Shaybani. They said, from Ibn Abi Awfa, from Muadh, so they made it among the Musnad of Muadh ibn Jabal.
Through the route of Affan, al Shashi brought it out, number 1332, and he coupled Wahib with Hammad. Azhar ibn Marwan with Ibn Majah, number 1853, and Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al Maqaddami with Ibn Hibban, number 4171, and Sulayman ibn Harb with al Bayhaqi in al Sunan, 7 293, all three of them from Hammad, from Ayyub, from al Qasim, and they said, from Ibn Abi Awfa, he said, when Muadh arrived, so they made it among the Musnad of Ibn Abi Awfa. Ishaq ibn Hisham narrated from Hammad, as al Daraqutni mentioned in al Ilal, 6 38, he said, from Ayyub and Ibn Awn, from al Qasim al Shaybani.
Al Daraqutni said, he was singular in mentioning Ibn Awn, and no one followed him in that.
Muammal ibn Ismail narrated from Hammad, from Ayyub, from al Qasim al Shaybani. He said, from Zayd ibn Arqam, from Muadh. Al Daraqutni said, he made it from the narration of Zayd ibn Arqam, from Muadh, and he was not followed upon this narration from Hammad ibn Zayd. Qatadah narrated it with al Bazzar, numbers 1468 Zawaid, and al Tabarani in al Kabir, numbers 5116 and 5117, from al Qasim ibn Awf. He said, from Zayd ibn Arqam.
He said, the Prophet sent Muadh. Hisham al Dastuai narrated from al Qasim in narration 19404, he said, from Abd al Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from his father, from Muadh.
Al Nuhas ibn Fahm with al Bazzar, number 1470 Zawaid, narrated from al Qasim al Shaybani, he said, from Abd al Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from his father, from Suhayb, that Muadh. Al Bazzar said, and I think the disagreement is from the side of al Qasim. Ibn Abi Hatim said in al Ilal, 2 252 to 253, I fear that the disorder is from al Qasim. Al Daraqutni ruled decisively in al Ilal, 6 39, that the disorder in it is from al Qasim. He said, the disorder in it is from al Qasim ibn Awf.
And Abu Nuaym brought it in al Dalaail, number 286, and al Bayhaqi in al Dalaail, 6 29, by the route of Abu al Waraqaa who is Qaid ibn Abd al Rahman, from Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa. He said, while we were sitting with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, there came to him a person who said, the watering camel of the family of so and so has broken away from them. The Messenger of Allah rose, and we rose with him.
We said, O Messenger of Allah, do not go near it, we fear for you. The Messenger of Allah drew near to the camel. When the camel saw him, it prostrated. Until he said, If I were to command anyone. And Abu al Waraqaa, al Bukhari said in al Tarikh al Kabir, 7 132, munkar in hadith. It will be mentioned after number 19411 that Ahmad struck out his hadith, and considered him abandoned in hadith.
By a similar wording to this, the hadith of Anas has preceded under number 12614.
It will be mentioned under number 19404.
It will be mentioned from the hadith of al Aamash, from Abu Zibyan, from Muadh ibn Jabal, 5 227. Abu Zibyan did not hear from Muadh. Al Daraqutni said, and this is the correct. We say, he means from the route of the hadith of Muadh.
It has a supporting witness from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah with al Tirmidhi, number 1159, and Ibn Hibban, number 4162, and its chain is sound due to Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Alqamah ibn Waqas al Laythi.
Another from the hadith of Anas ibn Malik has preceded under number 12614. In its chain is Khalaf ibn Khalifah who mixed up near the end of his life. In spite of that al Mundhiri considered its chain sound in al Targhib wa al Tarhib, 3 055.
A third from the hadith of Aishah will come, 6 7. In its chain is Ali ibn Zayd ibn Judan.
A fourth from the hadith of Qays ibn Saad with Abu Dawud, number 2140, and al Hakim, 2 187. In its chain is Sharik al Nakhaai. His hadith is fair in corroborating chains.
A fifth from the hadith of Ibn Abbas with al Tabarani, number 12003. In its chain is Abu Azzah al Dabbagh, al Hakam ibn Tuhman, and he is weak, and Abu Awn al Ziyadi, who is not known.
His statement, and a woman does not fulfil the right of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, upon her, until his saying, even if he asks her for herself while she is on the back of a saddle pad, has a supporting witness from the hadith of Taliq ibn Ali with al Tirmidhi, number 1160, and al Tabarani in al Kabir, number 8240, with the wording, If the man calls his wife for his need, then let her come to him, even if she is at the oven. Its chain is sound due to Qays ibn Taliq. Al Tirmidhi said, this hadith is sound and strange.
Another from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah with Muslim, number 1436, with the wording, By the One in whose hand is my soul, there is no man who calls his wife to his bed, and she refuses him, except that the One who is in the heaven is angry with her until he is pleased with her.
It is with al Bukhari, number 5193, and Muslim, number 1436, 122, with the wording, If a man calls his wife to his bed, and she refuses to come, the angels curse her until morning.
In this subject also from Ibn Abbas with Ibn Majah, number 971, and al Tabarani in al Kabir, number 12275, with the wording, Three persons for whom Allah does not accept prayer. He mentioned among them a woman who spends the night while her husband is angry with her. Ibn Hibban declared it authentic, number 1757.
With al Tirmidhi, number 360, with the wording, Three persons whose prayers do not pass beyond their ears. From Abu Umamah, and he mentioned among them a woman who spends the night while her husband is angry with her. Al Tirmidhi considered it sound.
From Jabir ibn Abdullah, raised to the Prophet, with Ibn Khuzaymah, number 940, and Ibn Hibban, number 5355, with the wording, Three persons for whom prayer is not accepted, and no good deed ascends to the heaven for them. He mentioned among them the woman whose husband is angry with her until he is pleased. In its chain is Zuhayr ibn Muhammad al Tamimi. The narrations of the people of al Sham from him are not steady, and this is among them. Al Tabarani narrated it in al Awsat, number 9227, and in its chain is Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Aqil, and he is weak, though he is considered.)
Musnad Ahmad (32/145-148)
19404: Ali narrated to us, Muadh ibn Hisham narrated to us, my father narrated to me, from al Qasim ibn Awf, a man from the people of Kufa, from the clan of Banu Murrah ibn Hammam, from Abd al Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from his father, from Muadh ibn Jabal, who said: He went to al Sham and saw the Christians, and he mentioned the same meaning except that he said: I said, Why do you do this? They said, This was the greeting of the prophets before us. I said, We are more deserving of doing this for our Prophet. The Prophet of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: They have lied about their prophets just as they altered their Book. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has given us something better than that, the greeting of peace, the greeting of the people of Paradise.
Footnote: Shuayb Al Arna’ut said this hadith is Jayyid (Good) except for his saying, “They have lied about their prophets… to the end of the hadith.” This chain is weak due to its disorder, and we have explained in detail its disorder in the previous narration under number 19403.)
Musnad Ahmad (32/149)
So the hadith through the route of al Qasim and through the route of Abu Dhibyan does not contain that Muadh prostrated to the Prophet nor does it mention that women would have been ordered to prostrate to their husbands.
Rather, it contains presenting prostration to the Messenger, then the Messenger rejected that.
963: He was asked about the hadith of Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa and Zayd ibn Arqam from Muadh ibn Jabal, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade him from prostrating to the Prophet and said, “If I were to command anyone to prostrate to other than Allah, I would have commanded the woman to prostrate to her husband…”
Imam Ad Daraqunti (d. 385AH) said: It is narrated by al Qasim ibn Awf al Shaybani, and there is disagreement about him. It was narrated from him by Ayyub al Sakhtiyani, and there is disagreement about Ayyub’s narration. It was narrated by Hammad ibn Zayd, and there is also disagreement about him. Yahya ibn Adam, Ishaq ibn Hisham al Tamaar, and Affan narrated from Hammad ibn Zayd, from Ayyub, from al Qasim al Shaybani, from Ibn Abi Awfa, from Muadh.
Others narrated it from Hammad ibn Zayd and said that Muadh said to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, making it in their narration from the musnad of Ibn Abi Awfa.
Likewise, Ismail ibn Ulayyah narrated from Ayyub, from al Qasim, from Ibn Abi Awfa, that Muadh did this.
And Wahib narrated from Ayyub, from al Qasim, from Ibn Abi Awfa, from Muadh, similar to the narration of Yahya ibn Adam and those who followed him.
Ishaq ibn Hisham narrated from Hammad, from Ayyub and Ibn Awn, from al Qasim al Shaybani, and he was singular in mentioning Ibn Awn, and no one followed him in that.
This hadith was also narrated by Muammal ibn Ismail, from Hammad ibn Zayd, from Ayyub, from al Qasim, from Zayd ibn Arqam, from Muadh. He made it from the narration of Zayd ibn Arqam from Muadh, and he was not followed upon this narration from Hammad ibn Zayd.
This hadith was also narrated by Qatadah, from al Qasim ibn Awf, from Zayd ibn Arqam, who said: The Prophet sent Muadh.
It was narrated from Qatadah by Saeed ibn Abi Arubah and al Hajjaj ibn al Hajjaj.
It was narrated by Hisham al Dastuai, from al Qasim ibn Awf, from Abd al Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from his father, from Muadh ibn Jabal.
He was followed in this by Ayyub ibn Khut, from al Qasim ibn Awf.
It was also narrated by al Nuhas ibn Fahm, from al Qasim ibn Awf, from Abd al Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from his father, from Suhayb, from Muadh. This was mentioned by Uthman ibn Umar from him.
The inconsistency in all these routes is from al Qasim ibn Awf.
It was also narrated by Abu Zhibyan al Janabi, from Muadh ibn Jabal.
It was narrated from him by al Aamash, and there is disagreement about his narration.
Waki and Jarir said: from al Aamash, from Abu Zhibyan, from Muadh.
While al Thawri and Abu Nuaym said: from al Aamash, from Abu Zhibyan, from a man among the Ansar, from Muadh.
Likewise, Ibn Numayr said: from Waki, from al Aamash.
Abu Zhibyan did not hear from Muadh, and this is the correct view.
Al Ilal By Ad Daraqutni (6/37-40)
