7926 – Wakiʿ narrated to us, from Sufyan, from Mansur, from Mujahid, who said: A man asked Ibn ʿUmar, “Should I stand behind the imam during the month of Ramadan?”
He replied, “Remain silent.” Then he said, “As though you are a donkey.”
Kitab al-Muṣannaf by Ibn Abī Shaybah (5/162)
The statement of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar does not contain an insult directed at the person himself. Rather, it contains a rhetorical comparison directed at a specific action.
When he said, ‘Do you then listen like a donkey? Pray in your house,’ he was criticising a type of listening that brings no benefit.
The comparison is not between the essence of the man and the essence of a donkey. It is between two states: a person who is present, hearing recitation, yet gaining no benefit from it, and a donkey that carries books yet understands nothing of what it carries.
This is a well known rhetorical device in Arabic speech. The comparison focuses on a shared attribute, not on the entire identity of the one being addressed. In this case, the shared attribute is عدم الانتفاع (the lack of benefit).
A donkey may carry valuable books filled with knowledge, but it has no comprehension of their contents. It transports knowledge physically, yet remains unaffected by it intellectually. Likewise, a person who merely stands behind the imam, listening passively without reflection, engagement, or recitation, may hear the Qur’an but fail to internalise it.
Ibn ʿUmar was therefore correcting an understanding of worship. His question, ‘Do you not recite the Qur’an?’ shows that he considered personal recitation and engagement to be essential.
When the man answered yes, Ibn ʿUmar responded by exposing the contradiction: if one claims attachment to the Qur’an yet chooses a mode of prayer in which he does not actively recite, then what distinguishes his state from that of an animal that hears but does not comprehend?
As for the objection raised by some that the word ‘donkey’ is offensive, this assumes that every comparison using an animal is inherently abusive. That assumption is not supported by the language of revelation. Allah said:
‘مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ حُمِّلُوا التَّوْرَاةَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَحْمِلُوهَا كَمَثَلِ الْحِمَارِ يَحْمِلُ أَسْفَارًا’
‘The example of those who were entrusted with the Torah and then did not carry it is like the example of a donkey carrying books.’ (Surah al Jumuʿah 62:5)
He, Exalted is He, says, condemning the Jews who were given the Torah and were entrusted with carrying it in order to act upon it, yet they did not act upon it: their likeness in that regard is like the likeness of a donkey carrying books.
That is, like a donkey which, when loaded with books, does not know what is in them. It carries them in a physical manner and does not know what it bears.
Likewise are these people in their carrying of the Book which they were given: they preserved it in wording but did not understand it, nor did they act according to what it required. Rather, they interpreted it away, distorted it, and altered it. Thus they are in a worse condition than donkeys; because the donkey has no understanding, whereas these people possess understanding but did not use it. For this reason He said in another verse:
أُولَئِكَ كَالأَنْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَ
“They are like cattle; rather, they are even more astray. They are the heedless.”
(Surah al Aʿraf 179)
And here He said:
بِئْسَ مَثَلُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بآيات الله وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِى الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
“Evil is the example of the people who denied the signs of Allah, and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.” (Surah al Jumuʿah 5)
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (8/1187)
In this verse, the comparison is not an insult rather it is a parable is given for the Jews when they abandoned acting upon the Torah and did not believe in Muhammad ﷺ. Possessing revelation without acting upon it or understanding it. The word donkey here is used to describe a state of not understanding and not gaining any benefit from what one carries.
Similarly, Ibn ʿUmar’s wording is pedagogical (in a manner of teaching) and corrective. It draws attention to the emptiness of passive presence in worship.
The comparison is limited and precise. It does not degrade the human being as a creation honoured by Allah. Rather, it warns against adopting a state of heedlessness that reduces the value of one’s participation.
The point is not that Ibn ʿUmar likened the man to a donkey in his humanity. He likened a particular mode of inattentive listening to the condition of an animal that carries knowledge without awareness. The purpose is admonition and clarification, not insult.
Likewise, his words, ‘Pray in your house’, do not mean that Tarawih is forbidden. Rather, it is to prefer performing it while being a reciter, not only a listener.
Tarawih in congregation is not a condition, but it is better according to many of the righteous Salaf, such as Imam Ahmad. He used to prefer praying it with the imam in the masjid over praying it at home because, in his view, the proofs for that were stronger.
437 – Imam Abu Dawud said he heard Ahmad and he was asked, “Do you prefer that a man prays with the people in Ramadan, or by himself?”
He said, “He should pray with the people.”
I also heard him say, “I prefer that he prays with the imam and performs witr with him.”
438 – Abu Dawud said to Ahmad, “The imam leads the people in tarawih, while some people in the masjid pray by themselves?”
He said, “I do not like that. I prefer that they pray with the imam.”
It was said to Ahmad while I was listening, “If the imam performs witr with 3 rakʿahs, should I perform witr with him, or leave and perform witr by myself?”
He said, “Perform witr with him.”
It was said, “They raise their voices in the qunut?”
He said, “Perform witr with him.”
It was said to Ahmad while I was listening, “He delays the night prayer, meaning the tarawih, until the end of the night?”
He said, “No, no. The practice of the Muslims is more beloved to me.”
Ahmad would stand with the people until he performed witr with them, and he would not leave until the imam left. I witnessed him throughout the month of Ramadan performing witr with his imam, except, as I think, for one night when I was not present.
Kitab Masaʾil al Imam Aḥmad Riwāyat Abi Dawud al Sijistani page 90
So the main view is that many of the righteous Salaf and early Imams saw that the prayer in the masjid as better, while knowing that Tarawih does not require congregation, but that performing it in congregation in the masjid is better.
From this comes a related matter for the one who recites well. Is it better for him to pray alone in his home, or to follow the imam in Tarawih while he recites well?
The report of Ibn ʿUmar in the Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah is on this related matter. As is clear, Ibn ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, held that for the one who recites well, there is no reason for him to only listen with the imam, and it is better for him to pray alone at home.
This is the explanation of the report from Ibn ʿUmar.
The Salaf and early Imams held that praying in the masjid with the imam is better, and the disagreement happened in the matter of strong recitation.
There is no criticism of the report. ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar was from the fuqahaʾ, and he had a view that the one who recites well is better praying at home.
All of this is while knowing that Ibn ʿUmar did not deny the legitimacy of Tarawih. Rather, he preferred that the one strong in the Qur’an recites it instead of only listening.
The Rafidah narrated from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: ‘Whoever speaks on Friday while the imam is giving the sermon, he is like a donkey’ (Bihar al Anwar 89/212).
They also narrated from him that he ﷺ said:
عبد بغير فقه كالحمار في الطاحون
‘The worshipper without fiqh is like a donkey in a mill’ (Mizan al Hikmah 3/2093).
ʿAmmar ibn Yasir, in Their View, Is Like a Donkey
They missed that their books contain reports that compared ʿAmmar ibn Yasir to a donkey.
ʿAmmar ibn Yasir رضي الله عنه was a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He became Muslim early through the da’wah of Abu Bakr. His parents, Sumayyah and Yasir, were among the first martyrs in Islam. After migrating to Madinah, he helped build the Prophet’s masjid and fought in many battles alongside the Prophet ﷺ.
He later fought in the Ridda wars under Abu Bakr and in the conquest of Persia under ʿUmar. He served as governor of Kufah during ʿUmar’s rule. After the killing of ʿUthman, he supported ʿAli and was killed while fighting on ʿAli’s side at the Battle of Siffin, which is they the Shia love him and believe he is one of the four companions of the Prophet ﷺ who were not munafiqeen (hypocrites).
Man La Yahduruhu al Faqih page 71
The Shia reports mentioned support the same linguistic principle discussed earlier. In each case, the word donkey is used to describe a specific action that reflects lack of understanding or lack of benefit, not to insult the person’s character or status.
In the narration concerning ʿAmmar ibn Yasir رضي الله عنه, the comparison relates to the way he performed tayammum by rolling in the dust.
The comparison of a donkey rolling is used to correct a mistaken action. It does not degrade ʿAmmar himself, who is a noble Companion, but addresses the method he used.
Likewise, the report comparing worship without fiqh to a donkey in a mill focuses on mechanical repetition without comprehension. The donkey walks in circles carrying out motion, yet does not understand the purpose. The comparison targets the absence of insight, not human dignity.
These examples demonstrate that such comparisons function as rhetorical tools. They isolate a shared attribute such as ignorance, lack of reflection, or absence of benefit. They do not define the person’s essence.
This confirms that the earlier comparisons in Qur’an and reports follow the same pattern of admonition and instruction, not personal insult.
