The Meaning Of Yarkabun
The word yarkabun (pressing closely around him) in this report does not carry any sexual meaning. Al Sindi explains it plainly:
“Yarkabun (pressing closely around him), ay: yazhamunahu (crowding him), wa yaqrubun minhu (coming near him).” (Musnad Ahmad 6/332–338)
This means that the group came very close to the Messenger ﷺ, gathered around him, and crowded near him while he was reciting. The word is being explained by the ulama through Arabic usage, not through the twisted meaning some people try to force onto it.
The Reason They Came Close
The reason for their crowding was not desire for the body or anything inappropriate. Ibn Qutaybah al Dinawari (d. 276AH) explains the matter by connecting it to the Qur’an verse:
كَادُوا يَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِ لِبَدًا
“They almost became gathered upon him in crowds.” (al Jinn: 19)
He says that this means:
“They almost yarkabunahu (pressed closely around him) and yalbidun bihi (gathered tightly around him), out of eagerness for what they heard of the Qur’an and strong desire for it.” (Gharib al Hadith, Ibn Qutaybah, pg 574)
So the reason was clear. They were eager to hear the Qur’an from the Messenger ﷺ. Their nearness came from longing to listen, not from any obscene act.
The Meaning Of Labadan
The Qur’an word labadan (crowds gathered tightly together) shows the correct meaning. It refers to things joined together, gathered closely, and piled near one another. Ibn Qutaybah explains this through Arabic speech and poetry, showing that labida (to cling close and gather tightly) is connected to crouching low, staying close, and gathering together before movement. (Gharib al Hadith, Ibn Qutaybah, pg 574)
This makes the intended meaning even clearer. They were not “riding” in an immoral way. They were gathered tightly around the Prophet ﷺ, pressing near him because they were listening closely to the Qur’an.
The Report Itself Is Not A Strong Proof For The Objection
The narration in Musnad Ahmad is graded weak by Shuʿayb al Arnaʾut. The issue is that ʿAmr al Bikali is not established to have heard this hadith from Ibn Masʿud رضي الله عنه. Al Bukhari said:
“No hearing of ʿAmr from Ibn Masʿud is known.” (al Tarikh al Saghir 1/203, al Bukhari)
Ibn Kathir also said about this route:
“It contains very strong strangeness.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Ibn Kathir)
So the wording used by critics is not even a strong narration to begin with.
Even when the wording is explained, the Arabic explanation removes the false sexual reading completely.
The Sound Report Gives The Wider Event
The sound narration in Sahih Muslim says that Ibn Masʿud رضي الله عنه was not with the Prophet ﷺ on the Night of the Jinn. He said:
“I was not with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the Night of the Jinn, and I wished that I had been with him.” (Sahih Muslim 450, 150 and 152)
Ibn Hajar said that this wording is stronger than the reports which mention Ibn Masʿud رضي الله عنه being with him. (Fath al Bari 6/173, Ibn Hajar)
This means the established matter is that the Prophet ﷺ did go to the jinn and recited the Qur’an to them. As for the detailed wording about them pressing around him, it is not a strong independent proof. In any case, the scholars who explained the wording said it means crowding and coming near.
The False Reading Is Rejected
The claim that this hadith has a gay or obscene meaning is rejected by the Arabic explanation itself. The key words are explained as follows:
Yarkabun (pressing closely around him) means crowding him and coming near him.
Rakibuhu (they pressed closely around him) means they gathered near him in a way that made him feel heavy.
Yalbidun bihi (gathered tightly around him) means they formed a close and dense gathering around him.
Labadan (crowds gathered tightly together) means a group gathered closely upon one another.
The whole meaning is that they came close because they were eager to hear the Qur’an. It is a scene of daʿwah (calling to Allah), Qur’an recitation, and the jinn listening to the Messenger ﷺ. It is not a scene of immoral behaviour, and the language does not support that claim.
End of Brief Summary.
Report In Musnad Ahmad & Ibn Qutaybah’s Explanation of the Words In Question
The Report
3788 – ʿArim (d. 224AH) and ʿAffan (d. 220AH) narrated to us. They both said: Muʿtamir (d. 187AH) narrated to us. He said: My father, Sulayman ibn Tarkhan al Taymi (d. 143AH), said: Abu Tamimah narrated to me from ʿAmr, perhaps he said, al Bikali, that ʿAmr narrated to him from Abdullah ibn Masʿud رضي الله عنه. ʿAmr said that Abdullah said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ took me along with him. He said: We set out until we came to such and such a place. Then he marked out a boundary for me and said to me: “Stay inside this area. Do not leave it. If you leave it, you will be destroyed.”
He said: I remained inside it. He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then went on the distance of a throw, or farther than that, or as he said.
Then he mentioned some men, as though they were the Zutt. ʿAffan said, or as ʿAffan said, if Allah wills. They had no clothes on, but I could not see their private parts. They were tall and had little flesh.
He said: They came and began يركبون yarkabun (pressing closely around and crowding near) the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He said: The Prophet of Allah ﷺ began reciting to them. He said: They began coming to me, causing things to appear to me, or moving around me, and crossing in front of me.
Abdullah said: I was filled with very strong fear because of them. He said: So I sat down, or as he said.
He said: When the first light of dawn split through, they began to leave, or as he said.
He said: Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came back heavy and in pain, or almost in pain, because of how they had ركبوه rakibuhu (pressed closely around him and crowded near him). He said: “I truly feel heavy,” or as he said.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then placed his head in my lap, or as he said.
He said: Then some other men came. They had long white garments on, or as he said, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had dozed off.
Abdullah said: I was more afraid of them than I had been the first time.
ʿArim said in his narration: He said: Some of them said to others: “This servant has certainly been given great good,” or as they said. “His two eyes are sleeping,” or he said, “his eye,” or as they said, “but his heart is awake.”
Then he said, ʿArim and ʿAffan both said: Some of them said to others: “Come, let us give an example for him,” or as they said.
Some of them said to others: “Give an example for him and we will explain it, or we will give the example and you will explain it.”
Some of them said to others: “His example is like the example of a master who built a strong building, then sent food to the people,” or as he said. “So whoever did not come to his food,” or he said, “did not follow him, he punished him with a severe punishment,” or as they said.
The others said: “As for the master, he is the Lord of all creation. As for the building, it is Islam. As for the food, it is Jannah (Paradise). And he is the caller. So whoever follows him will be in Jannah.”
ʿArim said in his narration: Or as they said. “And whoever does not follow him will be punished,” or as he said.
Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ woke up and said: “What did you see, O son of Umm ʿAbd?”
Abdullah said: I saw such and such.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Nothing of what they said was hidden from me.”
The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: “They were a group of angels,” or he said, “They were from the angels,” or as Allah willed.
Footnote
Shuayb Al Arna’ut said: Its isnad (chain) is weak. ʿAmr al Bikali, whose kunyah (teknonym) is Abu Uthman, is not established to have heard this hadith from Ibn Masʿud. Al Bukhari said in al Tarikh al Saghir 1/203, by al Bukhari: “No hearing of ʿAmr from Ibn Masʿud is known.”
However, Abu Hatim said in al Marasil pg 119, by Abu Hatim: “He reported from Ibn Masʿud the hadith of the Night of the Jinn.” There is disagreement over whether this ʿAmr was a Companion, but most held that he was not a Companion. No statement declaring him reliable has been reported from anyone.
He has a biography in al Tarikh al Kabir 6/313, by al Bukhari, al Jarh wal Taʿdil 6/270, by Ibn Abi Hatim, Taʿjil al Manfaʿah pg 317, by Ibn Hajar, and Ikmal al Hussayni, report no. 666. The rest of its men are trustworthy narrators of the Two Shaykhs, except Abu Tamimah, who is Tarif ibn Mujalid al Hujaymi, for he is from the narrators of al Bukhari. Muʿtamir is Ibn Sulayman ibn Tarkhan al Taymi. Abu Zurʿah and Abu Hatim did not authenticate anything in this chapter, as will come.
Al Bukhari reported it in al Tarikh al Saghir 1/203, by al Bukhari, through the route of ʿArim with this isnad, but he did not quote its wording.
Ibn Kathir mentioned it in Tafsir Ibn Kathir, by Ibn Kathir, through the route of Imam Ahmad with this isnad. He said: “It contains very strong strangeness.”
Al Tirmidhi reported something similar to it in summary form, from Muhammad ibn Bashshar, who said: Ibn Abi ʿAdi narrated to us from Jaʿfar ibn Maymun, from Abu Tamimah al Hujaymi, from Abu Uthman, who is al Nahdi, from Ibn Masʿud. Al Tirmidhi said: “A hasan sahih gharib hadith from this route.” Jamiʿ at Tirmidhi 2861.
We say: The men of al Tirmidhi’s isnad are trustworthy men of the Sahih, except Jaʿfar ibn Maymun. Ahmad, Ibn Maʿin, al Nasaʾi, and al ʿUqayli weakened him. Ibn Maʿin said in another place: “He is acceptable in hadith.” Ibn ʿAdi said: “I hope there is no harm in him, and his hadith is written among the weak narrators.”
Al Haythami mentioned it in Majmaʿ al Zawaʾid 8/261, by al Haythami, and said: “Al Tirmidhi reported it in summary form, and Ahmad reported it. Its men are the men of the Sahih, except ʿAmr al Bikali. Al ʿIjli mentioned him among the trustworthy Tabiʿin, and Ibn Hibban and others mentioned him among the Companions.”
Al Bayhaqi reported something similar to it in summary form in Dalaʾil al Nubuwwah 2/231, by al Bayhaqi, through the route of Ruh ibn Salah, from Musa ibn ʿAli ibn Rabah, from his father, from Ibn Masʿud. Ruh ibn Salah was weakened by Ibn ʿAdi, who said: “In some of his hadith there is nakarah (objectionable wording).”
Ibn Jarir al Tabari reported it in Tafsir al Tabari, by Ibn Jarir al Tabari, through the route of Maʿmar, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Abdullah ibn ʿAmr ibn Ghaylan al Thaqafi, from Ibn Masʿud, with similar wording. Abdullah ibn ʿAmr ibn Ghaylan al Thaqafi was declared majhul (unknown) by al Daraqutni. Abu Zurʿah and Abu Hatim said in al ʿIlal 1/45, by Ibn Abi Hatim: “Ibn Ghaylan is majhul, and nothing is authentic in this chapter.” Al Hafiz quoted it in Lisan al Mizan 3/322, by Ibn Hajar.
Ibn Majah reported it in al Tafsir, as al Mizzi mentioned in Tahdhib al Kamal 34/67, by al Mizzi. Al Nasaʾi reported it in al Mujtaba 1/37–38 in summary form. Ibn Jarir reported it in Tafsir al Tabari 6/32, by Ibn Jarir al Tabari. Al Bayhaqi reported it in Dalaʾil al Nubuwwah 2/230, by al Bayhaqi. Abu Nuʿaym reported it in al Dalaʾil 2/473, by Abu Nuʿaym. Al Mizzi reported it in Tahdhib al Kamal 34/67, by al Mizzi, through routes from Ibn Shihab, from Abu Uthman ibn Sunnah al Khuzaʿi, from Ibn Masʿud, with similar wording. Abu Uthman ibn Sunnah was mentioned by al Dhahabi in al Mizan, where he said: “I do not know anyone who narrated from him except al Zuhri.”
Ibn Jarir also reported it through the route of Maʿmar, from Qatadah, from the Prophet ﷺ. This is mursal (missing the Companion from the chain). Tafsir al Tabari, by Ibn Jarir al Tabari.)
Al Bayhaqi reported it in Dalaʾil al Nubuwwah 2/231, by al Bayhaqi, through the route of al Mustamir ibn al Rayyan, from Abu al Jawzaʾ, from Ibn Masʿud, with similar wording in summary form. Abu al Jawzaʾ, who is Aws ibn Abdullah al Qalaʿi, did not hear from Ibn Masʿud, as Ibn ʿAdi said in al Kamil 1/402, by Ibn ʿAdi.
We say: It is authentic in Sahih Muslim that Ibn Masʿud was not with the Prophet ﷺ on the Night of the Jinn, and that he said: “I was not with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the Night of the Jinn, and I wished that I had been with him.” Sahih Muslim 450, 150 and 152.
Al Hafiz said in Fath al Bari 6/173, by Ibn Hajar: “The statement of Ibn Masʿud in this hadith is more authentic than what al Zuhri reported: Abu Uthman ibn Sunnah al Khuzaʿi informed me…” Meaning, concerning the report that Ibn Masʿud was with the Prophet ﷺ.
Al Bayhaqi said: It is possible that his statement in the authentic report, “None of us accompanied him,” means during the time when he was reciting the Qur’an to them. But his statement in the authentic report, “They missed him,” shows that they did not know of his leaving, unless it is understood that the one who missed him was someone other than the one who went out with him. Allah knows best.
Ibn Kathir said in Tafsir Ibn Kathir, by Ibn Kathir, after mentioning the narrations which say that Ibn Masʿud was not with the Prophet ﷺ on the Night of the Jinn, and the narrations which say that he was with him: “As for Ibn Masʿud, he was not with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at the time when he addressed the jinn and called them. Rather, he was far away from him. No one went out with the Prophet ﷺ except him, and even with that, he did not witness the actual address. This is the way of al Bayhaqi. It is also possible that the first time he went out to them, Ibn Masʿud رضي الله عنه was not with him, nor anyone else, as appears from the wording of the first narration. Then, after that, he went out with him on another night. Allah knows.”
See also Musnad Ahmad 3782 and Musnad Ahmad 4375.
Wording Explained By Al Sindi
Al Sindi said:
His saying, “the distance of a throw,” with the letter kha and the letter dhal, means the distance of throwing a small stone or date stone.
“Some men,” with the opening vowel, is the plural of “someone,” with an opening vowel and light pronunciation or doubled pronunciation. It is used as a discreet way to refer to a man. It is a sound plural. It means men. In some copies it appears with tanwin. In al Nihayah, it says: “This is how it is recorded and fixed in Musnad Ahmad, and I did not find it explained in any of the books of rare hadith wording.” End quote. I say: It is as though it was treated like a singular word because it follows its pattern. It is also possible that it should not have tanwin, and that the alif is for lengthening the sound. Allah knows best.
“As though they were the Zutt,” with dammah and doubling, refers to a people from India. It is an Arabised form of Jatt. The standard rule would also require its Arabised form to have fathah. This is how it appears in al Qamus.
“Tall,” with kasrah on the letter ta, is the plural of “tall.”
“They had little flesh,” is another descriptive sentence.
Yarkabun (pressing closely around him, this is the word that is translated as “ride” but the enemies of Islam have a perverted understanding of it), ay: yazhamunahu (crowding him), wa yaqrubun minhu (coming near him).
“Moving around,” is read with dammah on the present tense letter, from the root meaning “to turn something.” In the hadith wording, “some of them turned towards others,” meaning each one turned towards the other and inclined towards him. So the meaning here is that they were turning towards me, inclining towards me, and moving around me.
“Crossing in front of me,” means they were moving away from me to the side.
“I was filled with fear,” is in the passive form.
“Other men,” means other men besides the first ones. This is shown by the fact that it is repeated as an indefinite word, because an indefinite word repeated is not the same as the first one.
“He dozed off,” means he slept.
“His example is like the example of a master,” means the whole account connected to him is like the account connected to this master, not that he is in the same rank as him.
“And he is the caller,” means the Prophet ﷺ.
Musnad Ahmad 6/332–338
Linguistics mentioned by Imam Ibn Qutaybah
Ibn Qutaybah al Dinawari (d. 276AH) said: Al Sijistani (d. 255AH) informed me from al Asmaʿi (d. 216AH) that he said:
Among their proverbs is: “تلبدي تصيدي talabbadi tasidi (crouch low and keep close so you may catch your prey).” What is meant is: “I only made you تلبدتك talabbadtuki (crouch low and cling close) so that you may تثب tathib (leap).”
Similar to it is: “مخر نبق لينباع mukhr nabq linbaʿ (let him crouch low so he may stretch out),” and: “والمخر نبق اللاطئ لينباع wal mukhr nabq al latiʾ linbaʿ (the one crouching low and clinging close should stretch out),” meaning: “so that he may spread himself out and then leap.”
He quoted a line from the Sariʿ:
“Then he ينباع yanbaʿ (stretches out), like the انبياع inbiyaʿ (stretching out) of the serpent.”
And the saying of Allah, Majestic and Mighty:
كَادُوا يَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِ لِبَدًا
“They almost became gathered upon him in crowds.” (al Jinn: 19)
This is from the same meaning. It means: they almost يركبونه yarkabunahu (pressed closely around him) and يلبدون به yalbidun bihi (gathered tightly around him), out of eagerness for what they heard of the Qur’an and strong desire for it.
Gharib al Hadith by Ibn Qutaybah pg 574
