Explanation of the 3 Linked Chain Hadith of
Imam Ad-Darami [255H]
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
أَخْبَرَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ هَارُونَ ، أَنْبَأَنَا حُمَيْدٌ , عَنْ أَنَسٍ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ : إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا صَلَّى فَإِنَّمَا يُنَاجِي رَبَّهُ ، أَوْ رَبُّهُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْقِبْلَةِ فَإِذَا بَزَقَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيَبْزُقْ عَنْ يَسَارِهِ ، أَوْ تَحْتَ قَدَمِهِ
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When the servant is praying he is having a discussion with his Lord, or his Lord is between him and the Qiblah. Therefore if any of you need to spit then he must spit on his left side or under his your feet
This is the 2nd of the three chained hadith in Sunnan Ad-Darami. The total amount of 3 chained narrations in his collection is 15.
This hadith was collected by Imam Ad-Darami and placed in the book of Salah under chapter number 116: It’s disliked to spit in the Masjid.
The Men in Isnad
The 3 men between Imam Ad-Darami and the Prophet are;
Yazid ibn Haroon – Humayd—Anas ibn Malik
- Anas ibn Malik:[ رضي الله عنه]Died in 93H after living a 100+ years
His name is Anas ibn Malik ibn An-Nadr. He was an Imam, a Mufti and Recitor and major narrator of Sunnah.
Narrations from: The Prophet [ﷺ], Abu Bakr, Umar ,Uthman, Abu Hurayrah and others.
Narrators from him: Hasan Al-Basri, Ibn Sireen, Abu Qilabah, Umar ibn Abdil Aziz, Az-Zuhri and others.
Anas ibn Malik served the Prophet for 9 years. The ulema differ on the his age at the time of his death . Some say he was 103 or 107 at the time of his death. He narrated about 2286 hadith and among those collected in Bukhari in and in Muslim are a total of 180, a Al-Bukhari alone has 80 narrations and that Imam Muslim didn’t report and Imam Muslim has 90 that Imam Al-Bukhari didn’t report.
Abu Hurayrah[رضي الله عنه] said: No one’s prayer resembled the Prophet’s like Anas’s.
The Prophet made dua for Allah to grant him wealth may children and a long life. He had wealth, lived a long life and had 106 children.[1]
- Humayd ibn Abee Humayd At-Taweel : [ narrations in the 6 books ] died 142H
Narrations from: Anas ibn Malik and Hasan
Narrators from him: Shu’bah and Al-Qathan
Imam Ath-Thahabbi said [ ثقوه و يدلس] # 1244 in Al-Kashif
Humayd is known as At-Taweel due to his height. He died while standing up praying.The scholars said he heard 24 hadith directly from Anas and the other narrations that he conveyed from Anas were through Thabit.[2]
- Yazid ibn Haroon :[narrations in the 6 books] died in 206H
Narrations from: Sufyan At-Thowri,Rabee ibn Muslim, Malik ibn Anas.
Narrators from him: Ishaq ibn Rawhoowiya, Ahmed ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma’een and many others.
He was so respected in the field of hadith that when he went to Baghdad the scholars of hadith came out and throw him a party. His hadith circle used to have 70,000 scholars present. He was known to offer 16 Rakah for Duha prayer. Moreover, he was known for praying long prayers at night and during the day.[3]
Some scholars like Imam Abu Hatim said: He was an Iman, one that people shouldn’t ask about.
Yahya ibn Ma’een and Ali ibn Al-Madeeni both said he was trustworthy.[4]
The status of the Hadith
The isnad of this hadith is weak since Humayd At-Taweel was known for Tadlees, however, in another 3 chained narration collected by Abdur Razzaq in his Musnaf , Humayd mentioned that he directly heard the hadith from Anas. The Hadith is Sahih as it’s been collected by Imam Al-Bukhari (412) and by his student Imam Muslim(1224).
Issues derived from the Hadith
Vocabulary
- The word [بزق ] is used here in this hadith and in some narrations, the word [بصق ] is mentioned. They are synonyms and mean to spit.
Social interactions
- It’s impolite to spit in front of people. If you need to spit you should turn away from them
- The general meaning of the hadith implies the spitting on the right during Salah.[5]
Methodology Issues
- The majority of the scholars consider the prohibition of spitting on the right during prayer Haraam, but view it permissible outside the prayer.
- This hadith about spitting on the left during prayer refers to the one not in the masjid.
- If a person is in the masjid and needs to spit then he should do so in a napkin or on his shirt.
- If a person is praying in place where there is carpet then he must avoid spitting on his left or under his foot. This includes not only masjid, but also a Musalla.
- The Masjids must be maintained
- The Masjids must be respected.
- Based on the hadith in Al-Bukhari # 415, which doesn’t mention spitting on the right only during the prayer, then it’s better to leave it off outside the prayer as well.[6]
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Prepared by Abu Aaliyah Abdullah ibn Dwight Battle
Academic / Khateeb for Qatar Religious Endowment
[1] Siyr 4/189-193
[2] Tahtheebul Kamaal, by Imam Mizi
[3] Siyr Imam Ath-Thahabbi #1420 is the bio number.
[4] Tahtheebul Kamaal , Imam Mizi
[5] Ta’leeqat Al-Bazzeyah ala Sahih Al-Bukhari vol1,pg 131
[6] Refer to the explantion of Sahih Al-Bukhari by Al-Alamah Abdul Aziz Ar-Rajhi. Vol 1, pg 799-801