‫ﺻﺤﺔ اﻟﺤﺪ�ﺚ ﻣﺮوا أوﻻدكﻢ بﺎﻟﺼﻼة وهﻢ أﺑﻨﺎء ﺳﺒﻊ ي ن‬

‫ﺳﻨن‬

Authenticity of the Ḥadīth: Command Your Children to Pray When They Are Seven…

‫�ﺴﻢ � اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣ�ﻢ‬

Question: What is the authenticity of the ḥadīth:

ِِ ِ ‫)ﺼبیﺎﻨ ُكم( ِ� ﱠ‬
‫ﺎء َﻋ ْش ِر‬ ُ �ُ‫اﻀ ِر‬
ُ ‫وﻫ ْم َﻋَﻠ ْی َﻬﺎ َو ُﻫ ْم أ َْﺒَن‬ ْ ‫ َو‬،‫ین‬َ ‫ﺎء َﺴ ْب ِﻊ ﺴن‬ ُ ‫ﺎﻟص َﻼة َو ُﻫ ْم أ َْﺒَن‬ َ َ ْ ِ ‫ُﻤ ُروا أ َْوَﻻ َد ُﻛ ْم‬
ِ ‫ض‬ ِ ِِ
‫ﺎﺠ ِﻊ‬ َ ‫ َوَﻓ ِّرُﻗوا َﺒ ْیَن ُﻬ ْم ﻓﻲ اْﻟ َم‬،‫ین‬
َ ‫ﺴن‬
Command your children to pray when they are seven years old, and hit them
for it (if they don’t pray) when they are ten years old, and separate between
them in their beds.

Answer: This narration comes by the way of a number chains with slightly different wordings,
but all with the same meaning. We will discuss the various narrations here to give a clear
understanding as to the authenticity of this ḥadīth – � ‫إن ﺷﺎء‬

1. ˋAbd-ul-Lāh ibn ˋAmr ibn al-ˋĀṣ: This was reported by Ibn Abī Shaybah, Aḥmad, Abū
Dāwūd, ad-Dāraquṭnī, al-Ḥākim, and al-Bayhaqī, all by way of Sawwār ibn Dāwūd al-
Muzanī, from ˋAmr ibn Shuˋayb, from his father (Shuˋayb ibn Muḥammad), from his
‫ ن‬from the Prophet � �‫)ﺻ‬
grandfather ˋAbd-il-Lāh ibn ˋAmr ibn al-ˋĀṣ (‫)ر� � ﻋﻨﻬﻤﺎ‬
‫ي‬
(‫ﻋﻠ�ﻪ وﺳﻠﻢ‬. 1 42TP0F

With regard to Sawwār ibn Dāwūd, Ibn Maˋīn classed him as thiqah (trustworthy), but
this is regarding his uprightness and not his precision in narrating aḥādīth.2 This is clear
as others weakened him in this. Ad-Dāraquṭnī said, “No one follows him in his aḥādīth,
so he is considered” – meaning if others narrate similar to him. Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned
him in Ath-Thuqāt and said, “He makes mistakes.” And he also mentioned him in Al-
Majrūḥīn and said, “He is alone in narrating, though he narrates little. And his
narrations do not resemble those who narrate from them,” and then he mentioned
this ḥadīth. Ahmad said, “He is a shaykh, no harm (comes from narrating from him).”
So the best that can be said about Sawwār ibn Dāwūd is that he makes mistakes, and
there is no harm in accepting his narrations if others follow him. As for relying solely
on his aḥādīth, then he is not acceptable as a narrator.

There is another isnād to ˋAmr ibn Shuˋayb, from his father, from his grandfather,
which comes by the way of Khalīl ibn Murrah, from al-Layth ibn Sulaym as reported by

1
See Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (3505), Musnad Aḥmad (6689), Sunan Abī Dāwūd (495), Sunan Ad-Dāraquṭnī
(876), Al-Mustadrak ˋalaṣ-Ṣaḥīḥayn (711), and As-Sunan al-Kubrā (2968)
2
I asked shaykh al-Ḥārith ibn ˋAlī al-Ḥasanī about the statement of Yaḥyā ibn Maˋīn concerning Sawwār ibn
Dāwūd al-Muzanī, and he said this is concerning his ˋadālah (uprightness) and not his dhabṭ (precision in
narrating).

1
 al-Bayhaqī. 3 As for Khalīl ibn Murrah, Abū Ḥātim ar-Rāzī said, “He is a righteous man,
not strong in ḥadīth.” Aṭ-Ṭayālisī said, “He is misguided and misguides.” Ibn Ḥibbān
mentioned him in Adh-Dhuˋafā’, and an-Nasā’ī said he is dhaˋīf (weak). Al-Bukhārī
said, “He narrates munkar (meaning atrocious aḥādīth).”

Concerning al-Layth ibn Sulaym, then he is weak as well. Al-Ḥākim said, “There is
consensus concerning his atrocious memory.” Al-Bayhaqī said, “He is not strong.” And
he also said, “He is not relied upon.” Aḥmad said, “There is idhṭirāb (confusion) in his
aḥādīth, however the people used to write them.” And he said, “One should not be
pleased with his narrations.” An-Nasā’ī said he is weak, and Yaḥyā ibn Maˋīn said he is
munkar (atrocious) al-ḥadīth.

Seeing the severity of the weakness in the second isnād, it becomes clear that the
isnād of Sawwār ibn Dāwūd cannot be strengthened to the level of acceptability.

2. Anas ibn Mālik: This was reported by ad-Dārquṭnī by way of Dāwūd ibn al-Muḥabbar,
from ˋAbd-il-Lāh ibn al-Muthannā, from Thumāmah ibn ˋAbd-il-Lāh, from Anas ibn
Mālik in marfūˋ form (meaning from the Prophet – ‫)ﺻ� � ﻋﻠ�ﻪ وﺳﻠﻢ‬. 4 And it was also
reported by aṭ-Ṭabarānī by way of Dāwūd ibn al-Muḥabbar, from his father (Muḥabbar
ibn Qaḥṫham), from Thumāmah, from Anas in marfūˋ form. 5 42TPF

Dāwūd ibn al-Muḥabbar is abandoned when it comes of aḥādīth. Ibn al-Jawzī said, “He
fabricates aḥādīth.” Abū Ḥātim ar-Rāzī said, “He is gone when it comes to ḥadīth; not
trustworthy.” Al-Bukhārī said, “He looks like he is nothing. He doesn’t know what a
ḥadīth is.” Aḥmad said, “He is a liar.” An-Nasā’ī said, “He is weak.” And he also said,
“Matrūk (abandoned).” Concerning his father, Muḥabbar ibn Qaḥṫham, then he is
majhūl (unknown) at best if not weak according to al-ˋUqaylī.

3. Abū Hurayrah: This was reported by Ibn Abīd-Dunyā by way of Muḥammad ibn
Rabīˋah, from Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-ˋAwfī, from Muḥammad ibn ˋAbd-ir-
Raḥmān al-Madanī, from Abī Hurayrah in marfūˋ form. 6 Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-
ˋAwfī is weak as mentioned by Abū Ḥātim ar-Rāzī. Al-Bukhārī said, “His aḥādīth are
not acceptable.” And Ibn Ḥibbān said, “He is munkar al-ḥadīth.”

Another isnād to Abī Hurayrah can be found from Shuˋayb ibn Wāqid al-Harawī, from
Abd-il-Munˋim ibn Nuˋaym ar-Riyāḥī, from al-Aˋmash, from Abī Ṣāliḥ, from Abī
Hurayrah in marfūˋ form, as reported by Ibn Ḥibbān. 7 ˋAbd-ul-Munˋim ibn Nuˋaym is
matrūk. Abū Ḥātim ar-Rāzī and al-Bukhārī said, “He is munkar al-ḥadīth.” An-Nasā’ī
said, “He is not trustworthy.” And ad-Dāraquṭnī said, “He is matrūk.”

4. Sabrah ibn Maˋbad: This was reported by Ibn Abī Shaybah, Aḥmad, ad-Dārimī, Abū
Dāwūd, at-Tirmiṫhī, Ibn Khuzaymah, ad-Dāraquṭnī, aṭ-Ṭabrānī, al-Ḥākim, and al-

3
As-Sunan al-Kubrā (2971)
4
Sunan ad-Dāraquṭnī (880)
5
Al-Muˋjam al-Awsaṭ (4129)
6
Kitāb-ul-ˋIyāl (301)
7
Al-Majrūḥīn (1015)

2
 Bayhaqī, all by way of Abd-il-Melik ibn ar-Rabīˋ ibn Sabrah, from his father (ar-Rabīˋ
ibn Sabrah), from Sabrah ibn Maˋbad in marfūˋ form. 8

Muslim narrated from ˋAbd-il-Melik ibn ar-Rabīˋ in mutābaˋah (follow-up) form, but
did not rely on him. Al-ˋIjlī classed him as thiqah, but he is lenient in his classifications.
If we look at those who are more reliable in their classifications, we will see that they
weakened his status significantly. Yaḥyā ibn Maˋīn was asked about the narrations of
ˋAbd-il-Melik ibn ar-Rabīˋ, from his father, from his grandfather, and he said, “They are
weak.” And he said concerning ˋAbd-il-Melik himself, “He is weak.” Ibn Ḥibbān said,
“He is extremely munkar in ḥadīth.”

5. ˋAbd-ul-Lāh al-Khathˋamī: This was reported by Abū Nuˋaym by way of Ḥammād ibn
Khālid, from Muḥammad ibn ˋUbayd-il-Lāh, from Abū Yaḥyā (Zakariyyā ibn Khālid ibn
Maymūn), from ˋAmr ibn ˋAbd-il-Lāh, from his father, ˋAbd-ul-Lāh al-Khathˋamī in
marfūˋ form. 9 This isnād is extremely weak. Muḥammad ibn ˋUbayd-il-Lāh is matrūk.
Abū Zurˋah ar-Rāzī said, “His aḥādīth are not to be written.” Abū Ḥātim ar-Rāzī said,
“He is extremely weak.” Al-Ḥākim said, “He is matrūk al-ḥadīth without any dispute I
know of concerning him from those who transmit (narrations).” And he was also
classed as matrūk by Aḥmad and an-Nasā’ī. And ˋAmr ibn ˋAbd-il-Lāh is majhūl.

6. Muḥammad ibn ˋAbd-ir-Raḥmān (Ibn Abī ˋĀ’ishah): This was reported by Ibn Abīd-
Dunyā by way of Ḥumayd ibn ˋAbd-ir-Raḥmān, from Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ, from Muḥammad
ibn al-Ḥasan, from Muḥammad ibn ˋAbd-ir-Raḥmān, from the Messenger of Allāh ‫)ﻋﻠ�ﻪ‬
(‫اﻟﺴﻼم‬.10 We have already discussed the case of Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-ˋAwfī and
he is weak (see the discussion on the first isnād for the narration attributed to Abī
Hurayrah). Furthermore, Ibn Abī ˋĀ’ishah is a Tābiˋī, and did not hear directly from the
Messenger of Allāh (‫)ﺻ� � ﻋﻠ�ﻪ وﺳﻠﻢ‬, so the isnād is mursal as well as dhaˋīf.

In summary: This narration, which can be found in many books of fiqh and is mentioned by
many in their sermons and lessons is weak. The best of the chains to this ḥadīth is that
‫ ن‬by way of Sawwār ibn Dāwūd, but his
attributed to ˋAbd-ul-Lāh ˋAmr ibn al-ˋĀṣ (‫)ر� � ﻋﻨﻬﻤﺎ‬
‫ي‬
narrations cannot be accepted without support. The severity of the weaknesses found in all
the other chains to this ḥadīth prevent the strengthening of his narration to the level of
acceptability, so this statement cannot be confirmed to be from the words of the Prophet
(‫)ﺻ� � ﻋﻠ�ﻪ وﺳﻠﻢ‬.

When it comes to when it is required to teach children how to pray, there is nothing confirmed
from the Prophet (‫)ﺻ� � ﻋﻠ�ﻪ وﺳﻠﻢ‬, nor am I aware of anything authentic from the Ṣaḥābah
– though there are narrations. We will find that the salaf differed concerning this, some
saying when they reach the age of seven, others say when they know their right hand from
their left hand, and others say when they can count to twenty – these are just a few of some

8
Muṣannaf ibn Abī Shaybah (3504), Musnad Aḥmad (15339), Sunan ad-Dārimī (1431), Sunan Abī Dāwūd (494),
Jāmiˋ at-Tirmiṫhī (407), Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah (949), Sunan ad-Dāraquṭnī (875), al-Muˋjam al-Kabīr (6546), Al-
Mustadrak ˋalaṣ-Ṣaḥīḥayn (951), and As-Sunan al-Kubrā (4684)
9
Maˋrifat-uṣ-Ṣaḥābah (4591)
10
Al-ˋIyāl (295)

3
of the opinions. Accountability for the prayer is only when bulūgh (puberty) is reached, so
without a doubt, the importance of the prayer and how to pray must be emphasized before
this age is reached so that when the time comes, they know how to pray and do not miss any.
As for disciplining the child before bulūgh is reached, then again, this cannot be confirmed as
a statement from the Prophet (‫)ﺻ� � ﻋﻠ�ﻪ وﺳﻠﻢ‬, and the matter is open and up to the
discretion of the parents/guardians of the child.

‫هﺬا و� أﻋﻠﻢ‬

Harith Yarub Al-Shiraida

February 22, 2017 / ١٤٣٨ ‫ ﺟﻤﺎدى اﻷول‬٢٥