Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
The Elderly
كتاب الأكَابِرِ
Chapter 163
بَابُ فَضْلِ الْكَبِيرِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: Whoever does not show mercy to our young and recognize the right of our elders is not one of us.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As reported from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): Whoever does not show mercy to our young and recognize the right of our elders is not one of us.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The chain uses يَبْلُغُ بِهِ النَّبِيَّ, indicating that the report is traced back to the Prophet.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Amr ibn Shu‘ayb reported from his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: Whoever does not recognize the right of our elders and show mercy to our young is not one of us.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The available English witness gives only a cross-reference (‘the same from ‘Amr ibn Shu‘ayb’); this translation renders the complete Arabic text.
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: لَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ لَمْ يَعْرِفْ حَقَّ كَبِيرِنَا، وَيَرْحَمْ صَغِيرَنَا.
The Arabic contains the full report, but the English witness supplies only a brief cross-reference to another narration.
Can the cross-reference be verified against a complete English edition for this report?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Umama reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: Whoever does not show mercy to our young and honor our elders is not one of us.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The English witness is only a cross-reference (‘the same from Abu Umama’); this translation follows the complete Arabic report.
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ: مَنْ لَمْ يَرْحَمْ صَغِيرَنَا، وَيُجِلَّ كَبِيرَنَا، فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا.
The Arabic contains the complete report, while the English witness gives only a cross-reference.
Can this cross-reference be checked against a complete English edition?
Chapter 164
بَابُ إِجْلالِ الْكَبِيرِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari said: Part of venerating Allah is honoring an elderly Muslim and a bearer of the Qur’an who is neither excessive with it nor neglectful of it, and honoring a just ruler.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source’s qualifier describes a Qur’an bearer who is neither excessive nor neglectful with respect to it; the translation does not add an interpretation of what those extremes entail.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: Whoever does not show mercy to our young and revere our elders is not one of us.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The English witness is only a cross-reference to hadith 354; this translation renders the complete Arabic text and preserves its verb ‘revere’ (يوقر).
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: لَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ لَمْ يَرْحَمْ صَغِيرَنَا، وَيُوَقِّرْ كَبِيرَنَا.
The Arabic contains the complete report, but the English witness gives only ‘Same as 354.’
Can this report be verified against a complete English edition?
Chapter 165
بَابُ يَبْدَأُ الْكَبِيرُ بِالْكَلاَمِ وَالسُّؤَالِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Rafi‘ ibn Khadij and Sahl ibn Abi Hathma reported that ‘Abd Allah ibn Sahl and Muhayyisa ibn Mas‘ud went to Khaybar and separated among the palm trees. ‘Abd Allah ibn Sahl was killed. ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Sahl, Huwayyisa and Muhayyisa, the sons of Mas‘ud, came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to discuss their companion’s case. ‘Abd al-Rahman, the youngest of them, began to speak, but the Prophet said, ‘Let the eldest speak first.’ Yahya explained: so that the eldest would take the turn to speak. They then discussed their companion’s case. The Prophet said, ‘Establish your claim concerning your slain man’—or he said, ‘your companion’—‘by the oaths of fifty of you.’ They said, ‘Messenger of Allah, this is something we did not witness.’ He said, ‘Then the Jews will clear themselves by the oaths of fifty of them?’ They said, ‘Messenger of Allah, they are unbelievers!’ So the Messenger of Allah paid the blood money on his behalf.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source itself gives two variants, ‘your slain man’ or ‘your companion,’ and identifies the instruction about the eldest speaker as Yahya’s explanatory gloss. The report closes by saying the Prophet paid the compensation himself.
Chapter 166
بَابُ إِذَا لَمْ يَتَكَلَّمِ الْكَبِيرُ هَلْ لِلأَصْغَرِ أَنْ يَتَكَلَّمَ؟
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: Tell me about a tree that resembles the Muslim. It yields its fruit at every time by its Lord’s permission, and it does not shed its leaves. I thought of the date palm, but hesitated to speak because Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) were present. When neither of them spoke, the Prophet said, ‘It is the date palm.’ When I went out with my father, I said, ‘Father, the date palm came to mind.’ He asked, ‘What kept you from saying it? Had you said it, that would have been dearer to me than such-and-such.’ I replied, ‘Nothing kept me back except that I did not see you or Abu Bakr speak, and I disliked speaking.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source says the tree yields fruit at every time by its Lord’s permission and that its leaves do not fall. The father’s comparison ends with the deliberately unspecified ‘such-and-such.’
Chapter 167
بَابُ تَسْوِيدِ الأكَابِرِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hakim ibn Qays ibn ‘Asim reported that, as his father was dying, he advised his sons: Fear Allah and make your eldest your leader. When people make their eldest their leaders, they follow in their fathers’ footsteps; when they make their youngest their leaders, that diminishes them in the eyes of their peers. Acquire wealth and put it to good use, for it raises the standing of the generous and makes one independent of the mean. Beware of asking people, for that is among a man’s last means of earning. When I die, do not wail over me, for no one wailed over the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). When I die, bury me in a place where Bakr ibn Wa’il will not know of my burial, for I used to take them by surprise during the pre-Islamic era.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The advice links choosing the eldest or youngest as leader with how their people are viewed by peers. The final clause refers to the speaker’s raiding or waylaying Bakr ibn Wa’il before Islam.