Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 2089
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ السَّائِبِ، عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، أَنَّ رَجُلاً، أَمَرَهُ أَبُوهُ أَوْ أُمُّهُ - شَكَّ شُعْبَةُ - أَنْ يُطَلِّقَ، امْرَأَتَهُ فَجَعَلَ عَلَيْهِ مِائَةَ مُحَرَّرٍ . فَأَتَى أَبَا الدَّرْدَاءِ فَإِذَا هُوَ يُصَلِّي الضُّحَى وَيُطِيلُهَا وَصَلَّى مَا بَيْنَ الظُّهْرِ وَالْعَصْرِ فَسَأَلَهُ فَقَالَ أَبُو الدَّرْدَاءِ أَوْفِ بِنَذْرِكَ وَبَرَّ وَالِدَيْكَ . وَقَالَ أَبُو الدَّرْدَاءِ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " الْوَالِدُ أَوْسَطُ أَبْوَابِ الْجَنَّةِ فَحَافِظْ عَلَى وَالِدَيْكَ أَوِ اتْرُكْ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us; Shuʿbah narrated to us, from ʿAtaʾ ibn al-Saʾib, from Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman, that a man was ordered by his father—or his mother; Shuʿbah was uncertain—to divorce his wife, and he made a vow to free one hundred people. He went to Abu al-Dardaʾ and found him performing the forenoon prayer at length; he prayed during the time between noon and afternoon, then asked him about it. Abu al-Dardaʾ said, ‘Fulfill your vow and honor your parents.’ Abu al-Dardaʾ also said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) say: “The parent is the central gate of Paradise, so take care of your parents, or leave them.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
أَمَرَهُ أَبُوهُ أَوْ أُمُّهُ - شَكَّ شُعْبَةُ - أَنْ يُطَلِّقَ،
The narrator explicitly notes doubt whether the order came from the man’s father or mother; rendered as an explicit alternative.
Does ‘his father—or his mother; Shuʿbah was uncertain’ preserve the narrator’s uncertainty clearly?
امْرَأَتَهُ فَجَعَلَ عَلَيْهِ مِائَةَ مُحَرَّرٍ .
مائة محرر literally refers to one hundred emancipated persons; the surrounding advice to fulfill a vow supports understanding this as a vow to emancipate one hundred people.
Does ‘made a vow to free one hundred people’ convey the likely meaning without overstating the compressed wording?
وَقَالَ أَبُو الدَّرْدَاءِ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " الْوَالِدُ أَوْسَطُ أَبْوَابِ الْجَنَّةِ فَحَافِظْ عَلَى وَالِدَيْكَ أَوِ اتْرُكْ " .
أوسط أبواب الجنة literally means the middle or central gate of Paradise; the imperative ‘take care of your parents, or leave them’ is preserved literally, though its pragmatic force is elliptical.
Does ‘central gate of Paradise’ and the direct closing imperative preserve the report’s metaphor and wording?