Jami' at-Tirmidhi

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1049

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Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1049
Arabic hadith text

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ مَهْدِيٍّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ حَبِيبِ بْنِ أَبِي ثَابِتٍ، عَنْ أَبِي وَائِلٍ، أَنَّ عَلِيًّا، قَالَ لأَبِي الْهَيَّاجِ الأَسَدِيِّ أَبْعَثُكَ عَلَى مَا بَعَثَنِي بِهِ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ أَنْ لاَ تَدَعَ قَبْرًا مُشْرِفًا إِلاَّ سَوَّيْتَهُ وَلاَ تِمْثَالاً إِلاَّ طَمَسْتَهُ ‏" ‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ جَابِرٍ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى حَدِيثُ عَلِيٍّ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ ‏.‏ وَالْعَمَلُ عَلَى هَذَا عِنْدَ بَعْضِ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ يَكْرَهُونَ أَنْ يُرْفَعَ الْقَبْرُ فَوْقَ الأَرْضِ ‏.‏ قَالَ الشَّافِعِيُّ أَكْرَهُ أَنْ يُرْفَعَ الْقَبْرُ إِلاَّ بِقَدْرِ مَا يُعْرَفُ أَنَّهُ قَبْرٌ لِكَيْلاَ يُوطَأَ وَلاَ يُجْلَسَ عَلَيْهِ ‏.‏

Translation

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: Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, from Abu Wa'il, that Ali said to Abu al-Hayyaj al-Asadi: 'I am sending you with the same instruction with which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me: Leave no raised grave without leveling it, and no image without effacing it.' A report on this topic is also related from Jabir. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Ali is hasan. Some scholars acted on this and disliked raising graves above the ground. Al-Shafi'i said: 'I dislike raising a grave except enough for it to be recognized as a grave, so that it is not trampled or sat upon.'

Notes and open questions — unreviewed
  • قَالَ لأَبِي الْهَيَّاجِ الأَسَدِيِّ أَبْعَثُكَ عَلَى مَا بَعَثَنِي بِهِ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ أَنْ لاَ تَدَعَ قَبْرًا مُشْرِفًا إِلاَّ سَوَّيْتَهُ وَلاَ تِمْثَالاً إِلاَّ طَمَسْتَهُ ‏" ‏ ‏.

    The Arabic distinguishes a raised grave from a level one and uses a general verb for effacing an image; the text gives no further scope or dimensions.

    Does 'leveling' preserve the instruction without implying that a grave must be reduced below ground level?