The Hadith of Intercession: Analysis of Its Narrations, Chains, and Degrees of Authenticity
- Muiz As-Siddeeqi
- May 2
- 3 min read
The Hadith of Intercession: Analysis of Its Narrations, Chains, and Degrees of Authenticity
The ḥadīth:
On the authority of ʿAwf ibn Mālik, he said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"A messenger came to me from my Lord and offered me the choice between half of my ummah entering Paradise or intercession (shafāʿah), and I chose intercession. And it is for the one who dies not associating anything with Allah."
And in another narration, he said:
"Whoever meets Allah not associating anything with Him — he is included in my intercession."
Its Takhrīj (Source Authentication):
This ḥadīth is recorded in:
Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī (4/627), Book 38 – The Description of the Day of Judgment, Chapter: "What has come regarding intercession", 13th chapter therein, ḥadīth no. 2441.
He (Imām at-Tirmidhī) said:
“We were told by Hannād, who narrated from ʿAbdah, from Saʿīd, from Qatādah, from Abū al-Malīḥ, from ʿAwf ibn Mālik al-Ashjaʿī, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘A messenger came to me…’ and then mentioned the ḥadīth.”
It is also recorded by Imām Aḥmad in his Musnad (Vol. 6, p. 28), within a slightly longer account, through the chain: Abū ʿAwānah → Qatādah with the same narration.
Imām at-Tirmidhī commented after narrating it:
"This ḥadīth has also been narrated from Abū al-Malīḥ, from another man among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, without mentioning ʿAwf ibn Mālik."
In that extended narration, he said:
"We were told by Qutaybah, who narrated from Abū ʿAwānah, from Qatādah, from Abū al-Malīḥ, from ʿAwf ibn Mālik, from the Prophet ﷺ with similar wording."
This difference in the narration from Abū al-Malīḥ — between Qatādah and the other transmitter referred to by at-Tirmidhī — does not harm the authenticity, for the following reasons
Firstly: Qatādah is a ḥāfiẓ (a highly reliable and precise ḥadīth memorizer), so the possibility that he made a mistake by naming ʿAwf ibn Mālik instead of another Companion is very weak.
Secondly: The one who differs from Qatādah is unknown (majhūl) — so it's possible that he is weak, or that he is the one who made the mistake when reporting from Abū al-Malīḥ and mentioned a different Companion.
Thirdly: Supporting the accuracy of Qatādah’s narration is the fact that Ibn Mājah also reported this ḥadīth in his Sunan (2/1444), Book 37 – Kitāb az-Zuhd, Chapter 37 – Chapter: Mention of Intercession, ḥadīth no. 4317.
He reported it from Hishām ibn ʿAmmār, who narrated from Ṣidqah ibn Khālid, who narrated from Ibn Jābir (i.e. ʿAbdur-Raḥmān ibn Yazīd ibn Jābir), who said:
“I heard Sulaym ibn ʿĀmir, who said: I heard ʿAwf ibn Mālik al-Ashjaʿī say…”
— and then he mentioned the ḥadīth in similar wording.
(This strengthens the report through another chain, affirming that ʿAwf ibn Mālik is indeed the correct Companion who narrated it — and not someone else.)
And this narration has two additional supporting chains (shawāhid)…
Firstly: The ḥadīth of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (may Allah be pleased with him) — from the Prophet ﷺ — who said:
"A messenger came to me from my Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, and offered me the choice between half of my ummah entering Paradise or intercession (shafāʿah), and I chose intercession."
Then he and Muʿādh (i.e. Abū Mūsā and Muʿādh ibn Jabal) said:
"Supplicate to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to make us among those included in your intercession!"
So the Prophet ﷺ replied:
"You — and whoever dies not associating anything with Allah — are included in my intercession."
This ḥadīth is reported by Imām Aḥmad in al-Musnad (Vol. 4, p. 404), where he said:
“ʿAffān narrated to us, Ḥammād — meaning Ibn Salamah — narrated to us, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Burdah, from Abū Mūsā, from the Prophet ﷺ.”
Shaykh al-Albānī authenticated this narration based on the combination of:
the Tirmidhī narration from ʿAwf ibn Mālik,
and this ḥadīth of Abū Mūsā.
See: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ (1/72), ḥadīth no. 56.
Secondly: The ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar — from the Prophet ﷺ — who said:
"I was given the choice between intercession or that half of my ummah be admitted into Paradise — and I chose intercession, because it is more comprehensive and more sufficient."
This was narrated by Imām Aḥmad in al-Musnad (Vol. 2, p. 75), through the chain:
ʿAlī ibn an-Nuʿmān ibn Qurād → from a man → from Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both).
This isnād (chain) is weak due to two reasons:
The man mentioned in the chain is unknown (majhūl) — his identity is not established, making his reliability impossible to verify.
ʿAlī ibn an-Nuʿmān ibn Qurād himself is not found in the well-known biographical dictionaries of narrators (kutub ar-rijāl) — and therefore, no evaluation (jarḥ or taʿdīl) exists about his trustworthiness or precision.
Footnote Reference:
Taken from the marginal notes on "Qāʿidah Jalīlah fī al-Tawassul wa al-Wasīlah" (A Great Principle Regarding Tawassul and Means of Approach to Allah)
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