DISCLAIMER: I AM VERY BUSY LATELY BUT WILL BE BACK TO ANSWER POSTS ON THE VARIOUS THREADS. PLEASE DO FORGIVE ME AND APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
Youpunctured has tried to address one of the posts made by RTS with regards to Abu Bakr, and Umar first trying to take down Khaybar, but then being unsuccessful and returning. Understanding full well the effect this can have on the perception of these individuals, it sought to weaken the narrations brought forth by RTS. However, for an unknown reason, it addressed supposed weak narrations, but opted to ignore the Saheeh narration in Musnad Ahmad. We will here assume they were ignorant of its existence.
By the way, i have a lot of Sunni family and was raised by Sunnis. I am in no mood to bring this up to start slandering anyone, but i just want to get to the truth of what likely occurred at Khaybar, because it has an influence in how i view certain personalities.
From Musnad Ahmad:Chain:Narrated Zaid Ibn Al-Hobab from Husein Ibn Al-Waqid from Abdullah Ibn Buraida from his father Buraida who said: (This is a Saheeh Chain)
"When we reached Khaybar
Aboo Bakr took the flag and came back and he did not succeed, the next day Umar took the flag and went out and came back and he also did not succeed, on that day the people encountered difficulties so the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: 'Tomorrow I will pass the flag to a man who loves Allah (swt) and his Messenger (saw) and Allah (swt) and his Messenger (saw) love him, he will not come back until he succeeds!' All of us wished to be that man the next day who is going to be victorious. Next morning when the Messenger of Allah (saw) performed the prayer, he stood up and took the flag and the people were standing before him. Then he called Alee (a.s) and Alee (a.s) had an ailment in his eyes on that day, so the Prophet (saw) put his saliva on Alee’s (a.s) eyes and gave him the flag, and he succeeded." Buraida said: 'I was one of those who wished to receive the flag.'
Shaykh Shu'ayb Arnaut writes in the footnotes:
The narration is Saheeh 'Authentic!' And this chain is strong because of Hussain Ibn Al-Waqid Al-Maruzi, and He is Truthful and has no problems, and the rest of its narrators are Trustworthy.
Source: Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. Vol. 38, Pg. # 98.
The second chain
Narrated Abdulrahman ibn Abi Laili: I said to Alee (a.s), “You used to wear a cloak and thick clothes in the extreme hot days and wearing two thin cloths in the extreme cold days and came out and do not fear the cold weather.” Alee (a.s) said to me: “Were you not with us on the day of Khaybar O Aba Laili?” I said: “Yes, by Allah (swt) I was with you!” He (a.s) said:
“The Messenger of Allah (saw) sent Aboo Bakr with people, they ran away and returned to him (saw), then the Messenger of Allah (saw) sent Umar with people and he also ran away and came back with people to the Messenger of Allah (saw), then the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: ‘I will give the flag to a man who loves Allah (swt) and his Messenger (saw) and Allah (swt) and his Messenger (saw) love him, he will be victorious, he is not a coward who runs away frequently!’
Footnote: Al-Muttaqi Al-Hindi: ‘This narration is narrated by ibn Abi Shayba, Ahmad in his Musnad, ibn Majah, Al-Bazzar, ibn Jarir and he has Authenticated this Hadeeth, and Al-Tabarani in Al-Awsat, Al-Hakim, Bayhaqi in Al-Dalahil and Dhia Al-Maqdesi in Al-Mukhtara.
Source: Kanz-ul-Ummal. Vol. 13, Pg. # 120-122, H. # 36388.
Now that we have an authentic chain, let us look at a corroborating narration, this time from Mustadrak of al-Hakim among other sources, that all pass through Muhammad bin Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Lailah. Youpunctured has basically weakened him and said that although he was truthful, he was weak in memory. Having had a look through the books of Rijal many do claim he had a bad memory. However, when going through the views of Ibn Hajar it appears he grades him as "Saduq - but had a very bad memory" in his Taqrib al-Tahdib. The debate now would be whether to class this tradition as Hasan , or Dhai'f?
We also find: "Abdullah bin Dawud narrated us, from Sufyan Ath-Thawri who said: 'Our Fuqaha' are Ibn Abi Laila and 'Abdullah bin Shubrumah.'" I believe he is referring to Muhammed ibn Abdurahman ibn Abi Laila.
I say: Given we already have an authentic chain from reliable narrators, it proves in this case, Muhammed bin Abdur-Rahman was not narrating this narration from a poor memory, but rather, remembered it accurately. This might explain whyIbn Jareer narrated it as authentic, but Allah knows best.
Furthermore, we find that Dhahabi, al-Hakim, and a number of other scholars also deem it as authentic (the text of the tradition at least).
No-one can justifiably reject that according to numerous reports, and ones deemed authentic by Sunni Rijal standards, with the utmost respect, Abu Bakr and Umar both tried to take Khaybar but were repelled and ran away and returned to the Prophet [saw]. While Ali was ill, cured by a miracle, slaughtered Harith, slaughtered Marhab, and then finished this off by lifting the entire gate of Khaybar with his own bare hands, which 44 men could not lift according to what is narrated in Ibn Ishaq and other sources.
It is food for thought.
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