When discussing the true meaning of the finality of prophethood, Ahmadi Muslims often present a very famous statement made by Hazrat Aisha (ra).
Non-Ahmadis try to dismiss this statement by claiming it is weak. However, a careful study proves that this statement is entirely authentic.
1) The first narration is found in the work of Ibn Abi Shaybah.
حدثنا حسين بن محمد قال: حدثنا جرير بن حازم (عن محمد) عن عائشة (قالت): قولوا: خاتم النبيين، ولا تقولوا: لا نبي بعده
Narrated to us Husayn ibn Muhammad, he said: Narrated to us Jarir ibn Hazim, from Muhammad (ibn Sirin), from Aishah who said: "Say: the Seal of the Prophets, and do not say: There is no prophet after him." (Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba)
To verify the strength of this chain, one must review the narrators involved.
In Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani details the reliability of the narrator Husayn ibn Muhammad:
- Ibn Saʿd said: He is trustworthy. He died in the later period of the caliphate of al-Maʾmun.
- Al-Nasaʾi said: There is no problem with him.
- Ibn Wadah said: "I heard Muḥammad ibn Masʿud say: Husayn ibn Muhammad is trustworthy."
- Ibn Numayr said: "Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Bahram is truthful."
- Al-ʿIjli al-Basri said: "He is trustworthy."
- Ibn Hibban mentioned him in his book al-Thiqat.
Similarly, Ibn Hajar mentions the following about the next narrator, Jarir ibn Hazim:
- ʿUthman al-Darimi reported from Ibn Maʿin: "He is trustworthy."
- ʿAbdullah ibn Ahmad said: I asked Ibn Maʿin about him and he said, "There is no problem with him."
- Al-ʿIjli said: "A Basran, trustworthy."
- Al-Nasaʾi said: "There is no problem with him."
- Abu Hatim said: "Truthful, righteous."
- Shuʿbah used to say: "I have not seen anyone with a stronger memory than two men: Jarir ibn Hazim and Hisham al-Dastawaʾi."
- Al-Saji said: "Jarir is trustworthy."
- Al-Bazzar said in his Musnad: "He is trustworthy."
Disconnection in the chain?
Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned that Ibn Sirin did not hear directly from Hazrat Aisha (ra).
سَمِعْتُ أَبِي يَقُولُ ابْنُ سَيرِينَ لَمْ يَسْمَعْ مِنْ عَائِشَةَ شَيْئًا
(Al-marasil fi al-hadith)
This makes the narration mursal. However, this does not affect the authenticity of this specific report.
The Hadith Scholars unanimously agree that the mursal narrations of Muhammad ibn Sirin are authentic.
Imam Ahmad said in the narration of Abu al-Harith: "The mursal narrations of Ibn Sirin are authentic."
وقال أحمد في رواية أبي الحارث: مرسلات ابن سيرين صحاح حسنة المخرج
(Al-Jami li ulum al-Imam Ahmad – Ulum al-hadith)
Ibn Abd al-Barr said:
وَكُلُّ مَنْ عُرِفَ أَنَّهُ لَا يَأْخُذُ إِلَّا عَنْ ثِقَةٍ فَتَدْلِيسُهُ وَمُرْسَلُهُ مَقْبُولٌ فَمَرَاسِيلُ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْمُسَيَّبِ وَمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِيرِينَ وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ النَّخَعِيِّ عِنْدَهُمْ صِحَاحٌ وَقَالُوا مَرَاسِيلُ عَطَاءٍ وَالْحَسَنِ لَا يُحْتَجُّ بِهَا لِأَنَّهُمَا كَانَا يَأْخُذَانِ عَنْ كُلِّ أَحَدٍ وَكَذَلِكَ مَرَاسِيلُ أَبِي قِلَابَةَ وَأَبِي الْعَالِيَةِ
"Everyone who is known to only narrate from trustworthy narrators, then his tadlis and his mursal reports are accepted. Thus, the mursal narrations of Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, Muhammad ibn Sirin, and Ibrahim al-Nakhaʿi are considered authentic."
(Al-Tamhid)
Ibn Hajar said:
وصحح ابن عبد البر مراسيل محمد بن سيرين قال: "لأنه كان يتشدد في الأخذ ولا يسمع إلا من ثقة
"Ibn Abd al-Barr authenticated the mursal narrations of Muhammad ibn Sirin, saying: Because he was strict in taking hadith and only heard from trustworthy narrators."
(Al-nukat ʿala Kitab Ibn al-Salah)
Ibn Taymiyyah said:
توقف أهل العلم في مراسيلهم، فمنهم من يرد المراسيل مطلقا، ومنهم من يتقبلها بشروط، ومنهم من يميز بين من عادته لا يرسل إلا عن ثقة، كسعيد بن المسيب، وإبراهيم النخعي، ومحمد بن سيرين
"The scholars paused regarding their mursal narrations. Some of them rejected the mursal narrations absolutely, some accepted them with conditions, and some differentiated between those whose habit was not to narrate mursal except from trustworthy narrators, such as Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, Ibrahim al-Nakhaʿi, and Muhammad ibn Sirin."
(Iqtida al-sirat al-mustaqim)
Salah al-Din al-Alai states:
قال الإمام الشافعي رحمه الله کان ابن سیرین وعروۃ بن الزبیر وطاووس وابراہیم النخعی وغیر واحد من التابعین یذہبون الی ان لا یقبلو ا الحدیث الا عن ثقۃ
Imam al-Shafi said: "Ibn Sirin, Ibrahim al-Nakhaʿi, Tawus, and other Tabiʿin besides them would only accept hadith from a trustworthy narrator."
(Jamiʿ al-Tahsil fi ahkam al-marasil)
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali said:
وقد ذكر ابن عبد البر ما يقتضي أن ذلك إجماع، فإنه قال: كل من عرف بالأخذ عن الضعفاء، والمسامحو في ذلك لم يحتج بما أرسله، تابعا كان أبو من دونه. وكل من عرف أنه لا يأخذ إلا عن ثقة فتدليسه ومرسله مقبول. فمراسيل سعيد بن المسيب ومحمد بن سيرين وإبراهيم النخعي عندهم صحاح
"Ibn Abd al-Barr mentioned something that implies there is an Ijma, for he said: ... and everyone who is known to only narrate from trustworthy narrators, then his tadlis and his mursal reports are accepted. Thus, the mursal narrations of Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, Muhammad ibn Sirin, and Ibrahim al-Nakhaʿi are considered authentic according to them."
(Sharh Ilal al-Tirmidhi)
Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi said:
قَالَ أَبُو عُمَرَ فِي التَّمْهِيدِ: أَجْمَعَ أَهْلُ الْعِلْمِ بِالْحَدِيثِ أَنَّ ابْنَ سِيرِينَ أَصَحُّ التَّابِعِينَ مَرَاسِيلَ، وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ لَا يَرْوِي وَلَا يَأْخُذُ إِلَّا عَنْ ثِقَةٍ، وَأَنَّ مَرَاسِيلَهُ صِحَاحٌ كُلُّهَا، لَيْسَ كَالْحَسَنِ وَعَطَاءٍ فِي ذَلِكَ
"Ibn Abd al-Barr said in al-Tamhid: The scholars of hadith have unanimously agreed that Ibn Sirin has the most authentic mursal reports among the tabiʿin, and that he would neither narrate nor take from anyone except a trustworthy narrator. Therefore, all of his mursal reports are authentic. He is not like al-Hasan and ʿAtaʾ in this regard."
(Al-nukat ʿala muqaddimat Ibn al-Salah)
Ibn Sirin was careful from whom he took ahadith, for he himself said:
"Be careful from whom you take this hadith, for it is indeed your religion."
قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سِيرِينَ انْظُرُوا عَمَّنْ تَأْخُذُونَ هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ فَإِنَّمَا هُوَ دِينُكُمْ
(Al-Tamhid)
The view of Ibn Sirin regarding Mursal narrations
Ibn Sirin was of the view that mursal narrations of Al-Hasan and Abu al-Aliya should not be accepted, for they take from both trustworthy and untrustworthy people.
ولذلك قال ابن سيرين: حدثوا عمن شئتم من المراسيل إلا عن الحسن وأبي العالية، فإنهما لا يباليان عمن أخذا الحديث
(Silsilat al-ahadith al-sahiha – Al-Albani)
All of this proves that Ibn Sirin only narrated from trustworthy people.
2) The second narration is found in Tafsir Yahya bin Salam.
الربيع بن صبيح ، عن محمد بن سيرين ، عن عائشة قالت : لا تقولوا : لا نبي بعد محمد ، وقولوا : خاتم النبيين
Al-Rabiʿ ibn Subayh, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, from Aishah who said: "Do not say: There is no prophet after Muhammad, but say: Khatam an-Nabiyyin."
(Tafsir Yahya ibn Salam)
The narrator Al-Rabiʿ ibn Subayh is recognized as trustworthy, though some scholars noted he had a poor memory. According to the principles of Hadith, if a narrator is truthful but has a poor memory, his narration reaches the level of Sahih if it is corroborated by a supporting chain. Because the exact statement of Hazrat Aisha (ra) is independently verified by the trustworthy narrators in Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, this condition is perfectly met.
Ibn Hajar mentions the following regarding Al-Rabiʿ ibn Subayh in Tahdhīb al-Tahdhib:
- Abu al-Walid said: Al-Rabiʿ did not practice tadlis.
- Ahmad ibn Hanbal: "There is no harm in him. He is a righteous man."
- And Abu Hatim said: he is a righteous man.
- Yaʿqub ibn Shuʿbah said: He is a righteous, truthful, trustworthy man, but very weak.
- Ibn ʿAdi said: He has sound and correct hadiths.
- Al-ʿIjli said: There is no harm in him.
- Muslim ibn Ibrahim, reporting from Shuʿbah, said: Al-Rabiʿ is among the elders of the Muslims.
- Abu Zurʿah said: He is a pious, truthful scholar.
Furthermore, Ibn Maʿin also declared him trustworthy:
قَالَ عَبَّاسٌ: سَأَلْتُ ابْنَ مَعِيْنٍ عَنِ الرَّبِيْعِ وَالمُبَارَكِ، فَقَالَ مَا أَقْرَبَهمَا، لاَ بَأْسَ بِهِمَا
(Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubala)
وقيل له ربيع بن صبيح فقال ثقة قيل له ف مبارك بن فضالة قال ليس به بأس
(Tarikh Ibn Maʿin)
Regarding Yahya bin Salam, Abu Hatim al-Razi confirmed his truthfulness:
قال أبو حاتم الرازي كان شيخا بصريا وقع إلى مصر وهو صدوق
(Lisan al-Mizan)
Since it has been established that the narrators are trustworthy, and the mursal narrations of Ibn Sirin are considered sahih, there remains no doubt that the statement of Aisha (ra) is authentic.