The narration
وروى ابْن عيينة ، عَنْ إِسْمَاعِيلَ بْن أبي خالد، قَالَ : خَطَبَ عُمَر بْن الْخَطَّابِ أُمَّ كُلْثُومٍ بِنْتَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ إِلَى عَائِشَةَ فأطمعته ، وقالت أَيْنَ الْمُذْهِبُ بِهَا عَنْكَ ؟فَلَمَّا ذَهَبَتْقَالَتِ الْجَارِيَةُ: تزوجيني عمر ، وقد عرفت غيرته وخشونة عيشه ، وَاللَّهِ لَئِنْ فَعَلْتِلأخرجن إِلَى قبر رَسُول اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، ولَأَصِيحَنَّبه، إِنَّمَا أُرِيدُ فَتًى من قريش يَصُبُّ عَلَيَّ الدُّنْيَا صَبًّا ،
From Ibn Abdul Barr’Isthiaab : “Ibn U’yaynah reported from Ismail ibn abi Khalid that: when ‘Umar ibn al Khattab intended to propose to Um Kalthum bint Abu Bakr, so he disclosed his intention to Aisha bint Abi Bakr who welcomed the proposal happily. However, as soon as he left, Um Kulthum came to Aisha to object and said: How could you wed me to Umar when you are aware of his extreme jealousy and hard life-style! By Allah, if you endorse this marriage, I will visit the grave of the Prophet and complain to him….”
Response
As you can see the chain is as follows
وروى ابْن عيينة ، عَنْ إِسْمَاعِيلَ بْن أبي خالد
Sufyaan bin Uyaynah on the authority of Ismaeel bin Abee Khalid
Firstly: No complete chain
There is no chain between Sufyaan bin Uyaynah till Ibn Adul Barr. Sufyan Bin Uyaynah died in Hijrah (198) and Ibn Abdul Barr died in Hijrah (463).
Second:Tadlees
Sufyaan bin Uyaynah is Mudallis and he narrates in the form of ananah
Third:Inqitaau
Ismaeel bin Abee Khalid is of the Tabioon of the late where he died in Hijrah (146), Umar bin al Khattaab died in Hijra 23.
Therefore there is no chance of him witnessing to this without an intermediary and this intermediary is not mentioned and hence following a discontinuity in the chain.
Now a longer chain of narration can be found in Ibn Asaakir’s Tareekh Dimashq as follows:
أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو الْقَاسِمِ بْنُ السَّمَرْقَنْدِيِّ ، أنا أَبُو الْفَضْلِ بْنُ الْبَقَّالِ ، أنا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ بِشْرَانَ ، أنا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَحْمَدَ ، نا حَنْبَلُ بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ ، نا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ ، نا سُفْيَانُ ، نا ابْنُ أَبِي خَالِدٍ ، أَنَّ عُمَرَ خَطَبَ أُمَّ كُلْثُومٍ بِنْتَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ إِلَى عَائِشَةَ وَهِيَ جَارِيَةٌ ، فَقَالَتْ : أَيْنَ الْمُذْهِبُ بِهَا عَنْكَ ؟ فَبَلَغَهَا ذَاكَ ، فَأَتَتْ عَائِشَةَ ، فَقَالَتْ : تُنْكِحِينَ عُمَرَ يُطْعِمُنِي الْجَشْبَ مِنَ الطَّعَامِ ، إِنَّمَا أُرِيدُ فَتًى يَصُبُّ عَلَيَّ الدُّنْيَا صَبًّا ، وَاللَّهِ لَئِنْ فَعَلْتِ لأَذْهَبَنَّ لأُضَحِّيَ عِنْدَ قَبْرِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ،
As you can see even in this chain the report is from Ismaeel bin Abee Khalid and the same defect remains
Fourth:Variation in the matn
Further more there is a variation in the matn from لَأَصِيحَنَّto لأُضَحِّيَ
There is no wordings that she will complain but , she will go to the qabr at the noon time.
Therefore there is no proof for the Qubooris in any way to get this from weak reports. Allahu akbar
Fifth:Age of Umm Kulthum bint Abee Bakr
If you see Umm kulthum bint abee bakr was born after the death of Abu Bakr Siddiq , i.e Hijra13, Umar (RA) took over as the ruler at Hijra 13. IF we assume that this thing witnessed during his last period that is hijra 23 , then the age of Umm Kulthum would be 10 years old Can these Qubooris derive a proof to wail over the Prophet’s grave from such incidents?
Sixth:Defaming Umar (RA)
Furthermore she is threatening Ayesha(RA) that if she arranges her marriage with Umar(RA) then she would go and wail ???Little one should know from where can one get such reports except from some shia sources to diminish the reputation of Umar bin al Khattaab (RA)
Further there could be a chance that the wordings ولَأَصِيحَنَّcan be ولَأَصِبحَنَّ where a baa could have been printed or written wrongly as yaa
If that is the case then it would bring out the same meaning as the one in the longer chain of narrationIn any ways , the story is not proven by an authentic chain.
Quboorism has again been humiliated by bringing weak reports to prove their stance .
Dr Hatem al-Haj was aked regarding this narration and he replied:
All praise be to Allah, and may His blessings and prayers be on His last messenger, Muhammad, The hadeeth has been reported with controversial chains and contradictory versions. If authentic, it won’t contain any proof because the threat made by Oum Kalthoum has not been approved by the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) or the consensus of the companions. The hadeeth also contained a statement from Oum Kalthoum that she wants to marry a man from Quraish who would “pour the donya on her in abundance,” which means she was after wealth and the quick enjoyments of the donya. If it were true, she won’t be an authority to take from. It was not clear how ‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) reacted to the whole thing. The tacit approval of the Prophet only is a proof.
Please consider also the following:
1- This hadeeth is also counter to the following stronger report reported by Abu Dawood, ad-Diya’ and others, and considered hassan or Saheeh by: al-Albani. Ibn Abdul Hadi, as-Sakhawi, as-Soyouti, an-Nawawi, and others.
أن علي بن الحسين رضي الله عنهما رأى رجلاً يجيء إلى فرجة كانت عند قبر النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فيدخل فيها فيدعو، فنهاه وقال: ألا أحدثكم حديثًا سمعته من أبي عن جدي عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم “لا تتخذوا قبري عيدًا ولا بيوتكم قبورًا، وصلوا عليَّ فإن تسليمكم يبلغني أين كنتم.”
Ali ibn al-Husayn (may Allah bestow mercy on him) saw a man come to a gap by the grave of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him), where he would enter in it and make du’a’. He forbade him from that and said, “Shall I not tell you a hadeeth I heard from my father from my grandfather from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him)? “Do not take my grave as a ‘eid (the word comes from ‘ada, which means returns, and infers a place or time that is recurrently sought), and do not turn your houses into graves, and send blessings onto me for that will reach me from wherever you are.”
2- The proponents of asking the prophet after his death (blessings and peace be upon him) rely on a few reports that are very controversial, and mainly rely on dreams and the likes. If that concept was actually valid, we would have had numerous reports from the companions doing just that and gathering around the grave of the Prophet to beseech his intercession for their various affairs. Such is not the case.
3- The meaning deduced by some from the hadeeth, that one may turn to the Prophet after his death (blessings and peace be upon him) and ask him for that which is in the hands of Allah, is a threat to Islam’s most valuable, beautiful, and characteristic principle, which is the protection of the purity of tawheed of Allah as the only one sought after for du’a’. There is a huge difference between allowing man to ask his fellow living man for du’a’ and asking the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) after his death. The competition between the latter scenario and devoting one’s pursuit of the heart for help and support to Allah alone is quite obvious. Human weakness makes us also vulnerable to favoring to address someone we can imagine his figure, like the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him), over the One Whose Image is concealed from our sight, and even imagination, in this life. Although we, Sunni Muslims, don’t have pictures and statues of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) like the Christians do, we can still envisage him in our imagination.
Finally, the status of Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him) shall not be advanced by such practices, like beseeching him for one’s needs. In fact, such practices are a betrayal of his legacy. He is the best of Allah’s creation. He is more honorable than all of the messengers and prophets, the martyrs and angels, the pen and the throne. There is none between him and Allah, but that is only another reason caution must be exercised to avoid blurring the necessary distinction between the creator and creation, the Divine and the greatest of all humans. Will there be anyone contesting a man asking Allah directly for his needs? Isn’t Allah close to us, and He has promised to respond to our du’a’? Why leave what is certain and agreed upon and follow that which is doubtful and may be a catalyst of much deviation, as we see at the grave sites in various parts of the Muslim world?
May Allah guide us all to His chosen path, and may He forgive our great scholars, of the past and present, who erred while attempting to please Him alone.
Allah knows best.[amjaonline Fatwa id : 87036]
Dr Salah as-Sawi was asked regarding this and he respnded
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه ومن والاه، أما بعد: فإن هذه القصة لا تصِحّ لصِغر أم كلثوم بنت أبي بكر رضي الله عنها، فإنها وُلِدَت بعد وفاة أبيها فعندما تولى عمر خلافة المسلمين كانت في بطن أمها فقد مات الصديق ولم تكن أم كلثوم قد وُلدت بعد، قال ابن عبد البر في ترجمة ” حبيبة بنت خارجة ” : زوجة أبي بكر الصديق هي بنت خارجة التي قال فيها أبو بكر في مرضه الذي مات منه ، إن ذا بطن بنت خارجة قد ألقي في خلدي أنها جارية ، فكانت كذلك جارية ، وُلِدَت بعد موته فَسَمّتْهَا عائشة : أم كلثوم ، ثم تزوجها طلحة بن عبيد الله فولدت له زكريا وعائشة ابني طلحة هذا قول أهل النسب .. وخلافة عمر رضي الله عنه عشر سنين ، فتكون أم كلثوم بنت أبي بكر صغيرة في خلافة عمر رضي الله عنه ، إلاّ أن كان ذلك في آخر خلافة عمر رضي الله عنه فيُحتَمل على ضعف وغرابة وما كان الصحابة رضي الله عنهم على كثرة ما ألم بهم من فتن جسام ياتون قبر البي صلى الله عليه وسلم ويصيحون به أو يشتكون إليه! وهم أعلم وأحكم وأتقى وأورع! والله تعالى أعلى وأعلم
