241 H) records the Prophet’s opinion on the matter...

241 H) records the Prophet’s opinion on the matter: حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي ثنا أبو أحمد ثنا خالد يعني بن طهمان عن نافع بن أبي نافع عن معقل بن يسار قال: وضأت النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم ذات يوم فقال هل لك في فاطمة رضي الله عنها تعودها فقلت نعم فقام متوكئا علي فقال أما انه سيحمل ثقلها غيرك ويكون أجرها لك قال فكأنه لم يكن على شيء حتى دخلنا على فاطمة عليها السلام فقال لها كيف تجدينك قالت والله لقد اشتد حزني واشتدت فاقتي وطال سقمي قال أبو عبد الرحمن وجدت في كتاب أبي بخط يده في هذا الحديث قال أو ما ترضين أني زوجتك أقدم أمتي سلما وأكثرهم علما وأعظمهم حلما ‘Abd Allah (b.

Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) - Abu Ahmad – Khalid b. Tahman – Nafi’ b. Abi Nafi’ – Ma’qil b. Yasar: I was with the Prophet, peace be upon him, one day. Then he said, “Would you like to visit Faṭimah, may Allah be pleased with her?” I said, “Yes.” So, he stood up, leaning on me, and said, “But, someone else apart from you will soon bear its weight and its reward will be for you.” It was as though I was carrying nothing until we entered upon Faṭimah, peace be upon her.

He (the Prophet) said to her, “How do you feel?” She answered, “By Allah, my grief has intensified, my want has worsened and my sickness has lasted long.” He said, “Are you not satisfied that I have married you to the one who was the first of my Ummah to accept Islam, and the most knowledgeable of them , and the most clement of them?”[^2] Imam al-Haythami (d.

807 H) states about this report: رواه أحمد والطبراني برجال وثقوا Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it with narrators who have (all) been graded thiqah (trustworthy) .[^3] At another place, al-Haythami again comments on the same hadith with the same chain: رواه أحمد والطبراني وفيه خالد بن طهمان وثقه أبو حاتم وغيره وبقية رجاله ثقات Ahmad and al-Tabarani narrated it. In the chain is Khalid b. Tahman. Abu Hatim and others declared him thiqah (trustworthy) .

The remaining narrators are (all) thiqah (trustworthy).[^4] But Shaykh al-Arnauṭ disagrees: إسناده ضعيف Its chain is dha’if .[^5] Strangely, al-Arnauṭ gives no reason for his verdict, especially in the case of such a sensitive hadith ! Meanwhile ‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) seems to have noticed this omission. In his al-DHa’ifah , after quoting the exact report above, the ‘Allamah states: أخرجه أحمد (5/ 26) ، ومن طريقه ابن عساكر (12/ 89/ 1) .

قلت: وهذا إسناد ضعيف؛ رجاله ثقات؛ غير خالد بن طهمان؛ فضعفه الأكثرون. وقال ابن معين: "ضعيف خلط قبل موته بعشر سنين، وكان قبل ذلك ثقة".