Quran
Hadith
Islamic Text
The Hadith about not sleeping in a house alone is Sahih in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad. The narration in Tabarani is not sound.
عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ نَهَى عَنِ الْوَحْدَةِ، أَنْ يَبِيتَ الرَّجُلُ وَحْدَهُ أَوْ يُسَافِرَ وَحْدَهُ
Ibn Umar (May Allah Most High be pleased with them both) said, ‘The Prophet ﷺ prohibited being alone. And for a man to sleep in a house alone or travel alone.’ (Musnad Ahmad, 5650).
In Majma al-Zawaid Imam al-Haythami confirmed that this Hadith has sound narrators:
رَوَاهُ أَحْمَدُ، وَرِجَالُهُ رِجَالُ الصَّحِيحِ
It was narrated by (Imam) Ahmad, and the narrators are the narrators of Sahih. (Majma al-Zawaid 13208, Imam al-Haythami).
The Hadith above from the Musnad of Imam Ahmad is Sahih. Therefore, one is encouraged to memorise it, act upon it and forward it to others. As for the narration below it is not sound, although the wording is very similar. This is often the case with Hadith narrations, a particular narration is Sahih but another one with a similar message is not. In such cases one must seek out the sound version.
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ زُهَيْرٍ قَالَ: نا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ وَهْبٍ الْعَلَّافُ الْوَاسِطِيُّ قَالَ: نا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْقَاسِمِ الْأَسَدِيُّ قَالَ: نا زُهَيْرٌ، عَنْ أَبِي الزُّبَيْرِ، عَنْ جَابِرٍ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: لَوْ يَعْلَمُ النَّاسُ مَا فِي الْوَحْدَةِ مَا سَارَ رَاكِبٌ بِلَيْلٍ أَبَدًا، وَلَا نَامَ رَجُلٌ فِي بَيْتٍ وَحْدَهُ
(Sayidina) Jabir (May Allah Most High be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘If the people knew the problem with being alone, then nobody would ever travel alone at night. And a man would not sleep in a house alone.’ (Tabarani al-Mojam al-Owsat, 2058).
رَوَاهُ الطَّبَرَانِيُّ فِي الْأَوْسَطِ، وَفِيهِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْقَاسِمِ الْأَسَدِيُّ، وَثَّقَهُ ابْنُ مَعِينٍ وَضَعَّفَهُ أَحْمَدُ وَغَيْرُهُ، وَبَقِيَّةُ رِجَالِهِ ثِقَاتٌ
It was narrated by (Imam) al-Tabarani in al-Owsat. It has Muhammad bin Qasim al-Asadi in the chain. He was considered sound by (Imam Yahya) bin Maeen. However, (Imam) Ahmad and others considered him weak. The remaining narrators are sound. (Majma al-Zawaid 13209, Imam al-Haythami).
As mentioned by Imam al-Haythami above, the Hadith from Tabarani is of disputed authenticity. However, it may be considered very weak or even fabricated according to some scholars, and not merely weak. Since Imam Ahmad said Muhammad bin Qasim al-Asadi is a fabricator and Imam al-Bukhari alluded to him being Munkar (very weak). See Tareekh al-Islam of Imam al-Dhahabi for details. Therefore, one must use the sound narration from Ahmad when discussing this issue.
And Allah Most High Knows Best
-Answered by Shaykh Noorud-deen Rashid (20.07.2022)
See also:
Is it wrong to be alone all the time?
Are there things in Islam that help with depression?
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