Then another man came and recited it differently from my recitation. Then another man came and recited contrary to both our recitations. So there entered into my soul such doubt and denial as was worse than what I experienced in the Jahiliyya. So I took them both by the hand and brought them to the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, ask these two to recite." So one of them recited, and he said: "You have done right." Then he asked the other to recite, and he said: "You have done right." Then there entered my heart worse doubt and denial than what was in the Jahiliyya, so the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, struck my chest and said: "May Allah protect you from doubt and drive Satan away from you!" Ismāʿīl said: "So I broke into a sweat"—and Ibn Abī Laylā did not say it—he said: Then he said: "Gabriel came to me and said: 'Recite the Qur'an according to one mode.' So I said: 'My nation cannot manage.' Until he said it seven times, then he said to me: 'Recite according to seven modes, and for every reply given back to you, you have a request.' He said: 'So all creatures will have need of me in it, even Abraham, peace be upon him.'" (1)
33- Abū Kurayb narrated to us, he said: ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, from Ibn Abī Laylā, from al-Ḥakam, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, from Ubayy, from the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, similar to it. (2)
34- Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī narrated to me, he said: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad narrated to us, he said: My father narrated to me, he said: Muḥammad ibn Juḥāda narrated to us, from al-Ḥakam—he is Ibn ʿUtayba—from Mujāhid, from Ibn Abī Laylā, from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, he said: Gabriel came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, while he was at the pool of Banū Ghifār, and said: "Allah, Blessed and Exalted, commands you to have your nation recite the Qur'an according to seven modes; whichever mode they recite from it, it is as they recited." (3)
Notes
- (1) Hadith 32: It has two chains of transmission, one of which is continuous and authentic (Sahih), while the other is outwardly continuous. We will explain that in detail, God willing.
A copyist error occurred here in the manuscripts of al-Ṭabarī by omitting the conjunction "and" [wa-] before his statement: "from Ibn Abī Laylā, from al-Ḥakam." Therefore, we have added it within insertion brackets [and], as we are certain that omitting it turns it into a single chain of transmission, rendering it a confused (muḍṭarib) chain that cannot be understood.
What caused the copyists to fall into error, and what causes the reader to fall into confusion and doubt, is the repetition of "from Ibn Abī Laylā" in the chain of transmission. They are two, or rather three individuals: the first is explicitly named as "ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĪsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā"; the second is "Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā," the uncle of ʿĪsā; and the third is "ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā," the Successor (Tābiʿī).
Al-Ṭabarī narrated this hadith from Abū Kurayb Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlāʾ, from Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ. Then the two chains split above Wakīʿ:
Wakīʿ narrated it from Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, "from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĪsā ibn Abī Laylā," who is "ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĪsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā."
Wakīʿ also narrated it "from Ibn Abī Laylā," who is "Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā," from al-Ḥakam, who is "al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba."
Then the two chains converge once again:
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĪsā narrates it from his grandfather, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, as in the previous two chains 30 and 31. This is a continuous chain of transmission.
And al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba narrates it from "Ibn Abī Laylā," who is "ʿAbd al-Raḥmān," from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb. This chain is outwardly continuous, except that there is a suspicion of brokenness (inqiṭāʿ) in it, because although al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba narrated a great deal from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, in this specific hadith he narrated it from him through the intermediary of Mujāhid, as will come in chains numbers 34–37, and in the takhrīj we will mention there, God willing.
It is very likely that al-Ḥakam heard it from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā himself and also heard it from Mujāhid from him, so he narrated it in both ways. This is frequent in narration and well-known among the people of knowledge.
If al-Ḥakam did not hear it from "ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā," then the narration here—like the following narration, number 33—would be an error from "Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā," for even though he was a truthful jurist (faqīh), "he had poor memory and was confused in hadith (muḍṭarib al-ḥadīth)," as Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and others stated.
It should be known that "Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā" was younger than his nephew "ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĪsā ibn Abī Laylā," and he used to narrate from him, and he did not narrate from his father "ʿAbd al-Raḥmān" except through an intermediary; as for his nephew "ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĪsā," he lived during the time of his grandfather and narrated from him directly.
In any case, the hadith is authentic (Sahih) through the continuous narrations, and the narration of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān does not impair its authenticity if its lack of continuity becomes apparent.
This translation was produced with AI assistance and is part of an ongoing human-review process. Found a mistake? Use the feedback option in the reader menu.
