he said: "Indeed, this does not benefit the deceased nor harm him, but, indeed, Allāh..." This is how it was reported by al-Munāwī in "al-Fayḍ" through the narration of al-Bayhaqī. Then he said: "And Quṭbah ibn al-ʿAlāʾ was mentioned by al-Dhahabī in 'al-Ḍuʿafāʾ' and he said: al-Nasāʾī considered him weak, and Abū Ḥātim said he is not to be relied upon." Al-Dhahabī said: "His father, al-ʿAlāʾ, is unknown, and ʿĀṣim ibn Kulayb, Ibn al-Madīnī said, is not to be relied upon for what he narrates alone." End of quote. And Kulayb was mentioned by Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr among the Companions, and he said: "He and his father Shihāb had companionship," but in "al-Taqrīb" it is said: "It is a mistake to mention him among the Companions; rather, he is from the third generation." Thus, the ḥadīth is mursal. The ḥadīth was also narrated by al-Ṭabarānī in "al-Kabīr" as mentioned in "al-Majmaʿ" (4/98), and he said: "In it is Quṭbah ibn al-ʿAlāʾ, who is weak, and Ibn ʿAdī said: 'I hope there is no harm in him,' and a group whom I do not know." It has a supporting narration extracted by Ibn Saʿd in "al-Ṭabaqāt" (8/155): "Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar informed us, Usāmah ibn Zayd narrated to us from al-Mundhir ibn ʿUbayd from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥassān ibn Thābit from his mother, who was the sister of Māriyah, called Sīrīn, whom the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) gifted to Ḥassān, and she bore him ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. She said: 'I saw the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) when Ibrāhīm was present, and I was crying along with my sister, and he did not forbid us. When he died, he forbade us from crying, and al-Faḍl ibn ʿAbbās washed him while the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) was sitting. Then I saw him at the edge of the grave with al-ʿAbbās beside him, and al-Faḍl and Usāmah ibn Zayd descended into his grave. The sun was eclipsed that day, and the people said: 'It is due to the death of Ibrāhīm.' The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said: 'It does not eclipse for the death or life of anyone.' The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) saw a gap in the bricks and ordered it to be filled. It was said to the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam), and he said: 'Indeed, it neither harms nor benefits, but it pleases the living, and when a servant does a deed, Allāh loves for it to be perfected.'" Its chain of narration consists of trustworthy men except for Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar, who is al-Wāqidī, and he is very weak.

"When Allāh intends good for a servant, He sweetens him." It was said: "And what is sweetening?" He said: "He opens for him a righteous deed before his death until those around him are pleased with him." It was narrated by al-Ṭaḥāwī in "Mushkil al-Āthār" (3/261), Ibn Ḥibbān (1822), Aḥmad (5/224), and Ibn Qutaybah in "Gharīb al-Ḥadīth" (1/52/1) and al-Bayhaqī