The Three who Spoke in the Cradle

The Hadeeth:

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah - may Allah be pleased with him - who said that the Prophet - صلى الله عليه وسلم - said:

“None spoke in the cradle except three:

1. ‘Eesa the son of Maryam,

2. Jurayj’s companion; Jurayj was a man of worship, he had a place of worship and while he was in it, his mother came in and called upon him. He said to himself; ‘My Lord, my mother or my prayer?’ So he continued praying and she left. The next day she also came and called upon him while he was in prayer, he said to himself; ‘My Lord, my mother or my prayer?’ So he continued praying and again she left. The following day she came again and called upon him while he was in prayer, he said to himself; ‘My Lord, my mother or my prayer?’ So he continued praying.

   She said: ‘O Allah, do not allow him to die until he sees the faces of prostitutes.’

   The Children of Israel knew of Jurayj and his worship. There was a very beautiful prostitute who offered to seduce him. She attempted to do so but he did not pay her any attention. She then approached a herdsman who used to seek refuge in his place of worship, she offered herself to him and he slept with her. She became pregnant, and when she gave birth she claimed that it was the child of Jurayj. They went to him, invoked curses over him, destroyed his place of worship and attacked him.

   He said: ’Why are you doing this?’

   They responded: ‘You fornicated with this woman and she bore you a child.’

   He said: ‘Where is the child?’

   So they brought him the child.

   He said: ‘Leave me until I pray.’

   When he finished praying he came to the boy and poked him in his stomach. He said: ‘O child, who is your father?’

   The baby boy responded: ‘So and so the herdsman.’

   So the people turned to Jurayj, kissing him and asking him for forgiveness. They offered to rebuild his place of worship in gold, but he refused and asked them to rebuild it from mud just as it was before, and so they did.

3. There was also a baby who was being breast fed by his mother when a rider in fine garments passed by on an agile animal.

   His mother said: ‘O Allah, make my child like him.’

   The baby stopped suckling and looked at him, he said: ‘O Allah, do not make me like him.’

   He then continued suckling…”

   Abu Hurayrah - May Allah be pleased with him - said: ‘It is as if I can see Messenger of Allah - صلى الله عليه وسلم - right now, as he is illustrating the scene of the baby’s suckling with his forefinger in his mouth.’

   He continued: "They passed by a slave girl who was being beaten by people who were accusing her of committing fornication and theft.'

   She was saying: `Sufficient is Allah is for me, and the best of Guardians He is’

   The mother said: `O Allah, do not make my child like her.'

   Again the baby stopped suckling, looked at her and said: ‘O Allah! Make me like her.'

   At this point they spoke to each other, the mother said: `A good looking man passed by and I asked Allah to make my child like him, you asked Allah not make you like him. We passed by this slave girl while she was being beaten and being accused of fornication and theft, I asked Allah not to make my child like her, and you asked Allah to make you like her.'

   The child said: `That man was a tyrant, so I asked Allah not to make me like him. They were accusing the girl of fornication, while she did not commit it, and they were accusing her of theft, while she did not steal, so I asked Allah to make me like her"

Collected by both al Bukhari and Muslim.]

[Concerning the Hadeeth:]

“None spoke while in the cradle except three: ‘Isa ibn Maryam, Yusuf’s companion, Jurayj’s companion and the son of Pharoah’s daughter’s hair brusher.’

[Al Albani stated in As Silsilah ad Da’eefah #880: - Parts of al-Albani’s speech will be summarized or omitted, such as the details of the defects of some chains and the Jarh and Ta’deel concerning the narrators as it is extensive.]

This Hadeeth with this wording is false. It was collected by al Haakim in al Mustadrak…so this Hadeeth is false with me for two reasons.

The first: It restricts the number of those who spoke in the cradle to three, it then mentions four.

The second: The Hadeeth that was collected by al Bukhari in the Book of Prophets has the exact same chain as al Haakim’s but with a contradicting wording…

It was also collected by Muslim: 8/4-5, by way of Yazeed ibn Haroon on the authority of Jareer ibn Haazim. It was collected by Ahmad: 2/307 - 308 through another two paths on the authority of Jareer, but it is apparent that this Hadeeth is Mawqoof. It was collected by Ibn Jareer in his Tafseer: 12/115 on the authority of Ibn Waqee’…on the authority of ibn ‘Abbaas: ”Four people spoke in the cradle while they were babies…” And he mentions all four as is in the false narration of al Haakim.

I have not found an authentic Hadeeth that removes this restriction [of only three people speaking in the cradle] that was collected by both al Bukhari and Muslim except the story of the baby boy of al Ukhdood [1]. It is mentioned in it that he [the baby boy] said to his mother: ‘My mother, be patient for you are upon the truth.” It was collected by Ahmad: 6/17-18, on the authority of Suhayb with an authentic chain with the requirements of Muslim, but with the addition that he was a nursing baby. The story was also collected by Muslim: 8/231 but without this addition [of the nursing baby]. Al Hafidh [ibn Hajr] stated in ‘al Fat-h’ that this addition is in Muslim, however this is an error if it is not found in other prints of Muslim.

Some scholars combined between this Hadeeth and the one collected by both al Bukhari and Muslim by saying the first Hadeeth only mentions those who spoke while they were actually in the cradle and Allah knows best.

Concerning Yusuf’s witness, then it is apparent in the story in the Quran that he was a man and not a child in a cradle. If he were a baby in a cradle, the mere fact that he spoke saying that she [al ‘Azeez’ wife] was lying would have been sufficient to settle the affair, and a clear evidence against her, because it is a miracle. There would not have been any need in saying that he [the witness] was from her family, or for any other evidence for the innocence of Yusuf – ‘Alayhi as Salaam – which is the shirt that was cut from the back as mentioned in the Ayah.

Ibn Jareer also collected authentic Ahadeeth on the authority of ibn ‘Abbaas that this witness was a man with a beard, and this seems to be the correct opinion and Allah knows best.

As an added benefit; what is mentioned in some of the books of Tafseer that the following also spoke in the cradle: Ibraheem, Yahyaa and Muhammad, may the Salaat and Salaam be upon all of them – there is no basis for this on the authority of the Messenger, so take note of this.

 

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[1 – Translators note:] The Hadeeth that al-Albani is reffering to here concerning the child of al Ukhdood who is the son of Phir’aon’s daughter's hairdresser is as follows, two authentic narrations were combined to turn it into one story, additions to the first narration are in black [square brackets]:

“When I ascended [at night] to the heavens, I passed by a wonderful scent, I asked [Jibreel] what it was. I was told it was Phir’aon’s daughter’s hairdresser and her children. [I asked him; what about her?]

[He said:] One day while she was brushing Phir’aon’s daughter’s hair, her brush fell and she said: ‘Bismillaah - in the name of Allah.’

The daughter said: ‘My father?”

She responded: “ [No, but] My Lord is your Lord and your father’s Lord.”

The daughter asked: “You have a Lord other than my father?”

She responded: “Yes.”

[Should I tell my father of this?

She responded: “Yes.”

So she told her father]

Phir’aon summoned her and asked her: “Do you have a Lord other than me?”

She said: “Yes, my Lord and your Lord is Allah.”

So he ordered that a copper vessel be set to flames and heated up and that she and her children be thrown into it.

[She said to him: “I have a request.”

He said: “What is it?”

She said: “I request that you gather my bones and my children’s bones in one garment and bury them.”

He responded: “That is a right that you have upon us.”]

Her children were thrown before her [one by one] , until only a nursing child remained, [it is as if she started to waver because of him] he said: “My mother, do not waver, for indeed you are upon the truth.” [In the other narration: “My mother, throw yourself into the fire, for indeed the torment of the afterlife is more severe than the torment of this life.” So she threw herself.]

Ibn ‘Abbaas stated: Four people spoke while they were babies: ‘Isa the son of Maryam – ‘Alayhi as Salaam, Jurayj’s companion, Yusuf’s witness and Phir’aon’s daughter’s hairdresser.

[So this fourth baby spoke, however he was not in a cradle and this is how some of the people of knowledge combined between these two Ahadeeth. The conclusion being that according to the authentic Ahadeeth; four babies spoke, but only three while in the cradle and Allah knows best]

[2] Shaykh Saaleh al-'Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy upon him, states in an explanation of a Hadeeth in Riyaad as-Saliheen where another child has spoken: "There were those who spoke in the cradle other than 'Eesa, 'alayhi as-Salaam, and this Hadeeth explains the saying of the Messenger in the Hadeeth of Jurayj: "None spoke in the cradle except three..." and he then mentions them from the children of Israel, the Hadeeth only specifies those who spoke from the children of Israel and not from mankind in general and Allah knows best. [Sharh Riyaad as-Saliheen: 1/90]

The Hadeeth that the Shaykh commented on was collected by Muslim.