Purity and cure in the Prophet’s Urine

Here are some narrations which explicitly mention the purity of prophet’s urine (May Allah shower peace and blessings on Him), and it as a cure.

Imam Suyuti’s narrations[1]

1. Imam Jalal al-Din Suyuti reports from Tabarani and Bayhaqi who narrate from Hukaymah bint Umaymah (May Allah be pleased with her) with an authentic chain of transmission, she said, ‘the Prophet (May Allah shower peace and blessings on Him) had a wooden bowl in which He used to urinate and was placed under His bed. One night, He searched for it but did not find it and asked for it saying, ‘where is the bowl?’ The members of the house replied ‘Umm Salamah’s slave girl Barrah drank from it’ who came from Habashah with her. The Prophet replied, ‘surely she has protected herself from the fire with a great wall’’’.

2. Imam Jalal al-Din Suyuti reports from Abu Ya’la, Hakim, Dar Qutni, Tabarani and Abu Nu’aym from Umm Ayman May Allah be pleased with her, who said, ‘the Prophet got up one night and urinated in a bowl. During that night, I rose in the state of thirst so I drank whatever was in the bowl. In the morning I told Him what I had done to which He smiled and said, ‘surely you will never have pain in your stomach’’. Abu Ya’ala’s wordings are as follows, ‘you will never feel stomach pain as of today’.

Imam Tabarani’s narrations[2]

Imam Tabarani narrates three hadith on this issue in His al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer, of which two are authentic and one is weak due to the narrator ‘Abu Malik Nakha’i’. However, it is strengthened by the other narrations on this issue which suggest that His SAW excess was pure, and a cure. Besides, it is narrated by other channels of transmission too.
Incident One. The Narration of Umaymah bint Ruqayqah about Barrah the slave girl of Umm Salamah, who drank from His Urine, is authentic.

Incident Two. The Narration of Umaymah bint Ruqayqah about Barakah the slave girl of Umm Habeebah (she is other than Umm Ayman who was also known as Barakah) is also authentic.

Incident Three. The Narration of Umm Ayman who herself mentions her incident, consists of Abu Malik al-Nakha’i, a weak narrator, but this hadith is transmitted by other chains too as we will see later, Insha Allah.

Detailed study of the Hadith
Hadith One.

Tabarani said: Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal informed us, who was informed by Yahya ibn Ma’een, who was informed by Hajjaj Bin Muhammad who narrates from Ibn Jurayj who narrates from Hukaymah bint Umaymah, who reports from her mother Umaymah who said, ‘the Prophet SAW used to have a wooden bowl in which he used to urinate and place under His bed. One night, He searched for it but did not find it and asked for it saying, where is the bowl? The members of the house replied ‘Umm Salamah’s slave girl Barrah drank it’ who came from Habashah with her. The Prophet replied, ‘surely she has protected herself from the fire with a great wall’.

This narration is authenticated by many scholars. Imam Nur al-Din al-Haythmi said, ‘it is narrated by Tabarani and its narrators are from the men of al-Sahih i.e. Bukhari except Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal and Hukaymah who are both trustworthy narrators’.[3]
Abdullah is the son of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, compiler and narrator of the Musnad, and from the Men of Sunan Nisa’i.

Hukaymah is from the major female successors ‘taabi’iyyaat’. Abu Dauwd, Nisa’i, Bayhaqi and others narrate from her.

Nasir al-Din Albani said, ‘a group of Hadith masters have authenticated this hadith’.[4]

Ibn Hibban narrates this very narration and authenticates it in His al-Saheeh.[5]

Hakim narrates this hadith in His Mustadrak and Dhahabi confirms it authenticity. 1:167, prnt.Tab Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi Beirut

Suyuti in two of His books authenticates this narration; Al-Jami al-Sagheer[6] and al-Khasa’is al-Kubra in which he has dedicated an entire chapter to this subject with this heading ‘babu ikhtisasihi sallalahu ta’ala alaiyhi wa sallam bi taharati damihi wa bawlihi wa gha’itihi’ ‘Chapter on His specialty in purification of His blood, urine and faeces May Allah send peace and blessings on Him’.

Hadith Two.

Tabarani said: Hussain bin Is’haq al-Tustari informed us, who was informed by Uthman bin Abi Shaybah, who was informed by Shababah bin Sawwar, who was informed by Abu Malik al-Nakha’i who narrated from Aswad bin Qays, who narrated from Nubayh al-Anazi, who narrated from Umm Ayman, who said: ‘‘One night the Prophet got up and went to a side to urinate in the bowl. During the night, I rose and was thirsty so I drank whatever was in it and I did not even realize what it was. In the morning, He said, ‘Oh Umm Ayman! Throw away whatever is in the bowl’. I replied, ‘I drank what was in the bowl’. He thereafter smiled as such that His teeth appeared and said, ‘Beware! You will never have stomach pain’’.
Imam Jalal al-Din Suyuti reports from Abu Ya’la, Hakim, Dar Qutni, Tabarani, Abu Nu’aym from Umm Ayman (also known as Barakah) May Allah be pleased with her, who said, ‘the Prophet got up one night and urinated in a bowl. During that night, I rose in the state of thirst so I drank whatever was in the bowl. In the morning I told Him what I done and He smiled and said, ‘surely you will never have pain in your stomach’’. Abu Ya’ala’s wordings are as follows,
‘you will never feel stomach pain as of today’.

In Majam al-Zawa’id, Imam al-Haythami says, ‘in its channel of transmission is Abu Malik al-Nakha’I who is weak’.[7]
Qadhi Ayyadh considers this narration authentic on the basis that Dar Qutni authenticates it on the requisites of Bukhari and Muslim.[8]

Imam Nawawi authenticates this narration in Sharh al-Muhazzab as confirmed by Imam al-Zurqani in his commentary on al-Mawahib al-Ludunyah[9] Nawawi said it is hasan sahih. He based His opinion on the authentication of Dar Qutni and said ‘this is sufficient to take it as proof’.[10]

Mulla Ali Qari authenticates the narration of Umm Ayman, in His Jam al-Wasa’il, 2:3, Dar al-Marifah Beirut. Here are the wordings, ‘She said, ‘One night the Prophet got up and went to a side to urinate in the bowl. During the night, I rose and was thirsty so I drank whatever was in it and I did not even realize what it was. In the morning, He said, ‘Oh Umm Ayman! Throw away whatever is in the bowl’. I replied, ‘I drank what was in the bowl’. He thereafter smiled as such that His Teeth appeared and said, ‘Listen! I swear by Allah! You will never have stomach pain’’.

In the very same note, Mulla Ali Qari states, ‘Ibn Hajar said, many early scholars have upheld that His SAW excess was clean based on this narration’. Ibid.

The authentication of so many scholars of this hadith clearly indicates that there is more than one channel of transmission to Umm Ayman and not only through Abu Malik al-Nakha’i. Hence, the ruling of weakness cannot be generalized to all other transmissions and texts of hadith from Umm Ayman. Mulla Ali Qari states in the commentary of Qadhi Ayyadh’s forgoing statement, ‘its narrators are as the narrators of Bukhari and Muslim in uprightness and accuracy…the summary is that this hadith is of the rank of Bukhari and Muslim in its rigorous authenticity though not recorded by them’.[11]

Ibn Kathir narrates the hadith of Umm Ayman in al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya[12] with the following channel of transmission. Hafiz Abu Ya’la said, Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr al-Muqaddami informed me, who was informed by Ibn Qutaybah, who narrates from Hussain bin Harb, who narrates from Ya’la bin Ata, who narrates from Waleed bin Abd al-Rahman who narrates from Umm Ayman who said,

‘The Messenger of Allah May Allah send peace and blessings upon Him had a clay bowl in which he used to urinate and in the morning He used to say, ‘Oh Umm Ayman! Throw away what is in the bowl’. One night I woke up and was very thirsty so I drank whatever was in the bowl. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Oh Umm Ayman! Throw away what is in the bowl’. She replied, ‘Oh messenger of Allah! I got up and was thirsty so I drank what was in it’ to which He replied, ‘you will never have stomach pain anymore’’.

Notably, Imam Dhahabi is silent on the narration of Umm Ayman in Hakim’s Mustadrak which suggests that he had no concerns about the authenticity since he is well-known for His strictness in weakening hadith as is Imam Hakim in laxity in authenticating hadith. There are two possible reasons for his silence 1. His awareness of another chain to this text 2. Or the fact that this hadith is from the issues of excellence and requires no rigorously authentic narration, since a weak chain is sufficient here.
Hafiz Hassan bin Sufyan narrates this incident through Abu Malik al-Nakha’I in his Musnad.[13]

Hafiz Abu Ahmad al-Askari narrates this incident through Abu Malik.[14]

Hafiz Abu Nua’eem narrates this incident in His Dala’il al-Nubuwwah, Hilyat al-Awliya through Abu Malik[15]

Hafiz Abu Ali ibn al-Sukkan narrates this incident as recorded by Ibn Hajar in al-Isabah, thorugh a channel other than Abu Malik al-Nakha’i.[16]

Hadith Three.

Tabarani said: Ahmad bin Ziyad al-Haza al-Raqaiyy informed us, who was informed by Hajjaj bin Muhammad, who narrates from Ibn Jurayj who said: Hukaymah bint Umaymah bint Ruqayqah said, narrating from her mother: ‘the Prophet SAW used to have a wooden bowl in which he used to urinate and was placed under His bed. One night, He searched for it but did not find it and asked Barakah the slave girl of Umm Habeeba who came from Habsha with her, for it saying, ‘where is the urine in the bowl?’ She replied, ‘I drank it’ to which He uttered, ‘surely you have saved yourself from the fire’’. [17]

Imam Nisa’i and Abu Dawud narrate this narration of Umaymah in short version. Ibn Abd al-Barr completes the hadith of Nisa’i in his al-Isti’ab, as does Suyuti in his commentary on Sunan al-Nisa’i, with the following wording, ‘The Prophet urinated in the bowl and was placed under His bed. He asked Barakah who came from Habshah who used to serve Umm Habeebah, ‘where is the urine from this bowl?’ She replied, ‘I drank it oh messenger of Allah!’’ [18]

Suyuti narrates it in al-Jami al-Sagheer from Abu Dawud, Nisa’i and Hakim whilst marking its authenticity. Imam Manawi in its commentary adds the complete hadith, and says its narrators are from the narrators of al-Sahih (Bukhari).[19]

Note: The hadith scholars commonly take parts of a hadith and leave others out in respect to the topic or subject title in recourse. We find this quite common in Bukhari’s al-Sahih and many other works.

Imam Qurtabi narrates the very same incident as recorded by Ibn Abd al-Barr in al-Isti’ab. [20]

Bayhaqi narrates it in al-Sunan al-Kubra. He has an entire chapter dedicated to this issue entitled: ‘babu tarkihi al-Inkar ala man shariba bawlahu wa damahu’ ‘His concession to those who drank His urine and blood’.[21]

Suyuti also has an entire chapter on this issue in his al-Khasa’is al-Kubra in which he narrates this incident, entitled: ‘bab al-Istishfa bi bawlihi Sallalahu alaiyhi wa sallam’ chapter on seeking cure from His urine May Allah send peace and blessings upon Him.

Imam al-Asqalani narrates this incident in al-Isabah fi ma’rifat al-Sahabah under ‘Barakah al-Habshiyah’ and Talkhees al-Habeer.[22]

Hafiz Abd al-Razzaq al-San’ani narrates this incident with a different wording from Ibn Jurayj who said: ‘I was told that the Prophet used to have a wooden bowl in which he used to urinate and was placed under His bed. Once, He searched for it but did not find it and asked Barakah the slave girl of Umm Habeeba who came from Habsha with her, for it saying, ‘where is the urine in the bowl?’ She replied, ‘I drank it’ to which He uttered, ‘Oh Umm Yusuf! You will be cured!’ This was her nickname or kuniyyah. She never became ill after that and died in good health’.

From this incident we understand that Umm Yusuf was also known as Barakah as well as Umm Ayman and these were two different incidents. Ibn Dihyah, authenticated both incidents as two separate ones as mentioned by Suyuti in al-Khasa’is, and al-Asqalani in Talkhees al-Habeer and al-Isabah.

Abu Nu’aym al-Asbahani narrates it with His chain to Umaymah bint Ruqayqah.[23]

Ibn Mundah al-Asbahani narrates it in His Ma’rifat al-Sahabah.[24]

Finally, let me narrate two more incidents of the Sahabah on this issue.

Imam Abu Nu’aym narrates the practice of Anas RA, with his chain, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah used to pray salah at his house and made it long. Once, He SAW urinated in the well, which was situated inside the house. Anas said: ‘there was no well in Madinah which tasted more cool and sweet than it’. He said: ‘when the sahabah come to my house I serve them with the sweet water of that well. In the era of jahiliyyah it was known as al-Barud, ‘the cool well’’’. [25]

Khateeb al-Baghdadi narrates a long hadith in ‘Ruwatu Malik’ on an incident which took place with the famous sahabi Jabir bin Abdullah. Imam Suyuti records it in His al-Khasa’is al-Kubra. The portion of this hadith is as follows: ‘Jabir said: ‘the Prophet SAW took some water for wudhu and saw two separate date trees. He SAW said to me: ‘Oh jabir! Go to them and tell them to get together’. They got together as if their roots were one. He then made wudhu as I brought the water to Him. I then thought in my head, only if Allah informs me to His SAW waste, so that I may consume it! I saw that the earth on which he sat was clean. So I asked, ‘Did you not make the toilet?’ to which he replied, ‘Yes, but the earth is ordered to hide away the excess of us prophets’. The date trees then separated…’’[26]

In the former narration we see that 1. The well of Anas became sweet, 2. He drank from it, 3. He used to serve the sahabah from it. In the latter narration we see that 1. The companion Jabir desired to consume the Prophet’s excess, 2. The earth is ordered to hide away His excess His. May Allah be pleased with them.

Three Principles of accepting these hadith narrations

The hadiths of Umm Ayman and Umaymah have more than one channels of transmission, from which only one chain of Umm Ayman is through Abu Malik al-Nakha’i. This explicitly shows that the hadith in this issue are authentic by various chains and weakness cannot be generalized to all narrations!

The chain which links through Abu Malik is only supporting the other narrations or mutabi hence an ancillary hadith.

Though the chain of Abu Malik is weak, it is accepted in issues of merits and excellence. The unanimity of Hadith Scholars concurs on the view that a weak hadith, unless forged, is accepted in such issues. See: Fat’h al-Mugheeth by al-Sakhawi, Tadreeb al-Rawi by Suyuti and others.
Munawwar Ateeq Rizvi

Notes and summary of Sheikh Ashraf al-Qadri’s epistle entitled ‘Hadeeth Shurb bawl-e-Nabawi’ (urdu)
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Footnotes
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[1] Al-Khasa’is al-Kubra 2:252, Matba’ah Da’irat al-Ma’arif, Hayder Abad.

[2] Al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer

[3] (Majma’ al-Zawa’id 8: 270,271, Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, Beirut).

[4] (al-Tahqeeq li Mishkat al-Masabeeh’, hadith no: 362, 1:117, Prnt Taba al-Maktab al-Islami Beirut)

[5] Hadith no: 1423, 3: 293, Prnt. Mu’assasat al-Risalah, Beirut.

[6] 2:111, prnt Tab al-Maktabah al-Islamiyah

[7] 8: 271,prnt. Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, Beirut

[8] al-Shifa, 1:41, prnt. Matba’ah Rustum Mustafa al-Halabi, Cairo

[9] 4:233, Dar al-Ma’rifah, Beirut.

[10] Sharh al-Muhazzab, 1:234, Dar al-Fikr, Beirut

[11] Sharh al-Shifa, 1:361, prnt. Al-Matba’ah al-Azhariyyah al-Misriyyah, Cairo

[10 ]Dhikru abeedihi wa imaa’ihi 5: 326, Maktabah al-Ma’arif Beirut

[13] See: Talkhees al-Habeer, Ibn Hajar Asqalani, 1:31, Maktabah Athariyyah, Sanghla Hill, Pakistan

[14] See: Ibid.

[15] Dala’il al-Nubuwwah, 2:380-381, prnt. Dar al-Baz, Makkah, Hilyat, ‘Trjimah 147 Umm Ayman’, 2:67, Dar al-Fikr, Beirut

[16] Biography no: 1145 ‘Umm Ayman mawlat al-Nabiyy wa hadhinatuhu’, 4:433, prnt, Maktabah al-Mathna, Baghdad

[17] al-Mu’jam al-Kebeer, Umaymah bint Ruqayqah Bint Sayfi, Hadith no: 477, 24:189, prnt. Makatabah Ibn Taymiyah, Cairo

[18] al-Isti’ab, 4:251, Matba’ah al-Sa’adah, Misr

[19] Faiz al-Qadeer, 5:177, prnt. Dar all-Ma’rifah, Beirut

[20] 4:251, Prnt. Maktabah al-Mathna, Baghdad

[21] 7:67 prnt. Matba’ah Majlis Da’irat al-Ma’arif al-Nizamiyah, HaiderAbad

[22] 1:31-32, prnt. Maktabah Athariyyah, Sanghla Hill, Pakistan)

[23] SEE: Usdl-Ghabah, Izz al-Din abn al-Atheer, 5:403, prnt. Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut

[24] See: Usd al-Ghabah, Izz al-Din abn al-Atheer, 5:403, prnt. Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut)

[25] Dala’il al-Nubuwwah, 2:381, Dar al-Baz, Makkah

[26] 2: 30, al-Maktabah al-Nuriyyahh al-Ridhwiyyah, Laiylpur.