The story of Alqamah and his mother

17-3-2010 | IslamWeb

Question:

Salam Aleikum
Please verify the authenticity of this Hadith
At the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), there was a young man named Alqamah. He was very diligent in obeying Allah by engaging in prayer and fasting and spending in charity. Then he fell ill and his illness became serious. His wife went to the Prophet and said, "My husband, Alqamah, is on his deathbed. I therefore came to tell you, Messenger of Allah, about his condition." The Prophet (then) sent for Ammar or Suhaib and Bilal, and told them to go to him (Alqamah) and have him repeat the Shahadah. Thereupon they went to him and found him in the agony of death. They asked him to say, "La illaha illa Allah," but his tongue was unable to pronounce it. At that, they came and told the Messenger of Allah that he was unable to repeat the Shahadah.
The Prophet asked, "Is either of his parents alive?" He was told, "Messenger of Allah, his mother is, but she is very old." The Prophet sent her a message that if it was convenient for her (that is, is she was able to go out), she should come to him; otherwise she should stay in her house and the Prophet would come to her.
The Prophet's messenger came to her and informed her of the Prophet's message. She said, "May my life be a ransom for him, it is my pleasure to go to him!" She then stood up, leaning on her walking stick, and came to the Prophet and greeted him. The Prophet returned her greeting and said to her, "Umm Alqamah, tell me the truth, for otherwise Allah Most High will reveal the truth to me! What is the situation concerning your son, Alqamah?" She replied, "Messenger of Allah, he prays much, fasts a great deal, and spends a great amount in charity." The Prophet said, "And what about yourself?"
Some portion due to limitation of words. It was reported from Ahmed and Tibrani
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

 

This story is really reported by Imaam Ahmad may Allaah have mercy upon him in a summarized manner and it was also reported in detail by At-Tabaraani may Allaah have mercy upon him and it was also mentioned by Al-Munthiri may Allaah have mercy upon him in his book “At-Targheeb Wat-Tarheeb". Moreover, Shaykh Al-Albaani may Allaah have mercy upon him classified the Hadeeth in which this story is mentioned as being very weak.

The following matters should be mentioned:

1-    In those narrations, no mention of ‘Alqamah was made, and we have not come across the name of this person whether or not it was him (‘Alqamah).

2-    There are many texts in the Book of Allaah and in the Ahaadeeth reported by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and others, that warn us against cutting ties of kinship with parents and urge us to be kind and dutiful to them, so there is no need to resort to the Hadeeth which you mentioned in the question. 

Allaah Knows best.

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