Sunan at-Tirmidhī Ḥadīth [2376] – The comparison of two wolves among sheep…

9 December 2020 · 24 Rabīʿ II 1442 AH

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حَدَّثَنَا سُوَيْدُ بْنُ نَصْرٍ قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ اللّٰهِ بْنُ المُبَارَكِ، عَنْ زَكَرِيَّا بْنِ أَبِي زَائِدَةَ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ سَعْدِ بْنِ زُرَارَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ كَعْبِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ الْأَنْصَارِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: >مَا ذِئْبَانِ جَائِعَانِ أُرْسِلَا فِي غَنَمٍ بِأَفْسَدَ لَهَا مِنْ حِرْصِ المَرْءِ عَلَى المَالِ وَالشَّرَفِ لِدِينِهِ<

قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى: هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ. وَيُرْوَى فِي هَذَا الْبَابِ عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَلَا يَصِحُّ إِسْنَادُهُ.

Reference

Book [36]: Chapters on zuhd [asceticism]
Chapter [43]: The ḥadīth “Two wolves free among sheep”

Translation

Ḥadīth [2376]: Ibn Ka’b bin Mālik al-Anṣārī ^[1] narrated on the authority of his father ^{[d. 50H]} (may Allāh be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said: “Two wolves free among sheep are no more destructive to them than a man’s desire for wealth and honor is to his religion.”

Abū ‘Īsā ^{[d. 279H]} said: This ḥadīth is ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ. There is something on this topic reported from ibn ‘Umar ^{[d. 73H/74H]} from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him), but its chain is not correct.

[1] There is a disagreement in the year in which he passed away. Imām adh-Dhahabī ^{[d. 748H]} [Al-Kashif (2926 (1/534))] mentions that he passed away in the year 97H; and Imām ibn Ḥajr ^{[d. 852H}] [Taqrīb at-Tahzīb (3576 (1/537))] mentions that he passed away in the year 97H or 98H. And Allāh knows best.

Takhrīj

• Sunan ad-Dārimī (2730 (2/242))

• Musnad Aḥmad (15784 (25/61-62) & 15794 (25/85-86)) ^{[Shu’ayb al-Arna'ūṭ]}

• Musnad Aḥmad (15724 (12/310) & 15734 (12/319)) ^{[Aḥmad Shākir]}

• Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Ḥibbān (3228 (8/24-25))

• Muṣannaf ibn Abī Shaybah (37099 [35521])

• Nasā'ī’s Sunan al-Kubrā (11796 (10/386))

• Shu’ab al-Īmān (9783 (12/487))

• Al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr (189 (19/96))

• Sharḥ as-Sunnah (4054 (14/257-258))

Also, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah ^{[d. 57H]}

• Musnad Abī Ya’lā (6449 (1/1744))

• Musnad Shihāb (811 (2/25-26) & 813 (2/26-27))

• Shu’ab al-Īmān (9785-9786 (12/488-490) & 9789-9790 (12/491))

• Al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ (772 (1/236))

• Al-Mu’jam aṣ-Ṣagḥīr (945 (1/650-651))

• Ḥilyatul Awliyā' (7/89))

Also, on the authority of ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Umar ^{[d. 73H/74H]}

• Musnad al-Bazzār (6129 (12/295))

• Musnad Shihāb (812 (2/26))

• Shu’ab al-Īmān (9784 (12/488))

• Al-Mu’jam aṣ-Ṣagḥīr (944 (1/650))

• Tārīkh ad-Dimashq (10467 (48/460))

Also, on the authority of ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Abbās ^{[d. 65H]}

• Al-Mu’jam al-‘Awsaṭ (851 (1/236))

• Ḥilyatul Awliyā' (3/219-220))

Also, on the authority of ‘Āṣim bin ‘Adī ^{[d. 45H]}

• Shu’ab al-Īmān (9791 (12/491-493))

• Al-Mu’jam al-‘Awsaṭ (5317 (5/281) & 8166 (8/125))

• Al-Mustadrak ‘alā aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥayn (5881 (6/697-698))

Also, on the authority of Usāmah bin Zayd ^{[d. 54H]}

• Al-Mu’jam aṣ-Ṣagḥīr (943 (1/649-650))

• Ḥilyatul Awliyā' (7/89))

Also, on the authority of Abū Sa’īd al-Khudrī ^{[d. 63H]}

• Al-Mu’jam al-‘Awsaṭ (6279 (6/234-235))

Also, on the authority of Jābir bin ‘Abdullāh ^{[d. After 70H]}

• Shu’ab al-Īmān (9787-9788 (12/490))

Also, on the authority of Muḥammad bin Ka’b al-Quraẓī ^[1]

• Shu’ab al-Īmān (9792 (12/493)) in mursal form.

→ Non-primary books:

• Ṣaḥīḥ at-Targhīb (1710 (2/314) & 3250 (3/267))

• Ṣaḥīḥ Mawārid aẓ-Ẓamān (2092 (2/468))

• Kanzul ‘Ummāl (7436 (3/460))

• Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ (5181)

• Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn (485)

• Al-Jāmi’ aṣ-Ṣaghīr ^[Suyūṭī] (7908 (1/483))

• Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’ (5620 (2/983))

• Al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil (15266 (17/805-806))

• Talkhīṣ al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil (15266 (6/150))

• Jāmi’ al-Uṣūl (1968 (3/628))

Also, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah ^{[d. 57H]}

• Majma’ al-Zawā'id (17778 (21/265-266) & 17783 (21/267))

Also, on the authority of ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Umar ^{[d. 73H/74H}^]

• Kanzul ‘Ummāl (6254 (3/222))

• Majma’ al-Zawā'id (17779 (21/266))

Also, on the authority of ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Abbās ^{[d. 65H]}

• Kanzul ‘Ummāl (6252 (3/222))

• Majma’ al-Zawā'id (17782 (21/267))

Also, on the authority of ‘Āṣim bin ‘Adī ^{[d. 45H]}

• Kanzul ‘Ummāl (6256 (3/222-223))

• Majma’ al-Zawā'id (6348 (9/59-60); 6611 (9/242) & 17781 (21/266-267))

Also, on the authority of Usāmah bin Zayd ^{[d. 54H]}

• Kanzul ‘Ummāl (6255 (3/222))

Also, on the authority of Abū Sa’īd al-Khudrī ^{[d. 63H]}

• Majma’ al-Zawā'id (17780 (21/266))

Also, on the authority of Abū Ja’far ^{[d. 114H]}

• Kanzul ‘Ummāl (6253 (3/222))

[1] There is a disagreement in the year in which he passed away. Ibn al-Athīr ^{[d. 630H]} [Al-Kāmil fī-Tārīkh (4/182)] mentions his death in the year 108H (and he said: It is also said: 117H); Imām adh-Dhahabī ^{[d. 748H]} [Al-Kashif (5129 (2/288))] mentions that he passed away in the year 108H (and he said: It is also said: 116H); and Imām ibn Ḥajr ^{[d. 852H]} [Taqrīb at-Tahzīb (6297 (1/891-892))] mentions that he passed away in the year 120H (and he said: It is also said: Before 120H). And Allāh knows best.

Grading

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh al-Albānī (Sunan at-Tirmidhī (2376 (1/535)); Ṣaḥīḥ at-Targhīb & Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’)

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar ad-Da’wah, New Delhi (Sunan at-Tirmidhī (2376 (3/344)))

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh ‘Eṣām Mūsā Hādī (Jāmi’ al-Kabīr (2376 (1/721)))

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Dr. Sa’d bin Nāṣir ash-Shathrī (Muṣannaf ibn Abī Shaybah (37099 (19/277)))

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Sayyid ‘Imrān (Muṣannaf ibn Abī Shaybah (35521 (10/416)))

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Dr. Ḍiyā'-ur-Raḥmān al-‘Aẓamī (Al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil)

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Imām as-Suyūṭī (Al-Jāmi’ aṣ-Ṣaghīr)

• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Ḥusayn Asad (Musnad ad-Dārimī (2772 (3/1795-1796)))

• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna'ūṭ (Musnad Aḥmad & Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn (485 (1/179)))

• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Dr. Ḥamzah Zayn (Musnad Aḥmad)

• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ by Mukhtār Aḥmad an-Nadwī (Shu’ab al-Īmān)

• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ as per the conditions of Muslim by Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna'ūṭ (Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Ḥibbān)

• Ḥadīth ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna'ūṭ (Jāmi’ al-Kabīr (2533 (4/389)) & Sharḥ as-Sunnah)

• Ḥadīth ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Muḥammad bin ‘Alī bin Ādam al-Ithyūbī (Al-Baḥrul Muḥīṭ ath-Thajjāj fī-Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Imām Muslim bin al-Ḥajjāj (20/37))

• Ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayri … by muḥaqqiqīn at Mu'assasah ar-Risālah (Al-Mustadrak ‘alā aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥayn)

• Ḥasan by Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr ‘Alī Za'ī (Jāmi’ at-Tirmidhī (2376 (1/713)) & Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ (5181 (3/168-169)))

• Ḥadīth ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh ‘Abdul-Qādir al-Arna'ūṭ (Jāmi’ al-Uṣūl)

• Ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ by Imām at-Tirmidhī

Commentary

Commentary by Dārussalām (Jāmi’ at-Tirmidhī)

Man’s love and infatuation for wealth and his quest for honor and position in life do great damage to his religion and severe his relationship with Allāh – the Almighty.

• Reference: [2376 (4/394), Jāmi’ at-Tirmidhī, Dārussalām (Eng)]

Commentary by Shaykh ‘Abdul-Mannān Rāsikh (Sunan ad-Dārimī)

The lust for wealth and status makes a person greedy, such that he is willing to sacrifice his principles and religiosity for a small price. In a narration, he (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said: “Verily, every ummah has a fitnah and the fitnah of my ummah is wealth.” [Sunan at-Tirmidhī (2336)]. So fortunate is the one who saves himself from these fitan and succeeds before Allāh. O Allāh, protect us from fitan.

• Reference: [2772 (2/471-472), Sunan ad-Dārimī, Ansarus Sunnah Publications (Ur)]

Translated by ‘Imrān (Germany)

Commentary by Ḥāfiẓ Ṣalāḥuddīn Yūsuf (may Allāh have mercy upon him)

The havoc played by wealth, rank and position, which have been mentioned in this ḥadīth, can be seen everywhere today. Even some ‘ulamā and self-proclaimed pious men have a crave for these things and they have not been able to save themselves from the ruin caused by it. May Allāh save us from these evils. Greed for wealth and fame are doubtless detrimental to religion as preference of the life of the world over religion is explicit in such a trivial pursuit.

• Reference: [485 (1/437), Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn, Dārussalām (Eng)]

Commentary by Shaykhul Islām ibn Taymiyyah (may Allāh have mercy upon him)

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) explained that the damage that eagerness for wealth and prominence causes to one’s religious commitment is no less than the damage that two hungry wolves would cause in a sheep pen, and this is quite obvious. If there is sound religious commitment, there cannot be this eagerness, because once the heart tastes the sweetness of servitude to Allāh and love of Him, then there will be nothing dearer to the individual than that, and he will give it precedence over other things. In that way, Allāh diverts evil deeds and shameful acts from those who are sincere to Allāh alone.

• Reference: [Majmū’ al-Fatāwā – ibn Taymiyyah (10/215)]

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