Hadith

حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، وَهَنَّادٌ، وَمَحْمُودُ بْنُ غَيْلاَنَ، قَالُوا: حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ (ح) وحَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ مَهْدِيٍّ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَقِيلٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ ابْنِ الْحَنَفِيَّةِ، عَنْ عَلِيٍّ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ: مِفْتَاحُ الصَّلاَةِ الطُّهُورُ، وَتَحْرِيمُهَا التَّكْبِيرُ، وَتَحْلِيلُهَا التَّسْلِيمُ
هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ أَصَحُّ شَيْءٍ فِي هَذَا الْبَابِ وَأَحْسَنُ
وَعَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَقِيلٍ هُوَ صَدُوقٌ، وَقَدْ تَكَلَّمَ فِيهِ بَعْضُ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ مِنْ قِبَلِ حِفْظِهِ
وسَمِعْت مُحَمَّدَ بْنَ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، يَقُولُ: كَانَ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ حَنْبَلٍ، وَإِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، وَالْحُمَيْدِيُّ، يَحْتَجُّونَ بِحَدِيثِ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَقِيلٍ، قَالَ مُحَمَّدٌ: وَهُوَ مُقَارِبُ الْحَدِيثِ
وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ جَابِرٍ، وَأَبِي سَعِيدٍ

Sanad 1-3: Qutaybah & Hannad & Mamud b. Ghaylan → Wakiʿ→ Sufyan → Abdullah b. Muhammad b. Aqil → Muhammad Ibn Hanafiyyah → ʿAli → The Prophet ﷺ

Sanad 4: Muhammad b. Bashshar → Abd al-Rahman b. Mahdi → Sufyan → Abdullah b. Muhammad b. Aqil → Muhammad Ibn Hanafiyyah → ʿAli → The Prophet ﷺ

Cleanliness is the key to salah. The takbir [tahrimah of salah] makes [that which was allowed out of salah] disallowed. The salam [in salah] makes [that which became disallowed in salah] allowed.

Imam Tirmidhi states this is the most ṣaḥiḥ thing on this matter and the best.

Abdullah b. Muhammad b. Aqil is honest (صدوق). Some of the scholars have criticised him from the aspect of his memory. I heard Muhammad b. Ismaʿīl [Bukhari] say, 'Ahmad b. Hanbal, Ishaq b. Ibrahim and Humaydi use the hadith of Abdullah b. Muhammad b. Aqil as evidence'. Muhammad [b. Ismaʿīl] said, 'His hadith is close (هو مقارب الحيث)'.

On this issue [there are reports] from Jabir and Abu Saʿīd.

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ زَنْجَوَيْهِ الْبَغْدَادِيُّ، وَغَيْرُ وَاحِدٍ قَالُوا: حَدَّثَنَا الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ قَرْمٍ، عَنْ أَبِي يَحْيَى الْقَتَّاتِ، عَنْ مُجَاهِدٍ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللهِ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مِفْتَاحُ الْجَنَّةِ الصَّلاَةُ، وَمِفْتَاحُ الصَّلاَةِ الْوُضُوءُ

Source 5: Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Zanjwayh Baghadadi → Husayn b. Muhammad → Sulayman b. Qarm → Yahya Qattat → Mujahid → Jabir b. Abdullah → The Prophet ﷺ

The key to paradise is salah and the key to salah is wuḍu.

Allusion

مفتاح الصلاة / Lit: Key to salah / This is the predicate (خبر) to the subject (مبتدأ) which is cleanliness (الطهور). Normally the subject comes before the predicate but in this case, the order is reversed. The effect is that it emphasises the importance of cleanliness to salah. Overall the meaning is that cleanliness is a pre-requisite (شرط) to salah and salah will not be valid without wudu. This is not the only requisite to salah but is certainly amongst the more emphasised.

تحريم / Lit: To make something impermissible / During salah certain action become disallowed which is generally allowed outside salah such as eating, drinking, speaking and other such activities. The takbīr indicates that the salah has started and certain action are now prohibited.

تحليل / Lit: To make something permissible / Contrast to taḥrīm (تحريم), this indicates when the restriction in salah are lifted.

تكلم / Lit: To criticise or speak harshly / To make a negative assement of a person

يحتجون / Lit: Use as evidence / This is indicating that Imams Ahmad, Ishaq and Humaydi considered the words of Humaydi as reliable. This is indicative by the fact that presented as evidence

مقارب الحديث / Lit: Close to hadith / This is a light form of praise which suggests that his hadith matches existing accepted hadith and is free of anomalies.

Usul Hadith

There are two people who are popularly known as Sufyan; Sufyan Thawri (97-161 AH) and Sufyan b. ʿUyanah (107-198 AH). In this case, the majority are of the view that the Sufyan in the sanad is Sufyan Thawri. This is supported by a reference made in Tabrani's report. When Sufyan is said in general, it can be difficult to determine which Sufyan is referred to with certainty as they are from the same era. There are some rules of thumb mentioned but it is far from definite such as when Wakiʿ narrates from Sufyan, it is generally Sufyan Thawri. Additionally, in the Kutub Sittah, there is usually two links to Thawri and only one link to Ibn ʿUyanah.1 In this case the narration is via Waki' and there are two links.

Abdullah b. Muhammad b. Aqil2 (d. 140 AH). His character is good but some have criticised his reports on account of his memory.3 Imams Malik and Yahya b. Saʿid did not narrate from him. Imams Ahmad b. Hanbal, Ishaq b. Rahway, Humaydi narrate from him as did Imam Bukhari in Adab al-Mufrad. Imam Tirmidhi says that is truthful (صدوق) which is a light form of praise as it is somewhat defensive. Nevertheless, on balance whilst the narration from Abdullah b. Muhammad b. Aqil will not be deemed ṣaḥīḥ, it can be considered hasan as his memory was not significantly weak and possessed all other requisites. This is according to the muʿtadil (fair) experts of jarh wa taʿdil. Imam Bukhari says he is 'مقارب الحديث' which is a form of light praise which signifies that his reports are generally not in contradiction to other ahadith.

Muhammad Ibn Hanafiyyah is, in fact, Muhammad b. Ali b. Abu Talib. Hanafiyyah is his mother's name and he is attributed towards her to differentiate him from the children of Ali RA from Fatimah RA. He is reliable (ثقة).4

This hadith has also been reported in Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq, Musnad Ahmad, Sunan Darimi, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan Ibn Majah, Musnad Bazzar, Sharh Ma'ani Athar amongst others.

Fiqh Hadith

The issue of salah without wudu in general and in the case of necessity has already past in Section 1.1 (باب لاتقبل صلاة بغير طهور)5

The issue of what initiates salah (takbir or niyyat) and related matters will be discussed in a later section (باب تحريمها التكبير و تحليلها التسليم). Likewise, issues relating to how and when to terminate salah will be alluded in that chapter and discussed in detail in other chapters.

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• 1See Turki, M. 1422. Tamyiz al-Muhmal bayna Sufyanayn
• 2His grandfather is Aqil b. Abu Talib and his mother is Zaynab b. Ali b. Abu Talib.
• 3Tahzib al-Kamal li Mizzi v. 16 pp. 78
• 4Tahzib al-Kamal li Mizzi v. 26 pp. 147 - 152
• 5Note #200906501: Tirmidhi s1.1: Salah without wuḍu is invalid. Available online https://uloom.com/200906501