The Hadeeth in question is a narration in al-Mishkaat Al-Masaabih, Vol. 2, p. 1021
Here is the riwaayah in arabic
من تعزى بعزاء الجاهلية فأعضوه بهن أبيه ولا تكنوا
Commonly translated as
The Prophet said on the authority of Ubayy Bin Ka'b: "If anyone proudly asserts his descent in the manner of the pre-Islamic people, tell him to bite his father's penis, and do not use a euphemism".
The hadith only reflects the disgusting nature of nationalim, tribalism and racism. Nationalism is tribalism in a wider sense and racism is even wider. This bonding around people who share a common heritage is what is meant by proudly asserts his descent.
Three words here need special attention. We shall show their original denotative and connotative meanings, and in the light of that, make a lucid and truly justified translation.
a) عض (adh) literally means “to bite” but often implies to “stick to.”. However the literal or figurative application is based on the construct of the rest of the statement its connected to.
b) هن (han) originally means a thing but often it is used to refer to the genitals.
c) كنى (kuna) literally means metonymy and is used for any kind of indirect speech.
2.1 Meaning of the word عض (adh)
Literally عض (adh) means “to bite;” however it implies to “stick to.” The following is an example to show the “stick to” connotation of this word.
The Messenger of Allah said:
فعليكم بسنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدين المهديين تمسكوا بها وعضوا عليها بالنواجذ
“You must therefore follow my sunna and that of the rightly guided Caliphs. Hold to it and stick fast to it (adhdhu alaiha bin-nawaajidh) [to bite with teeth]”
[Source: Mishkat al-Masabih – English Translation with Explanatory Notes, vol.1, 44]
Literally the word هن (han) means “a thing.” [Source: Lane, E. W., Arabic-English Lexicon, (Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1968) Vol.8, 3045]
And by the way of euphemism it is used for the male (or female) organ.
Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari (d. 606 AH) defines it:
كناية عن الشيء لا تذكره باسمه
“It is a metonymy for anything which is not mentioned by name.”[al-Jazari, Ibn al-Atheer, al-Nihayah fee Ghareeb al-Hadith, (Beirut: Maktabah al-Ilmiyah, 1979) Vol.5, 278]
Abul-‘Abbas al-Fayyumi (d. 770 AH) says:
وكني بهذا الاسم عن الفرج
“And this word is used as a euphemism for the genitals.”
[al-Fayyumi, Abul-‘Abbas, al-Misbah al-Muneer, (Beirut: Maktabah al-‘Ilmiyah) Vol.2, 641]
Evidently, the word used is not the proper explicit word for the male genital; rather it is a euphemism for it. For this reason, the rightful translation of it is “membrum”
Sharh (شرح) of the hadeeth
The crux of the hadeeth that makes it quite clear is the ending of the hadeeth. The Messenger of Allah صلي الله عليه و سلم was informing his companions WHAT TO DO when you find someone overly boastful of their lineage i.e. Racism. We as hadeeth orators narrate what we hear. HOWEVER, when applying this admonishment against a racist bigot, we DONT CONVEY THE HADEETH BASED ON THE WORDING, we apply the command. That means we apply the warning by utilizing the non-euphemized version. Hence in warning, we would use the English term "dick" as this would be listening to the Prophet صلي الله عليه و سلم in not sugar coating it.
(As a side note, this correlates with the aayah of Allah where He, Subhaanahu, says
فَإِذَا طَعِمْتُمْ فَانتَشِرُوا وَلَا مُسْتَأْنِسِينَ لِحَدِيثٍ ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكُمْ كَانَ يُؤْذِي النَّبِيَّ فَيَسْتَحْيِي مِنكُمْ ۖ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ ۚ
Verily, such (behaviour) annoys the Prophet, and he is shy of (asking) you (to go); but Allah is not shy of (telling you) the truth.[33:53]
When it comes to the making the truth known to people, the aimah of Islam make it clear that there is to be no shyness in this regard. THIS INCLUDES issues of explicitness.)
WHAT was the command in this hadeeth. The command is "AND DO NOT USE EUPHEMISM" in other words, don't be rhetorical with it. In street language it means don't sugar coat it.
HENCE, when warning someone against their own racists bigotry, you tell him to bite his father's dick, or in Arabic, dhakr.
When we narrate the hadeeth for knowledge purposes, we narrate it as the euphemized form. BUT, when it comes to warning the evil of racism, we suspend the euphemized version and give it to them raw.
Why? Because of the severity the issue.
The context of the hadeeth
In al-Mishkat, the hadith is placed in the chapter “Boasting and Party-Spirit.” Likewise, it is placed in similar chapters in Sunan al-Kubra
[Source: an-Nasa’i, Sunan al-Kubra, (Beirut: ar-Risalah Publications, 2001) Vol.9, 357-358],
Sharh as-Sunnah of al-Baghawi
[Source: al-Baghawi, Sharh as-Sunnah, (Damascus: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1983) Vol.13, 120],
and ‘Amal al-Yawm wa al-Layla of
Ibn as-Sani [Source: Ibn as-Sani, ‘Amal al-Yawm wal-Laylah, (Beirut: Dar al-Arqam bin Abi al-Arqam, 1998) 384]
It is well known that Islam does not tolerate any ideas that can undermine the universal Islamic brotherhood and for this reason, party-spirit, tribalism or narrow-nationalism is severely condemned. This was stressed more for the first recipients of the Prophet’s message صلي الله عليه و سلم because their ancestors were idolaters and their training was pivotal in setting up the new faith based on universal Islamic nationalism and brotherhood.
Supporting Narrations
عن أبي هريرة، قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، إن الله عز وجل قد أذهب عنكم عبية الجاهلية، وفخرها بالآباء مؤمن تقي، وفاجر شقي، أنتم بنو آدم وآدم من تراب، ليدعن رجال فخرهم بأقوام، إنما هم فحم من فحم جهنم، أو ليكونن أهون على الله من الجعلان التي تدفع بأنفها النتن
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allah said: Allah has taken away your pride of Jahiliyyah and your boasting about your forefathers. One is only a righteous believer or a doomed evildoer. You are the sons of Adam and Adam was created from dust. Men should stop boasting about their forefathers, who are no more than the coal of Hell, or they will certainly be more insignificant before Allah than the beetle that rolls dung with its nose.” [Source: as-Sajistani, Abu Dawood, as-Sunan, Translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab (Riyadh: Maktabah Dar-us-Salam, 2008) Hadith 5116; al-Albani classified it as hasan]
Haafidh Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH) tells us the wisdom of mentioning the membrum:
وكان ذكر هن الأب هاهنا أحسن تذكيرا لهذا المتكبر بدعوى الجاهلية بالعضو الذي خرج منه
“The mention of father’s membrum here is a good reminder for the boastful, making the call of the ignorance through the organ from which he originated.” [Source: Ibn al-Qayyim, Zaad al-Ma’ad fee Hady Khayr al-‘Ibad, (Beirut: ar-Risalah Publications, 1994) Vol.2, 400]
Mulla Ali al-Qari (d. 1014 AH) in his explanation of the hadeeth says:
من انتسب وانتمى إلى الجاهلية بإحياء سنة أهلها، وابتداع سنتهم في الشتم واللعن والتعيير، ومواجهتكم بالفحشاء والتكبر، فاذكروا له قبائح أبيه من عبادة الأصنام والزنا وشرب الخمر، ونحو ذلك مما كان يعير به من لؤم ورذالة صريحا لا كناية ; كي يرتدع عن التعرض لأعراض الناس
“Whoever attributes and associates himself to the times of (pre-Islamic) ignorance in reviving their ways (by boasting for his forefathers), and in following their practices of abusing, cursing and reviling and comes to you with obscenity and arrogance, then mention to him the evildoings of his father – worshiping of idols, committing of adultery and taking of liquor and things like that. Put him to shame with the mention of all this as a reproof and humiliation and say it explicitly and not just with euphemism; perhaps he will give up defiling the honor of the people.”
[Source: al-Qari, Mulla Ali, Mirqat al-Mafatih, (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 2002) Vol.7, 3076
عن أبي مجلز ، قال : قال عمر : من اعتزى بالقبائل فأعضوه
Abu Mijliz mentions that ‘Umar said: “Whoever associates himself with the tribes (in a way that undermines Islamic brotherhood), humble him! (lit. make him bite [his father’s membrum])” [Source: Ibn Abi Shaybah, al-Musannaf, (Beirut: Dar Qurtuba, 2006) Hadith 38339
Now of course the hadeeth literally doesn't enforce to bite your father's genital. The only thing taken literally is merely telling them to verbatim AS AN EMPHASIS against racism. The proof is as follows
عن أبي مجلز ، قال : قال رجل : يا آل بني تميم ، فحرمهم عمر بن الخطاب عطاءهم سنة
Abu Mijliz stated: “A person called out, ‘O people of Banu Tamim,’ ‘Umar denied them their allowance for one year.” [Source: the same as last reference]
The connection of the two narrations is obvious and we see ‘Umar did not do what he said literally; rather he suspended their privileges for a year as a reproof. By suspending their allowances he meant to tell them that their tribal affiliations were meaningless. And if they were not to give up the false pride they would be humbled through such punitive measures and their tribal affiliations will not suffice them.
Refutation Against the Enemies of Islam
The shayateen like to use this hadeeth as a sign of Islam's vulgarness. The problem here is in their superficial ever changing ethics and lack of realism. Islam is a pragmatic way of life and it is clear cut in addressing societal ills. If we objectively analyse racism, it serves as the root for war, disunity, and it decays the society, particularly the Muslim nation. It also breeds violence and unjustified slavery which is too well known to even need citation. The intellect cannot deny this. Hence the revelation of Islam took such a drastic defamation against racism. While all other religions sanctioned a type of superiority based on class and race, Islam took the opposite stance for the common people. This is one aspect that brings distinction to Islam from all other ways of life and religions.
Conclusion
When the successors of the Prophet صلي الله عليه و سلم followed this instruction, it became evident that the underlying message was to teach the one who makes the call of ignorance a lesson to break his party-spirit.
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