The Hadith of Mu'adh ibnu Jabal

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Ibnu Majah narrates the following hadith from 'Abdullah ibnu Abi Awfa:

لَمَّا قَدِمَ مُعَاذٌ مِنْ الشَّامِ سَجَدَ لِلنَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ مَا هَذَا يَا مُعَاذُ قَالَ أَتَيْتُ الشَّامَ فَوَافَقْتُهُمْ يَسْجُدُونَ لِأَسَاقِفَتِهِمْ وَبَطَارِقَتِهِمْ فَوَدِدْتُ فِي نَفْسِي أَنْ نَفْعَلَ ذَلِكَ بِكَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَلَا تَفْعَلُوا فَإِنِّي لَوْ كُنْتُ آمِرًا أَحَدًا أَنْ يَسْجُدَ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَأَمَرْتُ الْمَرْأَةَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِزَوْجِهَا

When Mu'adh returned from ash-Sham¹³², he performed sujud¹³³ before the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. He asked him: “Mu'adh, what is this (that you are doing)?”

Mu'adh replied: “I saw in ash-Sham how the people there prostrated before their bishops and priests. So, I felt the desire to do the same for you.”

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم then explained to him: “Do not do this! If I were to command anyone to prostrate before someone other than Allah, I would command a woman to prostrate before her husband.”

This hadith is also used by some people to support the previously mentioned faulty argument. Once again, it is claimed that a companion of the Prophet, in this case, Mu'adh ibnu Jabal رضي الله عنه, did not understand Islam at that time and that through this prostration, he was worshiping the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. The intended goal of this argument is, once again, to suggest that a person can still be a Muslim, even if he worships other things alongside Allah.

Anyone who has truly understood the meaning of tawhid must immediately reject this claim and be certain that there is another interpretation of this hadith, even if he himself do not yet know what that interpretation is.

As with the previous hadith, there is not a single well-known early scholar who has ever formulated the false conclusion that has been described.

The Correct Understanding of This Hadith

In reality, Mu'adh ibnu Jabal did not intend to worship the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم with this prostration, and the reason for this is as follows:

Sujud is divided into two types: sujud of worship and sujud of greeting. This form of greeting was customary in some societies before Islam. It was of course also a gesture of respect, but not an act of worship or polytheism.

This type of sujud is also found in the prostration of the angels before Adam عليه السلام¹³⁴ and in the prostration of the family of Yusuf/Joseph عليه السلام before himself¹³⁵. Both events are explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an.

In the shari'ah of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, this form of greeting was completely prohibited. However, it is clear from the hadith that the Prophet's companion, Mu'adh رضي الله عنه, was not yet aware of this prohibition at that time.

Absurd Consequences of the Incorrect Interpretation of This Hadith

According to the incorrect interpretation of this hadith and the invalid method of argumentation used in its justification, one would have to come to the following conclusions:

• The family of Yusuf/Joseph عليه السلام would have, just as is falsely claimed about Mu'adh ibnu Jabal, worshiped the Prophet Yusuf عليه السلام. Among them was also Ya'qub/Jacob, the father of Yusuf, who was himself a prophet.

If a proponent of the incorrect interpretation of the mentioned hadith were now to call this conclusion absurd and reject it, the question would arise: Why should a person be allowed to use this flawed method of argumentation regarding the hadith, but it would be impermissible when applied to the family of Yusuf/Joseph عليه السلام?

According to Islamic teachings, it would, of course, be an absurd claim and a grave misguidance to accuse a prophet of polytheism. Even more absurd would be the assumption that a prophet committed such an act due to ignorance about the religion.

Since this assumption is so clearly false from an Islamic perspective, proponents of the misguided interpretation under discussion struggle to accept such a consequence. However, they fail to realize that their interpretation of the hadith follows the exact same reasoning.

• The same could be said regarding the sujud of the angels before Adam عليه السلام. According to this reasoning, one would have to conclude that the angels worshiped Adam عليه السلام.

Even more grotesque, under such an interpretation, would be the fact that Allah سبحانه وتعالى Himself commanded them to perform this prostration. A person who considers himself a member of Islam would hardly go so far as to claim that Allah commanded the angels to commit major shirk.

• And finally, this hadith itself would also lead to an erroneous conclusion. When the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “If I were to command anyone to prostrate before something other than Allah, I would command a woman to prostrate before her husband”, it is highly unlikely that he meant: “If I were to command someone to worship something other than Allah, I would command a woman to worship her husband.”

Anyone who misuses this hadith in the previously described incorrect manner would logically have to accept this absurd interpretation as well.

This becomes even clearer when looking at the following narrations of the same hadith. Ahmad narrates in his Musnad from 'Abdullah ibnu Abi Awfa:

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي أَوْفَى قَالَ قَدِمَ مُعَاذٌ الْيَمَنَ أَوْ قَالَ الشَّامَ فَرَأَى النَّصَارَى تَسْجُدُ لِبَطَارِقَتِهَا وَأَسَاقِفَتِهَا فَرَوَّأَ فِي نَفْسِهِ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَحَقُّ أَنْ يُعَظَّمَ فَلَمَّا قَدِمَ قَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ رَأَيْتُ النَّصَارَى تَسْجُدُ لِبَطَارِقَتِهَا وَأَسَاقِفَتِهَا فَرَوَّأْتُ فِي نَفْسِي أَنَّكَ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تُعَظَّمَ فَقَالَ لَوْ كُنْتُ آمِرًا أَحَدًا أَنْ يَسْجُدَ لِأَحَدٍ لَأَمَرْتُ الْمَرْأَةَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِزَوْجِهَا

Mu'adh traveled to Yemen – or he said: to ash-Sham¹³⁶.

There, he saw that the Christians would prostrate before their bishops and priests. This led him to reflect that the Prophet was more deserving of being honoured.

When he returned, he told the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم about this and said to him: “So I wanted to do the same to you because I thought to myself that you have more right to be honoured.”

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم replied to him: “If I were to command anyone to do this, I would command a woman to prostrate before her husband.”

عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَبِي لَيْلَى عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مُعَاذِ بْنِ جَبَلٍ قَالَ إِنَّهُ أَتَى الشَّامَ فَرَأَى النَّصَارَى فَذَكَرَ مَعْنَاهُ إِلَّا أَنَّهُ قَالَ فَقُلْتُ لِأَيِّ شَيْءٍ تَصْنَعُونَ هَذَا قَالُوا هَذَا كَانَ تَحِيَّةَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ قَبْلَنَا فَقُلْتُ نَحْنُ أَحَقُّ أَنْ نَصْنَعَ هَذَا بِنَبِيِّنَا فَقَالَ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم [...] إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ أَبْدَلَنَا خَيْرًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ السَّلَامَ تَحِيَّةَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ.

It is narrated from 'Abdurrahman ibnu Abi Layla, from his father, from Mu'adh ibnu Jabal: […] Then I said, “Why do you do this?” They replied, “This was the greeting of the prophets before us.”

I said, “We have more right to do this for our Prophet.”

Then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “[…] Allah has given us something better – (namely,) the Salam, the greeting of the people of Paradise.”