Question:
Assalamualaikum. Is it true that Prophet Sulayman AS and Abdul Rahman bin Auf are the last prophet and Companion to enter Paradise? Thank you.
Brief Answer:
Hadith stating on Prophet Sulayman AS and Abdul Rahman bin Auf entering later than other prophets and Companions is refuted. This is due to a verse of al-Quran stating that the position of Prophet Sulayman to Allah SWT is close and honourable. Besides, If Abd al-Rahman bin Auf enters the Paradise late due to his possessions, then it is something illogical because he is not the only companion of the Prophet PBUH who was rich. In addition, he is among the ten Companions who are promised with Allah SWT’s Paradise.
Explanation:
Al-Tabrani narrated this hadith with its sanad in Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ and al-Muʻjam al-Kabīr with a lengthy matn (text). Part of the matn stating as the following:
الأنبياء كلهم يدخلون الجنة قبل سليمان بن داود بأربعين عاما، وإن فقراء المسلمين يدخلون الجنة قبل أغنيائهم بأربعين عاما
All prophets will enter the Paradise 40 years earlier than Sulayman bin Dawud, and the impoverished among the Muslims will enter the Paradise 40 years earlier than the rich. [1]
Next, Imam al-Ghazali narrated this hadith in his book ‘Iḥyā’ ʻUlūm al-Dīn in the chapter of the virtue of patience and gratitude. Imam al-Ghazali brought this hadith without sanad and matn as the following:
آخر الأنبياء دخولاً الجنة سليمان بن داود لمكان ملكه وآخر أصحابي دخولاً الجنة عبد الرحمن بن عوف لمكان غناه
The last prophet to enter the Paradise is Sulayman bin Dawud AS due to his kingdom in the world and my last companion to enter the Paradise is Abd al-Rahman bin Auf due to his wealth. [2]
Murtada al-Zabidi when commenting on this hadith states that there is another narration stating that “the last person to enter the Paradise among the rich is Abd al-Rahman bin Auf”. However, in the sanad, there is a narrator named Aghlab bin Tamim who is a dhai’f (weak) narrator. [3]
Al-Qurtubi states in his tafsir that the blessing that Allah SWT bestow upon Prophet Sulayman AS does not cause any bad consequences to him. Therefore, al-Tabrani states that this hadith is refuted. [4] Al-Qurtubi also cited the opinion of the author of al-Qut who states the hadith as la asla lahu (of no origin). [5] This is because if Allah SWT bestow His blessings to a prophet, it is a recognition. It is impossible to say that he is the last prophet to enter the Paradise [6] while Allah SWT says:
وَإِنَّ لَهُ عِندَنَا لَزُلْفَىٰ وَحُسْنَ مَآبٍ
And indeed, for him is nearness to Us and a good place of return.
Surah Sad (40)
Al-Tabrani states that there is no narrator narrating this hadith from al-Zuhri other than Syu’ayb, and no narrator narrated from Syu’ayb other than ‘Amr, and no narrator narrated from ‘Amr other than Harun, and there is no narrator narrated from the Prophet PBUH other than through this sanad. [7]
Al-Iraqi also stated the source of this hadith as coming from al-Tabrani and stated that Syu’ayb bin Khalid is the thiqah (trustworthy) among the Kufah scholars. [8] Al-Haythami states that al-Tabrani narrated from his teacher which is Ali bin Said al-Razi and he was criticized as layyin al-ḥadīth (a narrator who narrates few numbers of hadith, having no support from other narration as well as may not be ascertained of his credibility as his narration is rejected). [9]
Conclusion
Based on observation, hadith stating that Prophet Sulayman AS and Abd al-Rahman bin Auf enters the Paradise later than other prophets and Companions is refuted. It is because there are verses of al-Quran stating that position of Prophet Sulayman AS to Allah SWT is close and honourable. While narration stating on Abd al-Rahman bin Auf was narrated by a dhai’f (weak) narrator. If Abd al-Rahman bin Auf is the last person to enter due to his wealth, then this is something absurd because he was not the only Companion who is rich. In addition, he is among the ten Companions who were promised with Allah SWT’s Paradise. Wallahu a’lam.
Reference
[1] Sulaymān bin Aḥmad bin Ayyūb al-Ṭabrānī, al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ, ed. Ṭāriq bin ʻIwaḍullāh (Kaherah: Dār al-Ḥaramayn), 4/251.
[2] Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad bin Muḥammad al-Ghazālī, ’Iḥyā’ ʻUlūm al-Dīn (Bayrūt: Dār al-Maʻrifah, t.t), 4/136.
[3] Murtaḍā al-Zabīdī, Itḥāf al-Sādah al-Muttaqīn bi Syarḥ ’Iḥyā’ ʻUlūm al-Dīn (Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmiyyah, t.t), 11/300.
[4] Muḥammad bin Aḥmad bin Abū Bakr al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʻ li Aḥkām al-Qur’ān, ed. Aḥmad al-Bardūnī dan Ibrāhīm Aṭfīsy (Kaherah: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyyah, 1964), 15/204.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Sulaymān bin Aḥmad bin Ayyūb al-Ṭabrānī, al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ, ed. Ṭāriq bin ʻIwaḍullāh, 4/251.
[8] ʻAbd al-Raḥīm bin al-Ḥusayn al-ʻIrāqī, al-Mughnī ʻan Ḥamal al-Asfār fī al-Asfārfī Takhrīj mā fī al-’Iḥyā’ min al-Akhbār (Bayrūt: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2005), 1/1482.
[9] Nūr al-Dīn ʻAlī bin Abū Bakr al-Haythamī, Majmaʻ al-Zawā’id wa Manbaʻ al-Fawā’id, ed. Ḥisām al-Dīn al-Qudsī (Kaherah: Maktabah al-Qudsī, 1994), 8/105.