Kissing the Thumbs and Wiping One’s Eyes During the Adhan

Imam Muhammad Amin Ibn Abidin, agreed upon as the leading reference for fatwa in the Hanafi school, first mentions the scholars who said that it is recommended to do, and then mentioned that none of the hadiths that mention this from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) are authentic.

Ibn Abidin’s actual text is as follows, from his Radd al-Muhtar (aka al-Hashiya or al-Shami)

“It is recommended to say, after hearing the first Shahada [in the adhan], Salla Allahu `Alayka Ya Rasul Allah (‘May Allah send blessings on you, O Messenger of Allah’), and after the second of them, Qarrat `AyniBika Ya Rasul Allah (‘May my eyes rejoice with you, O Messenger of Allah’).

“Then one should say, Allahumma matti`ni bi’s Sam`i wa’l Basar (‘O Allah, keep blessing me with hearing and sight’), after placing the nails of both thumbs on one’s eyes, for the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) will be his guide into Janna [if he does] – as mentioned in Kanz al-`Ibad, via al-Quhustani [in his Jami` al-Rumuz].

“This has also been mentioned in al-Fatawa al-Sufiyya. It has been reported in Kitab al-Firdaws that, “Whoever kisses the nails of both thumbs upon hearing Ashhadu anna Muhammda-r Rasul Allah, I shall be his guide and shall enter him in the ranks of Janna.”

“The details are in the Hawashi al-Bahr of al-Ramli, from al-Maqasid al-Hasana of al-Sakhawi.

“Al-Jirahi mentioned this, too, and gave a lengthy exposition, then said, “None of these narrations has been authentically established (lam yasihh) from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace).” [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, 1: 397-8].

The scholars differed, though, whether it is of the weak hadiths that may be used to establish virtuous actions, because excessively weak hadiths can not be acted upon even for virtuous actions. Many Hanafis (and scholars of other schools) held that they are. Others differed; it is a question of scholarly difference in ijtihad.

The condition for recommended actions established by weak hadiths or the ijtihad of scholars is that one not have the firm conviction that this is established from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) himself. However, if one does it because the some scholars have mentioned it to be a virtuous or beneficial action, then there is nothing wrong with it. If one is firmly convinced that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) himself did this or encouraged it, which is not authentically established, then it would be an innovation.

This is a practice that many of the righteous of this Ummah and some of its major scholarly authorities have found to have spiritual benefits, and is also an expression of love for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and may be acted upon as a recommended act as such. It is supported by some narrations from Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him), though there is strong difference in their establishment

In short, it is neither something that is a strongly recommended action according to the Shariah nor a baseless innovation. The scholars mention that any time an issue is differed upon among the scholars of the four schools of Sunni Islam, one cannot condemn someone who does something one differs with.

Also, we should not forget that scholarly disagreements are limited to the sphere of scholars, and should not spill over to non-scholars. An example is two pharmacists who spend hours vigorously arguing (and questioning the soundness of each other’s judgment) about which of two medications is the one two use, each of them advocating one of them. They get very harsh with each other… but back in the pharmacy, when someone comes with the medicine they were advocating against, or when someone asks, they don’t make much of the issue…

Among its legal bases [‘ilal] is that it is a Sunna of the first Khalifa of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him!) [i.e., an Athar of the first Khalifa], and it is also based on a number of Hadiths, of which the most well known is the Hadith of Abu Bakr (may Allah be well pleased with him!):

lammA sami’a qawla l-mu’adhdhini ashhadu anna MuHammadan rasUluLlAhi qAla hAdhA wa qabbila bATina l-unmulatayni l-sabbAbatayni wa masaHa ‘aynayhi fa-qAla SallaLlAhu ‘alayhi wa sallama man fa’ala mithla khalIlI faqad Hallat ‘alayhi shafA’atI [Whenever he [Abu Bakr] heard the Mu’addhin say: “I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”, he would repeat this [phrase as it is the Mandub of Adhan] and would kiss the tip of the index fingers [or thumbs] and wipe his eyes. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him!) said: whosoever does what my friend [i.e., Abu Bakr] did, my intercession will come down upon him] (Related by al-Daylami, with variants).

Almost all of the Muhaddith consider this and other Hadiths like it to be weak [Da’if] (at its lowest level, a Marfu’ Hadith [something ascribed to the Prophet]; and it is because the Hadith is Da’if that the ‘amal is counted among the Fada’il, and not the confirmed Sunna!).

Nevertheless, this is definitely not a fabricated Hadith [Mawdu’], and weak Hadiths are not and cannot be considered as false and lies. Furthermore, as Sayyid ‘Alawi al-Maliki (may Allah be pleased with him!) reported in his dedicated treatise on the rules concerning the use of weak Hadiths, the Manhal Latif, that scholars of the four law-schools [madhhab] concurred by Ijma’ [Consensus]–and that this Ijma’ was recorded from the time of the Mujtahid Imam, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (may Allah be well pleased with him!) until now–that any Hadith which are Da’if (as long as it is not Mawdu’), can be acted upon for the Fada’il al-A’mal [‘Alawi al-Maliki, Manhal, 251-253]. Literally, “Fada’il al-A’mal” means ‘extra works’; but technically it means the extra acts of devotion performed, or refrained from, beyond one’s call of duty in order to please the Lawmaker, that is, an ‘amal that can lead to it’s being classed either as recommended [i.e., Mandub/Sunna/Mustahabb] or disliked [Makruh] but never Wajib [obligatory] or Haram [prohibited]. In this mas’ala, of course, it is a recommended act (and not Makruh).

Know that he who blames others–in the name of bid’a–for carrying out an ‘amal, saying that it is based on a weak Hadith or that the ‘amal is not based on an authentic Hadith, shows a sign that he may not be a trained faqih (whether he is called a Mufti/Shaykh/Mawlana or not); and that he probably has knowledge only of the literal Arabic but not a deep understanding of what is beyond the text, which is what the jurist is expected to know. In the old days, when scholarship was taken for granted (because scholastic ‘alims were many and accessible then), even the public knew that a weak Hadith can form the basis of an ‘amal. Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah be pleased with him!), in his popular work the Adhkar, says:

“The specialists of Hadiths [i.e., Muhaddith] and the jurists [Fuqaha’] and other (scholars) have said that one is permitted, and in fact is recommended, to use weak Hadith in matters of ‘extra acts of devotion’ [Fada’il] and in ‘arousing one’s desire to do good and inspiring one’s fear from doing evil’ [Targhib wa al-Tarhib]–as long as it is not a fabricated Hadith. As for the legal rulings pertaining to what is lawful and unlawful [al-Halal wa al-Haram], buying and selling, marriage and divorce, and others like it [because all of them involve either an injunctive legal ruling [Hukm Shar’i Taklifi] (such as Haram and Wajib) or a stipulatory legal ruling [Hukm Shar’i Wad’i] (such as Shart and Mani’)] are concerned, one can only use a rigorously authenticated Hadith [Sahih] or a well authenticated Hadith [Hasan], except if a precautionary ruling [Ihtiyat] is [involved] in some matter relating to one of them. So, if a weak Hadith is found to object against some types of sales or some form of marriages, then it is recommended to avoid it (i.e., the sale or the marriage) even when it is not obligatory to do so [and even when the sale or the marriage is legally valid].” [al-Nawawi, Adhkar, 7-8]

[Ibn ‘Abidin, Hashiya, 2:84-5]. In practice, apart from the Hanafis, some Shafi’i communities have inherited this ‘amal, and among the Malikis, those who are in the Sudan.

To this end, we could sum up a point of law tersely in the following maxim: al-‘amalu bi-r-riDA yanfI l-Hurmata [an act that is consented to, prevents prohibition].
What I mean by this qa’ida is that once something has been accepted by some of the mustahiqq, in this case, the scholars and the public alike, no one has any right [haqq] to object to it.

So do not be swayed by what you read if Muslims have been doing this in the past and are still doing this fadila ‘amal. If there are others who blame you for carrying on with this inherited ‘amal, then know that the person, apart from wasting his precious time, knows not how to leave alone what does not concern him [tark ma la ya’nih] where his time could be better spent in improving the lot of the Muslims today or benefiting others in this world. Not only does he not know how to mind his own business, but he has no right whatsoever to censure [Ihtisab] you in the first place (and by not tolerating and by criticizing you on this, he himself is transgressing a well known rule of Bab Amr bi-l-Ma’ruf wa Nahi ‘an al-Munkar [roughly speaking, the duty of a Muslim to intervene when another is acting wrongly]: that the duty has no application in matters over which the fuqaha’ differed, thereby making himself liable for others to advise him). Furthermore, what is more embarrassing is that there is no legal basis [‘illa] and cause [sabab] that warrants a Hisba for this case, or at least no jurist properly schooled will ever entertain the thought. For when others are blamed by a Muhtasib for carrying out this ‘amal, it is no different from the case of someone becoming upset at the sight of a pedestrian suddenly stopping to remove a wad of old chewing gum from his path (ponder over this!) or at the very minimum, complaining why a customer is buying only apples and not oranges.

According to Shafi’i jurists, this act is counted among the Fada’il, and there are undeniable benefits for those who wish to take from it and they are means to make one rich in the Next world; and in the same way that the one performing it cannot criticize others for neglecting it, nor can others criticize those who carry on doing it. It is a matter of personal choice (for one’s private-but-made-public bank account is no one else’s in the Next world) if one wants to take or overlook this Fadila in this world: take it or leave it, no more.

May Allah guide us to that which is best.