Is It True that ‘Abd Allah bin al-Zubayr Drank the Blood from the Prophet’s ﷺ Cupping?

Short answer

This story has a basis in the hadith books and is narrated from ‘Abd Allah bin al-Zubayr RA, not from his father, al-Zubayr bin al-‘Awwam. The assessment selected in this review is weak, with scholarly disagreement regarding its chain of transmission. Some scholars accepted the narrator in this chain; therefore, its weakness cannot be stated as a scholarly consensus. This story does not serve as a general proof permitting people to drink blood.

Translation

From ‘Amir bin ‘Abd Allah bin al-Zubayr, from his father, who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ underwent cupping and then gave the blood to me. He said: ‘Go and hide this blood.’ So I went and drank it. Then I came to the Prophet ﷺ. He asked me: ‘What did you do with it?’ I replied: ‘I hid it.’ He asked: ‘Perhaps you drank it?’ I replied: ‘I drank it.’” The wording is that of the narration of al-Bazzar, no. 2210.

Narrator

‘Abd Allah bin al-Zubayr RA

Sources and scholars

Syihabudin Ahmad

Scholarly commentary

1. Al-Haythami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id, 8/273: accepted Hunayd bin al-Qasim as a trustworthy narrator and stated that the other narrators in al-Bazzar’s chain are narrators of al-Sahih. The view that strengthens the chain must be acknowledged.
2. Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, al-Talkhis al-Habir, 1/43: assessed Hunayd as having no issue, but as not being well-known in knowledge. He also mentioned the weakness of ‘Ali bin Mujahid in another route that contains the addition concerning the Fire of Hell.
3. Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’, 3/366: did not know of any criticism against Hunayd. This statement is not the same as an explicit authentication of the entire report, but it also cannot be converted into a claim that he rejected this chain.
4. Ibn Baz, Fatawa Nur ‘ala al-Darb, 2/163; the official fatwa “Tabarruk al-Sahabah bi al-Nabi wa Hukm Qiyas Ghayrihi ‘Alayh”: the authenticity of this story requires further investigation. If established, it is discussed as one of the special distinctions of the Prophet ﷺ.

Explanation

The narration of al-Bazzar no. 2210 comes through Musa bin Isma‘il → Hunayd bin al-Qasim → ‘Amir bin ‘Abd Allah bin al-Zubayr → his father, ‘Abd Allah bin al-Zubayr RA. The narration of Ibn Abi ‘Asim no. 578 and al-Hakim no. 6343 also pass through Hunayd. Therefore, the existence of the report in several books does not, by itself, produce several independent chains that strengthen him.

The point of examination is the extent to which the information regarding Hunayd’s precision is sufficient. Ibn Hibban included him in al-Thiqat, 5/515; al-Haythami accepted him; Ibn Hajar stated that he was not well-known in knowledge. Based on the limited information concerning this narrator’s precision, the assessment selected in this review is weak. This is the review’s chosen assessment, not a claim of consensus nor a claim that all scholars declared it weak.

The Arabic wording above uses only the narration of al-Bazzar. The addition that the Fire of Hell will not touch him comes through another route; its assessment must be treated separately and should not be regarded as authentic merely because the basis of the story is mentioned in several books.

Lesson: distinguish between the assessment of a narrator and the assessment of a hadith, and distinguish between the basis of a story and additional wording within it. According to Ibn Baz’s explanation, even if this story were established, it relates to the special distinctions of the Prophet ﷺ and cannot be analogically extended to others. This story does not permit people to drink blood. The general ruling of the prohibition of flowing blood remains as stated in Surah al-An‘am, verse 145.

Conclusion

Selected status: weak, with acknowledged disagreement regarding its chain. The figure involved is ‘Abd Allah bin al-Zubayr RA. This story has a basis and cannot be regarded as a story unanimously agreed to be fabricated. If it is mentioned, clarify the disagreement over its assessment; do not make it a general proof permitting the drinking of blood.