Golden Chains in Ahadith

Golden Chains

In ‘Sahih Muslim’ (2880), Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah narrated from Zaynab bint Abi Salamah from Habibah from Umm Habibah from Zaynab bint Jahsh that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) woke up one day and said: “Woe to the Arabs from an evil that has come closer! Today, a gap this size has formed in the wall containing Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog),” and Sufyan formed a circle with his fingers to demonstrate what was relayed to him. So, Zaynab asked: “O Messenger of Allah, can we be destroyed while there are righteous people among us?” He said: “Yes, if corruption becomes widespread.”

an-Nawawi commented in ‘Sharh Sahih Muslim’ (9/180):

“This chain of narration contains four female Companions – two of the Messenger of Allah’s wives and two of his step-daughters – narrating from each other in a continuous chain. And it is not known that any other hadith besides this combines four female Companions with each narrating from the other in a continuous chain.”

And Ibn Kathir mentioned the following gem in ‘Tafsir al-Qur’an al-’Adhim’ (2/142):