Search In Fatwa

Weak narrations about masturbation

Question

Are the following narrations on masturbation authentic?
- Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, "The person who performs nikaah (marriage) with his hands (i.e. he masturbates) is cursed." (Tafseer Mazhari: vol.12, pg.94)
- Sayings of our pious predecessors with regard to masturbation: Sa‘eed ibn Jubair, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Allah, the Exalted, will inflict a punishment on a group of people because they played with their private parts."

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

As for the hadeeth narrated by Anas  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him Al-Haafith Ibn Hajar  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him wrote, "It was cited by Al-Azdi in Adh-Dhuʻafaa’ (The Weak Narrators) and Ibn Al-Jawzi on the authority of Al-Hasan ibn ʻArafah in his famous book Juz' Al-Hasan ibn ʻArafah ... Its chain of narration is weak. It was also cited by Abu Ash-Shaykh in At-Tarheeb ... and it was narrated by Jaʻfar Al-Firyaabi on the authority of ʻAbdullah ibn ʻAmr with a chain of narration that included Ibn Laheeʻah, who was classified as a weak reporter." [Talkhees Al-Habeer]

The report narrated by Saʻeed ibn Jubayr  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him was cited by many Tafseer (Quran exegesis) scholars without a chain of narration or degree of authenticity. We could not find any statement of other scholars about it. In any case, it is a Maqtooʻ report (attributed to a Taabiʻi [Muslim who met a Companion]) from the statement of Saʻeed ibn Jubayr  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him.

Ibn Al-Jawzi  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him cited a similar hadeeth in his book Al-ʻIlal Al-Mutanaahiyah on the authority of Abu Saʻeed Al-Khudri  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him. It reads, "The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, 'Allah, the Exalted, destroyed a nation who used to play with their private parts (a reference to masturbation).'"

Ibn Al-Jawzi  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him commented on it saying, "This report is objectionable; Ismaaʻeel Al-Basri is Majhool (his trustworthiness cannot be affirmed by Hadeeth scholars), and Abu Janaab is a weak reporter."

Please refer to fatwa 81149 about the ruling on masturbation in general.

We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the fatwa section is mainly concerned with answering questions about religious rulings and matters that lead to doing good deeds; so we hope that you would devote your efforts to asking such useful questions instead of asking about the classification of the ahaadeeth.

Allah knows best.

Related Fatwa