Sahih al-Bukhari 377

Translation

Sahl bin Saʿd was asked about the (Prophet's) pulpit as to what thing it was made of? Sahl replied: "None remains alive amongst the people, who knows about it better than I. It was made of tamarisk (wood) of the forest. So and so, the slave of so and so prepared it for Messenger of Allah ﷺ. When it was constructed and place (in the Mosque), Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood on it facing the Qibla and said 'Allahu Akbar', and the people stood behind him (and led the people in prayer). He recited and bowed and the people bowed behind him. Then he raised his head and stepped back, got down and prostrated on the ground and then he again ascended the pulpit, recited, bowed, raised his head and stepped back, got down and prostrate on the ground. So, this is what I know about the pulpit." Ahmad bin Hanbal said, "As the Prophet ﷺ was at a higher level than the people, there is no harm according to the above-mentioned Hadith if the Imam is at a higher level than his followers during the prayers."

Notes

• قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ سَأَلَنِي أَحْمَدُ بْنُ حَنْبَلٍ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ عَنْ هَذَا الْحَدِيثِ قَالَ فَإِنَّمَا أَرَدْتُ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ كَانَ أَعْلَى مِنَ النَّاسِ فَلاَ بَأْسَ أَنْ يَكُونَ الإِمَامُ أَعْلَى مِنَ النَّاسِ بِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ قَالَ فَقُلْتُ إِنَّ سُفْيَانَ بْنَ عُيَيْنَةَ كَانَ يُسْأَلُ عَنْ هَذَا كَثِيرًا فَلَمْ تَسْمَعْهُ مِنْهُ قَالَ لاَ

  machine translationAbū ʿAbdullāh said: ʿAlī b. ʿAbdullāh said: Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, may God have mercy on him, asked me about this ḥadīth. He said: "I only meant that the Prophet ﷺ was higher than the people, so there is no harm in the imam being higher than the people, according to this ḥadīth." He said: So I said: "Sufyān b. ʿUyaynah used to be asked about this often; did you not hear it from him?" He said: "No." Report a problem

Grades by grader

Same hadith, other wordings

• Misykatul Mashabih 1113وَعَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ السَّاعِدِيِّ أَنَّهُ سُئِلَ: مِنْ أَيِّ شَيْءٍ الْمِنْبَرُ؟ فَقَالَ: هُوَ مِنْ أَثْلِ الْغَابَةِ عَمِلَهُ فُلَانٌ مَوْلَى فُلَانَةَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَقَامَ عَلَيْهِ رَسُولُ اللَ

Other narrations of this report

Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah 1987al-Mu'jam al-Kabir (al-Tabarani) 5735al-Mu'jam al-Kabir (al-Tabarani) 5922al-Mu'jam al-Kabir (al-Tabarani) 6030Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 32407

Narrators

1. 1
   Sahl b. Saʿd al-Sāʿidī

   He and his father were Companions (ṣuḥbah).d. Abū Nuʿaym and more than one said: 88 AH. Al-Wāqidī and others said: 91 AH. Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī said: he lived a hundred years or more, so on this basis he would have lived until the year 96 AH or after it
   سَهْلُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ السَّاعِدِيُّله ولأبيه صحبة
   سألوا
2. 2
   Salamah b. Dīnār al-Aʿraj

   trustworthy (thiqah), devout (ʿābid)d. Ibn Khalfūn said: 132 AH, ʿAmr b. ʿAlī said, and Abū ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī: 133 AH, khalīfah b. Khayyāṭ said: 135 AH. Al-Haytham b. ʿAdī said: 140 AH. Ibn Qāniʿ said: 143 AH, Yaḥyā b. Maʿīn said: 144 AH
   أَبُو حَازِمٍثقة عابد
   حدثنا
3. 3
   Sufyān b. ʿUyaynah

   Trustworthy (thiqah), a memorizer (ḥāfiẓ), a jurist (faqīh), an imam and a proof (ḥujjah), except that his memory changed towards the end of his life; he sometimes practiced concealment (tadlīs), but only from trustworthy narrators.d. 197 AH or 198 AH
   سُفْيَانُثقة حافظ فقيه , إمام حجة إلا أنه تغير حفظه بأخرة , وكان ربما دلس لكن عن الثقات
   حدثنا
4. 4
   ʿAlī b. ʿAbdillāh

   trustworthy (thiqah), firmly reliable (thabt), an imāmd. 234 AH, or: 235 AH, also said: 233 AH
   عَلِيُّ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللهِثقة ثبت إمام
   حدثنا
5. 5
   al-Bukhārī

   a mountain of memorization and the leader of the world in the comprehension of hadith (jabal al-ḥifẓ wa-imām al-dunyā fī fiqh al-ḥadīth)d. 256 AH
   الْبُخَارِيُّجبل الحفظ وإمام الدنيا في فقه الحديث

Who each narrator was and how reliable, from hdith.com

Latin names and English verdicts with a dotted underline are machine translations, not reviewed.