Q: I was asked about the authenticity of this Hadith,
Ata ibn Abi Rabah رحمه الله تعالى narrates (Mursalan): Nabee ﷺ said:
“When a Muslim or Muslimah passes away on a Friday or the night of Friday, he will be protected from the punishment and trials of the grave. He will meet Allah and there will be no accountability for him and will appear on the Day of Qiyamah with witnesses who will testify in his favour.”
(Kitab at-Targhib Wa-t-Tarhib of Humayd ibn Zanjuyah)
A:
The content of the Hadith itself makes it obvious immediately that it is not authentic without me having to address its chain. In Islam you don’t get to just skip all accountability because of dying on a certain day.
But the answer as well is right above ! It says narrated by Ata ibn Abi Rabah mursalan (disconnected narration of a Follower – no Companion source mentioned)
Ata is one of the greatest scholars of Islam. He was the successor and inheritor of Ibn Abbas as Mufti of Mecca in the age of the Followers.
His Hadith narrations are in Bukhari, Muslim and all the books but his mursal narrations are considered among the weakest of all mursal narrations (which are weak to begin with).
Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal says: “there are no mursal Hadiths weaker than those of Hasan Basri and Ata because they narrated from anyone and everyone (weak Followers).”
Similar comments come from Yahya al-Qattan and Ali ibn al-Madini.
So this Hadith is automatically rejected straight away.
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Addendum:
Imam Tirmidhi chose a similar Hadith to comment on (to show it is not authentic):
On the authority of Abdullah ibn Amr: the Messenger of God ﷺ said: Any Muslim who dies on the eve of Friday or the day of Friday will be protected by Allah from the punishment of the grave.
Imam Tirmidhi went on to comment that this hadith is gharib and that its chain is also disconnected, suffering from a gap between two narrators.
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