Question

What is status of following narration ?

إن أول جبار كان في الأرض نمرود ، فبعث الله عليه بعوضة فدخلت في منخره ، فمكث أربعمائة سنة يضرب رأسه بالمطارق ، أرحم الناس به من جمع يديه فضرب رأسه بهما ، وكان جبارا أربع مائة سنة ، فعذبه الله أربع مائة سنة كملكه ، ثم أماته الله ، وهو الذي كان بنى صرحًا إلى السماء

 

Answer

Imam ‘Abdur Razzaq (rahimahullah) has recorded this narration via a credible chain as the statement of Zayd ibn Aslam (rahimahullah).

(Tafsir ‘Abdur Razzaq, vol. 1 pg. 366, Hadith: 328; Also see: Tafsir Ibn Kathir and Ad-Durrul Manthur, Surah Baqarah, Verse: 258)

 

Translation

Zayd ibn Aslam (rahimahullah) said:

“Nimrud was certainly the first tyrant on Earth. Allah Ta’ala sent a fly against him, and it entered through his nose. He remained bashing his head with hammers for four hundred years! The most compassionate of people were those who joined their hands and, with them, struck his head. He was a tyrant for four hundred years, so Allah Ta’ala punished him for four hundred years – just like [the duration of] his reign. Allah Ta’ala then caused him to die. He [i.e. Nimrud] was the one who built a castle/structure reaching towards the sky.”

 

And Allah Ta’ala knows best.

 

Answered by: Moulana Farhan Shariff

 

Approved by: Moulana Muhammad Abasoomar