A baseless hadith about congratulating one another on the beginning of Rabee‘ al-Awwal

Q. Some people are circulating a hadith about the beginning of the month of Rabee‘ al-Awwal: “Whoever offers congratulations to people for this blessed month, the Fire will be forbidden for him.” How sound is this hadith?

Praise be to Allah

We do not know of any source for the hadith mentioned, and it is clearly fabricated. Hence it is not permissible to attribute it to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), because that comes under the heading of telling lies against him, and telling lies against him is haraam and is a major sin. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever narrates a hadith from me knowing that it is false is one of the liars.”

Narrated by Muslim in the Introduction to as-Saheeh (1/7).

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

This is a stern warning against lying, which it indicates that whoever thinks it most likely that what he is narrating is false but still narrates it is a liar. How can he not be a liar, when he is narrating something that did not happen?

End quote from Sharh Saheeh Muslim (1/65)

What is mentioned in this (so-called) hadith about the Fire being prohibited to a person for simply uttering this greeting comes under the heading of reckless talk and exaggeration which indicate that a hadith is fabricated and false. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Fabricated hadiths sound strange, are poorly-worded and contain exaggeration, which clearly indicates that they are fabricated and are lies told against the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

End quote from al-Manaar al-Muneef (p. 50)

For more information, please see the answers to questions no. 70317 and 128530

And Allah knows best.

Islam Q&A