Two Historically Recognised Accounts: Al-Hakim Abu Abdullah and Ibn al-Mubarak

In the research phase of this series, an attempt was made to independently verify, one by one, each of the 18 real-life accounts in the book «من عجائب العلاج بالصدقة» (Amazing Accounts of Healing through Charity): the names, dates, places, sources, and whether those sources can really be found anywhere outside the book. The result needs to be stated clearly and honestly: most of the accounts ("a man says", "a woman", "a well-known woman caller to Islam") are completely anonymous, with no name, date or source, so there is no way to verify them as historical records. But exactly two of the 18 accounts stand out from this list, because in these two the book gives the reference of a specific, named classical book, and that reference has been found outside the book too, in independent sources unrelated to this project. This article presents those two accounts, not in the book's own words, but keeping every detail intact.

The First Account: Al-Hakim Abu Abdullah's Mouth Sore and a Sabil

The book states that this account comes from Sahih at-Targhib wa at-Tarhib (hadith/issue no. 964), in which the hadith scholar Imam al-Bayhaqi, may Allah have mercy on him, narrated an incident about his teacher. His shaykh was Al-Hakim Abu Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him. A sore had appeared on his face, and for nearly a year it would not heal, no matter what treatments were tried.

In the end he asked the ustadh, Imam Abu Uthman as-Sabuni, to make a special dua for him at the Friday gathering. He made the dua, and everyone present said Amin. On the following Friday, a woman left a note at the gathering. She had written that after returning home that night she had made a heartfelt dua for Al-Hakim Abu Abdullah, and that very night she saw in a dream the Messenger of Allah ﷺ telling her to tell Abu Abdullah to make the provision of water for the Muslims more generous.

When the note reached the Hakim, he immediately gave the order. A water trough, or sabil (a free water supply for the public), was built at his front door. When the work was finished, he ordered the water to be poured in, ice was added to it as well, and people began drinking from it. Before a week had passed, his recovery became apparent: the sore healed completely, and his face became even more handsome than before. After this he lived for several more years.

How much exactly has been verified in this account? The research found two entirely separate Arabic sites, a general Islamic article site (midad.com) and an Islamic forum thread (ajurry.com), where this same account appears in almost identical wording, and both point directly to Imam al-Bayhaqi's "Shu'ab al-Iman" (3/221) as its original source, not to this book's own collection on charity. In other words, although the account's source is Sahih at-Targhib, it ultimately leads back to al-Bayhaqi's Shu'ab al-Iman, and this chain of information matches the book's own claim (al-Albani's Sahih at-Targhib, may Allah have mercy on him, also draws this narration essentially from al-Bayhaqi).

A writer on the ajurry.com forum added another observation. He guessed that "Al-Hakim Abu Abdullah" probably refers to the famous hadith scholar al-Hakim an-Naysaburi (died 405 AH), author of "Al-Mustadrak". Although this identification sounds significant, caution is necessary here: it is merely one forum writer's own guess, not information confirmed from any primary biographical work. So in this article too, it is presented not as established fact but only as a possible identification.

For this very reason this account has been given Status B: it is narrated with a source, and that chain of reference is supported by two independent sources in the same wording and with the same source reference. It did not reach Status A, because in this research phase it was not possible to open the original page of Shu'ab al-Iman (3/221), read it directly and make a final comparison. Had that been done, this account could have been called fully closed.

If the forum's guess on ajurry.com is indeed correct, that is, if Al-Hakim Abu Abdullah truly is al-Hakim an-Naysaburi, then the time of the account falls in the early part of the fifth Hijri century (according to the death date of 405 AH), roughly the eleventh century CE, and Nishapur (in present-day Iran) can be taken as a consistent location, although the book's own narration directly mentions no date or place name. This too is additional information based on conjecture and is not part of the original account, but if the identification is correct, it is helpful for understanding the context.

The Second Account: Ibn al-Mubarak's Advice, a Well That Stopped the Bleeding

The book itself directly mentions the source of the second account: Imam adh-Dhahabi's "Siyar A'lam an-Nubala" (8/407). The account is as follows: a man asked Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, about a wound on his knee, which had been there for seven years and would not heal with any treatment. He had consulted many physicians and tried many treatments, but had gained no benefit.

Ibn al-Mubarak gave him a strange-sounding piece of advice: go and dig a well in a place where people need water, for I hope that a spring will gush forth there and the bleeding (of your wound) will stop. The man did exactly that, and Allah, the Exalted, granted him healing.

The verification status of this account is clearly stronger than that of all the other accounts. The research found exactly this same account in several entirely independent sources, in almost identical wording, and in each one with exactly the same source reference: "Siyar A'lam an-Nubala 8/407". Among them are: a post by a named person (a Twitter/X account, @dr_nabila_), who quoted that very source reference; a separate article titled "حفر بئرًا فشفي" ("He dug a well and was healed") on a site called kalemtayeb.com; a Tumblr repost; a piece on islamonline.net titled "Some Examples from Muslim History in the Art of Charity"; and a discussion thread on mtafsir.net, where this very account is drawn on as an example in connection with the hadith "Treat your sick with charity". Every one of these sources is unrelated to this book and scattered independently.

Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak is not an obscure or doubtful name. He is well established in Islamic history as a well-known and widely documented hadith scholar, jurist and imam of zuhd (self-purification) of the second Hijri century (118–181 AH, that is 736–797 CE). For this very reason this account has been given the highest Status A, that is, independently verifiable: the source reference has been proven correct, and since the account is located at a specific, findable place in a major classical work, multiple entirely independent parties have confirmed it by quoting the same text and the same reference.

Here too a boundary of honesty needs to be kept in mind. Imam adh-Dhahabi himself was not a man of the second Hijri century. He was a historian of the eighth Hijri century, who wrote Ibn al-Mubarak's biography several centuries later, through the chains of narration he had collected. That is, the account is not a primary source written directly by an eyewitness, but a secondary source narrated through a highly reliable and renowned historian. This does not diminish the value of this account, as Siyar A'lam an-Nubala is recognised as one of the most authoritative and widely used works of Islamic biographical literature, but it is important to remember this distinction so that "independently verifiable" is not mistaken for "eyewitness testimony".

Why These Two Accounts Stand Apart

The difference becomes clear when you compare these two with the other 16 accounts in the book. The majority of the other 16 begin with language such as "it is mentioned", "a man says", "a well-known woman caller to Islam says". There is no name here, no date, and most importantly, no reference to a specific, findable book. As a result there is no way at all to verify the truth of these accounts. They are not historical records but word-of-mouth testimony.

These two accounts stand apart for two specific reasons. First, the book gives here the reference of precise, named classical books: Imam al-Bayhaqi's Shu'ab al-Iman and Imam adh-Dhahabi's Siyar A'lam an-Nubala, both well-known works of Islamic history, many centuries old and still printed and published today. Second, the central figures of these two accounts are real, identifiable historical religious personalities: Al-Hakim Abu Abdullah (probably the famous hadith scholar al-Hakim an-Naysaburi) and Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, a distinguished scholar and devout worshipper of the early period. They are not some anonymous "a man".

And the most important difference is this: outside this book, with no connection to this project, independent researchers have already found for themselves exactly this same source and the same reference and quoted it. This is the real difference between "source verification" and "believing because someone said so".

However, it is necessary to draw a boundary here honestly, so that no one takes away a wrong message. The "verification" of these two accounts means only this much: the source citation is correct. That is, the account is indeed recorded in that classical book, and it is found in other sources too in the way the book mentions its chain of narrators. This does not mean that modern medical science has confirmed the cause of this healing. There is no such claim here, and there cannot be. Nor does it mean that every minor detail of the account (such as the exact words of the woman's dream, or exactly how many days after digging the well the bleeding stopped) has been confirmed more independently beyond the classical book. The verification remains limited to that classical source.

Put simply — these two stories are the two samples that hold up best as a historical report (in this series' framework, not the lowest level, but one step below the standard of proof of a Qur'anic verse or a sound hadith). They are the best-evidenced anecdotes in the whole book, nothing more. These two stories do not prove that sadaqah cures illness — they are not scientific evidence, and they have not been tested by any research method capable of confirming a causal relationship. They only show that stories of healing through sadaqah were genuinely recorded in classical Islamic history, about well-known scholars, in reliable books — and that is what sets these two stories apart from the other 16, as a credible "best sample," not as conclusive proof.

References

Hadith/historical source

• Sahih at-Targhib wat-Tarhib (issue/hadith no. 964) — the reference given by the book, for the story of Hakim Abu Abdullah from Imam al-Bayhaqi.
• Shu'ab al-Iman, Imam al-Bayhaqi (3/221) — the original classical source of this story, cited as the same reference in two independent Arabic sources, midad.com and the ajurry.com forum.
• Siyar A'lam an-Nubala, Imam adh-Dhahabi (8/407) — the source for the story of Ibn al-Mubarak digging the well, quoted verbatim in the book and in several independent sources.

Other reliable sources

• midad.com — article (the story of Hakim Abu Abdullah, citing al-Bayhaqi's Shu'ab al-Iman)
• ajurry.com — forum thread: "كيف عالج الحاكم النيسابوري (ت 405هـ) قرحة بقيت معه سنة" (with a guess that Hakim Abu Abdullah is probably al-Hakim an-Naysaburi)
• kalemtayeb.com — article "حفر بئرًا فشفي" (the story of Ibn al-Mubarak)
• islamonline.net — article "نماذج من تاريخ المسلمين في فن الصدقة"
• mtafsir.net — discussion thread, on the hadith "Dawu mardakum bis-sadaqah"
• X/Twitter account @dr_nabila_ — post with the reference Siyar A'lam an-Nubala 8/407
• Tumblr repost (from a devotional account, the same story and reference)

Note: The sources above were collected during this series' research phase. In this research phase it was not possible to open the 3/221 page of Shu'ab al-Iman directly and conclusively verify it — so the first story was given status "B", not "A". "Hakim Abu Abdullah" = al-Hakim an-Naysaburi — this identification is the guess of a forum writer and is not confirmed by any primary biographical source.

This article is prepared on the basis of the story narrated in the book «من عجائب العلاج بالصدقة» and the independent source verification of that story.