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There are a large number of versions of the below-listed hadith relating to the coccyx/tailbone which are all attributed to Abu Hurairah.

Question: Are there narration chains for the coccyx/tailbone hadith that don't go through Abu Hurairah?

In a recent answer to How is it possible that the coccyx does not decay at all? What if the body was cremated?, the authenticity of this hadith was questioned.


List of ahadith at sunnah.com:

The Messenger of Allah said: 'The whole of the son of Adam will be consumed by the earth, except for the tailbone, from which he was created and from which he will be created anew.' -- Abu Hurairah, Sunan an-Nasa'i 2077 (sunnah.com)

Every son of Adam will be devoured by the earth with the exception of the tail-bone from which he was created and from which he will be reconstituted. -- Abu Hurairah, Sunan Abi Dawud 4743 (sunnah.com)

The earth would consume all of the son of Adam except his tailbone. From it he was created, and from it he will be recreated (on the Day of Resurrection). -- Abu Huraira, Sahih Muslim 2955 b (sunnah.com)

...Then Allah would cause the water to, descend from the sky and they (people) will sprout like vegetable. The only thing in a man which would not decay would be one bone (the tailbone) from which the whole frame would be reconstituted on the Day of Resurrection. -- Abu Huraira, Sahih Muslim 2955 a (sunnah.com)

...The Prophet added: 'Everything of the human body will perish except the last coccyx bone (end part of the spinal cord), and from that bone Allah will reconstruct the whole body. Then Allah will send down water from the sky and people will grow like green vegetables'." -- Abu Hurairah [Al- Bukhari and Muslim] (sunnah.com)

“There is no part of man that will not disintegrate, apart from a single bone at the base of the coccyx, from which he will be recreated on the Day of Resurrection.” -- Abu Hurairah, [Grade : Sahih (Darussalam)] (sunnah.com)

... "Then (after this period) Allah will send water from the sky and then the dead bodies will grow like vegetation grows, There is nothing of the human body that does not decay except one bone; that is the little bone at the end of the coccyx of which the human body will be recreated on the Day of Resurrection." (See Hadith No. 338) -- Abu Huraira, Narrated Al-A'mash (sunnah.com)

The Prophet said, "Between the two blowing of the trumpet there will be forty." The people said, "O Abu Huraira! Forty days?" I refused to reply. They said, "Forty years?" I refused to reply and added: Everything of the human body will decay except the coccyx bone (of the tail) and from that bone Allah will reconstruct the whole body. -- Abu Huraira (sunnah.com)

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The earth eats all of the son of Adam except the coccyx. He was created from it, and on it he is built." (sunnah.com)

There is a bone in the human being which the earth would never consume and it is from this that new bodies would be reconstituted (on the Day of Resurrection). They said: Allah's Messenger, which bone is that? Thereupon he said: It is the spinal bone. -- Abu Huraira, Sahih Muslim 2955 c (sunnah.com)

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Yes there are other narrators: In al-Mustadrak of al-Hakim it is narrated on the authority of abu Sa'id al-Khudri أبي سعيد الخدري with the wording:

يأكل التراب كل شيء من الإنسان إلا عجب ذنبه " قيل : وما هو يا رسول الله ؟ قال : " مثل حبة خردل منه ينشئون "
The earth will consume the whole of the son of Adam except the coccyx/tailbone. They asked : And what is it oh Messenger of Allah?: He said:" It is like a grain of mustard, from it they will be built".

which is "quoted" in this fatwa from islamweb where they are referring to even other sources like musnad Ahmad and sahih ibn Hebban.


Off-topic to some extent:

According this scholars site only 8 ahadith of abu Hurairah (from more than 5000 as quoted by ibn Hazm) have no backup by a (similar or identic) narration from any other sahabi in the following 9 hadith collections (the two sahihs, the sunan of abi Dawod, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa'i and ibn Majah, muwatta' Malik, and the musnads of Ahmad and ad-Daarimi) and these are (Only one link to one source of this hadith on abu Hurairas authority are quoted):

  1. For example in sunan at-Tirmidhi in his chapter of Virtues.
  2. For example in sunan at-Tirmidhi in his chapter on the description of the day of Jugement...
  3. For example in sahih Muslim in his chapter of virtues, good manners and joining the ties of relationship.
  4. From musnad Ahmad the hadith (see also in sahih al-Bukhari):

    عن أبي هريرة أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال أول من يدعى يوم القيامة آدم فيقال هذا أبوكم آدم فيقول يا رب لبيك وسعديك فيقول له ربنا أخرج نصيب جهنم من ذريتك فيقول يا رب وكم فيقول من كل مائة تسعة وتسعين فقلنا يا رسول الله أرأيت إذا أخذ منا من كل مائة تسعة وتسعون فماذا يبقى منا قال إن أمتي في الأمم كالشعرة البيضاء في الثور الأسود

    “The first one to be called on the Day of Resurrection will be Adam. He will say, ‘Oh Lord here I am at Your service.’ Our Lord will say: ‘Bring forth those who are to be sent to Hell from among your progeny.’ He will say, ‘O Lord, how many should I bring forth?’ He will say, ‘Bring forth from every hundred ninety nine.’” They said: “O Messenger of Allaah, if ninety nine are taken from every hundred of us, what will be left of us?” He said, “My ummah, among the other nations, is like a white hair on a black bull.”

  5. The hadith "Has come to you a month ..." from musnad Ahmad (Arabic text only).
  6. In sahih al-Bukhari (Chapter: If somebody reaches sixty years of age, he has no right to ask Allah for a new lease of life.)
  7. This well known hadith from sahih Muslim in the book of prayers.
  8. From sahih al-Bukhari in the book of bathing.

However this article -which is an introduction for a book- says that the amount is around 110 (in al-Jami' as-Saghir of Imam as-Suyuti , and less then 10 in the six sihah) and they showed them in the download-able full-text version. I'd like to add that most of these narrations are either quoted in both or one of the sahihs (al-Bukhar/Muslim) or qualified as sahih or hassan by scholars.


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  • According this scholars site only 8 ahadith of abu Hurairah (from more than 5000 as quoted by ibn Hazm) have no backup by a (similar or identic) narration from any other sahabi in the following 9 hadith collections (the two sahihs, the sunan of abi Dawod, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa'i and ibn Majah, muwatta' Malik, and the musnads of Ahmad and ad-Daarimi). ----- Is there an English translation for the links provided?
    – Rzv
    Aug 18 at 8:08
  • @Rzv if there was any I would have shared it. There should also be an ARabic app called "harf" for such statistical checks
    – Sassir
    Aug 20 at 0:57

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