Is it proven that when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was born, he rested on his arms, raising his head to heaven?
Question

                Is it proven that when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was born, he rested on his arms, raising his head to heaven?
Praise be to Allah.
	It was narrated 
	by ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq in al-Musannaf (9718) from Ma‘mar, from az-Zuhri, that 
	the mother of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: 
	When he was born, he rested on his arms, raising his head to heaven.

	This is mursal, 
	although the isnaad is saheeh.

	It was narrated 
	by Ibn Hibbaan (6335) and Abu Ya‘la (7163) via Muhammad ibn Ishaaq, from 
	Jahm ibn Abi Jahm, from ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far (may Allah be pleased with 
	him), from Haleemah bint al-Haarith as-Sa‘diyyah… And he mentioned the story 
	of the breastfeeding of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon 
	him), in which it says that the mother of the Messenger of Allah (blessings 
	and peace of Allah be upon him) said:

	… Then I gave 
	birth to him, and he did not come out as other infants come out; he came out 
	placing his hands on the ground, raising his head to heaven.

	Shaykh Shu‘ayb 
	al-Arna‘oot said in his commentary on Saheeh Ibn Hibbaan:

	In its isnaad 
	there is an interruption between ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far – who is the son of 
	Abu Taalib – and Haleemah.

	Jahm ibn Abi 
	Jahm was mentioned by the author in ath-Thiqaat (4/113), where he 
	said: He narrates from ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far and from al-Miswar ibn 
	Makhramah, who was the freed slave of al-Haarith ibn Haatib al-Qurashi. 
	Muhammad ibn Ishaaq, ‘Abdullah al-‘Umari and al-Waleed ibn ‘Abdillah ibn 
	Jamee‘ narrated from him. Al-Bukhaari (2/229) and Ibn Abi Haatim (2/521) 
	both mentioned him, but they did not say anything about him, good or bad.

	No report is 
	known from Haleemah except this hadith, and there is no proof that she saw 
	the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) after his mission 
	began. End quote.

	It was narrated 
	by al-Aajurri in ash-Sharee‘ah (964), al-Bayhaqi in ad-Dalaa’il 
	(1/132) and Ibn ‘Asaakir in at-Taareekh (3/91) that Muhammad ibn 
	Ishaaq said: Ibn Abi Jahm told me: someone who heard ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far 
	ibn Abi Taalib told me that he said: I was told, from Haleemah bint 
	al-Haarith, the foster-mother of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace 
	of Allah be upon him)… and he narrated this report.

	This is a da‘eef 
	(weak) isnaad. Jahm ibn Abi Jahm is unknown. Adh-Dhahabi mentioned him in 
	al-Mizaan (1/426) and said: He is not known; he narrated the report from 
	Haleemah as-Sa‘diyyah. End quote.

	He did not hear 
	this story directly from ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far, because he said: someone who 
	heard ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far ibn Abi Taalib told me that he said.

	And ‘Abdullah 
	ibn Ja‘far did not hear it from Haleemah as-Sa‘diyyah, because he said: I 
	was told, from Haleemah bint al-Haarith.

	But this last 
	problem is minor, because ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far was a Sahaabi, but he was one 
	of the younger Sahaabah.

	It was narrated 
	by Ibn Sa‘d in at-Tabaqaat (1/81, 120) via his shaykh al-Waaqidi, via 
	various isnaads, but al-Waaqidi is dubious. He was regarded as a liar by 
	Imam Ahmad and others. Abu Dawood said: I do not write down his hadith and I 
	do not narrate from him; I have no doubt that he made up hadith. Bandaar 
	said: I have not seen anyone who tells more lies than him.

	Ishaaq ibn 
	Raahawayh said: In my view, he is one of those who fabricate hadith.

	See: Tahdheeb 
	at-Tahdheeb (9/323-326).

	So what he 
	narrates is of no value.

	The hadith was 
	classed as da‘eef by Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him), who 
	said in his commentary on al-Booti’s Fiqh as-Seerah:

	This story was 
	not narrated via any isnaad which may be taken as evidence. The most 
	well-known of its versions is that which was narrated by Muhammad ibn Ishaaq 
	from Jahm ibn Abi Jahm from ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far from Haleemah bint 
	al-Haarith as-Sa‘diyyah.

	It was narrated 
	by Abu Ya‘la (1/128) and from him by Ibn Hibbaan in Mawaarid (1094) 
	and by Abu Nu‘aym in Dalaa’il an-Nubuwwah (1/47) from Ibn Ishaaq.
	

	It was also 
	narrated from him by al-Bayhaqi in Dalaa’il an-Nubuwwah (1/108), 
	except that he said: Jahm ibn Abi Jahm – the freed slave of a woman from 
	Banu Tameem who was married to al-Haarith ibn Haatib; it was also said that 
	he was the freed slave of al-Haarith ibn Haatib – told us: someone who heard 
	‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far ibn Abi Taalib told us that he said: I was told, from 
	Haleemah bint al-Haarith.

	I say: This is a 
	da‘eef isnaad; there are two problems with it:

	Firstly: there 
	is some problem with the isnaad, as is quite clear. In the first report, Ibn 
	Ishaaq narrates it by saying ‘an (from) with regard to all of its narrators. 
	In the second report, it is narrated with a clear statement of it having 
	been told from one narrator to another, even though al-Jahm says that he did 
	not hear it directly from ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far, and he says that ‘Abdullah 
	ibn Ja‘far did not hear it directly from Haleemah. 

	In the first 
	report, there is an interruption between Ibn Ishaaq and al-Jahm, because Ibn 
	Ishaaq is known for tadlees (saying ‘an (from) to give the impression that 
	it was heard directly from one narrator to another). In the second report 
	there is an interruption in two places in the isnaad.

	Thus you may 
	learn that al-Haafiz was mistaken in his book al-Isaabah, where he 
	said (4/266): Ibn Hibbaan stated in his Saheeh that it was stated 
	that Haleemah told ‘Abdullah, because there is no basis for this idea 
	according to Ibn Hibbaan or anyone else whom we have mentioned.

	It is very 
	unlikely that ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far could have met Haleemah, the wet-nurse of 
	the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), because 
	when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) died, ‘Abdullah 
	was ten years old; even though no one mentioned when Haleemah died, one 
	would expect her to have died before the Messenger of Allah (blessings and 
	peace of Allah be upon him). And Allah knows best.

	Regardless of 
	whether the first or second report is more sound, in both cases there is an 
	interruption in the isnaad. 

	The other 
	problem with the hadith is that its main narrator, Jahm ibn Abi’l-Jahm, is 
	unknown. Adh-Dhahabi said in al-Mizaan: The story of Haleemah 
	as-Sa‘diyyah is not known to be his.

	As for Ibn 
	Hibbaan, he mentioned him in ath-Thiqaat (1/31), according to his 
	method of verifying unknown narrators.

	According to Abu 
	Nu‘aym, the story has two other isnaads, both of which are connected to 
	al-Waaqidi, who was a liar. One of the isnaads is from his shaykh, Moosa ibn 
	Shayba, who is layyin al-hadith (not strong in hadith), as al-Haafiz said in
	at-Taqreeb. The other is from ‘Abd as-Samad ibn Muhammad as-Sa‘di, 
	from his father, from his grandfather, who said: Someone who used to tend 
	the sheep of Haleemah told me… These narrators are unknown.

	End quote from
	Difaa‘ ‘an al-Hadith an-Nabawi (39).

	He also said in 
	his commentary on Saheeh Ibn Hibbaan (9/128):

	… Ibn Ishaaq 
	stated in Seerat Ibn Hishaam (1/172) that the report was told from 
	one narrator to another, but he was not sure. He said: From ‘Abdullah ibn 
	Ja‘far ibn Abi Taalib, or from someone who narrated from him…

	So we cannot be 
	sure that the isnaad is complete, especially since this Jahm is unknown and 
	no one regarded him as trustworthy except Ibn Hibbaan (4/113). Adh-Dhahabi 
	said in al-Mizaan and elsewhere: He is not known. End quote.

	See: al-Mataalib 
	al-‘Aaliyah by Ibn Hajar, and the comment of the commentators 
	(17/180-182).

	This hadith, 
	with its isnaads, is well known to the scholars of Seerah (the Prophet’s 
	biography), as Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: This hadith 
	was narrated via other isnaads, and it is one of the well-known hadiths that 
	were mentioned by the scholars of Seerah and Maghaazi (reports of military 
	campaigns).

	End quote from
	al-Bidaayah wa’n-Nihaayah (2/275).

	Perhaps because 
	it is well-known, adh-Dhahabi classed it as qawiy (strong) and said 
	concerning this hadith of Ibn Ishaaq that is mentioned above:

	This is a hadith 
	with a jayyid (good) isnaad.

	End quote from
	Tareekh al-Islam (1/48).

	And Allah knows 
	best.