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Refutations

The Prophet and Usaid ibn Hudayr: What the Kissing Hadith Actually Says

9 min read 1841 words

Critics occasionally cite a hadith about a Companion kissing the Prophet ﷺ on his side, attempting to read sexual implication into it. This note presents the full context of the narration, its multiple chains, the precise linguistic meaning of the term critics mistranslate, the evidence of the Companions’ love for the Prophet ﷺ, and the New Testament parallels that apply the same standard of scrutiny to the Gospels.

The Companions’ Love for the Messenger ﷺ

Before examining the narration, it is necessary to understand the nature of the relationship between the Companions and the Prophet ﷺ. Their love for him was unlike anything recorded in history.

Urwah ibn Mas’ud al-Thaqafi came to the Prophet ﷺ at Hudaybiyyah as a negotiator on behalf of the Quraysh — before his own conversion to Islam. When he returned to them, he said:

Urwah ibn Mas’ud — narrated by Al-Bukhari and others “O people, by Allah, I have visited kings. I have visited Caesar, Kisra, and the Negus. By Allah, I have never seen a king whom his companions respect as much as the companions of Muhammad respect Muhammad.”

And when Khubayb ibn Adi, may Allah be pleased with him, was crucified by the polytheists and they placed weapons against him, one of them said to him: Would you like Muhammad to be in your place?

Khubayb ibn Adi — narrated by Al-Tabarani in Al-Kabir and the biographers “No, by Allah the Almighty. I would not like him to be ransomed by a thorn pricking his foot while he is in the place where he is, safe and secure.”

A man captive and facing execution would not accept the safety of his Prophet ﷺ at the price of a single thorn. This is the depth of love within which the narration of Usaid ibn Hudayr must be read.

The Prophet ﷺ himself described by Allah as:

Surah Al-Qalam 68:4 وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ

“And indeed, you are of a great moral character.”

And the Prophet ﷺ said of himself:

Character of the Prophet ﷺ “I have been sent to perfect good morals.”

Collection: Referenced in books of seerah and hadith

He was the master of creation in joking, in kindness, and in sitting with his people — as much as he was the master of creation in raising, teaching, and striving. It is no wonder that the Companions responded to his openness with the expressions of love this narration records.

The Narration and Its Multiple Chains

Sunan Abi Dawud; Sunan al-Nasa’i — Narrated by Abu Sa’id al-Khudri While the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was distributing something, a man came and leaned over him and stabbed him with a palm branch and wounded him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Come and take revenge.” He said: “Rather, I have pardoned you, O Messenger of Allah.”

Narrator: Abu Sa’id al-Khudri | Collection: Sunan Abi Dawud; Sunan al-Nasa’i

Al-Bayhaqi, Al-Sunan al-Kubra, Kitab al-Jinayat — Narrated by Abu al-Nadr and others The Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw a man lagging behind and stabbed him with an arrow that was in his hand, then said: “Did I not forbid you from such a thing?” The man said: “O Messenger of Allah, Allah sent you with the truth, and you have wounded me.” So he threw the arrow to him and said: “Take revenge.” The man said: “You stabbed me while I was not wearing a garment, but you were wearing a shirt.” So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ uncovered his stomach, and the man leaned over and kissed him, and was cut off from his intention of revenge.

Narrator: Abu al-Nadr and others | Collection: Al-Bayhaqi, Al-Sunan al-Kubra | Note: Al-Dhahabi described a version of this chain as strong

Referenced by Al-Dhahabi with a strong chain — Narrated by Abu Layla, on the authority of Usaid ibn Hudayr al-Ansari Usaid ibn Hudayr was a funny, handsome man. While he was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, talking to some people and making them laugh, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ poked him with his finger in his side. He said: “You hurt me.” He said: “Take revenge.” He said: “O Messenger of Allah, you are wearing a shirt but I was not.” So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ lifted his shirt. So he embraced him, then began to kiss his side, and said: “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah — so you wanted this.”

Narrator: Abu Layla — Usaid ibn Hudayr | Chain: Described as strong by Al-Dhahabi

The full chain in Sunan Abi Dawud runs: Amr ibn Awn — Khalid — Husayn — Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla — Usaid ibn Hudayr al-Ansari.

What the Narration Actually Describes

The narration records a playful exchange during a gathering. The Prophet ﷺ — as was his known practice — was joking with his Companions to bring them joy. He poked Usaid in the side with a stick or his finger. Usaid said he was hurt and the Prophet ﷺ, following his consistent practice, offered to allow him to take equal retaliation. Usaid said: you are wearing a shirt and I am not — meaning he could not strike the bare skin of the Prophet ﷺ equivalently. The Prophet ﷺ lifted his shirt to expose his side, making the retaliation possible. Usaid’s response was to embrace the Prophet ﷺ and kiss his side — an expression of love and a declaration that taking revenge on the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was unthinkable to him.

This is confirmed by his own words: “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah — so you wanted this.” He was saying: I understand now — you lifted your shirt so that I could embrace you, not so that I could strike you. He interpreted the gesture as an invitation to the very thing he did.

The context is established further by the Abu Sa’id narration and the Abu al-Nadr narration, which are parallel incidents of the same type. In each case: the Prophet ﷺ pokes or touches a Companion, offers him retaliation, the Companion refuses revenge and instead turns the moment into one of physical affection and love.

The Meaning of the Key Term

Critics claimed the word kashh (كشح) refers to the buttocks. This is a fabrication.

Kashh (كشح) The word kashh refers to the whiteness of the side — specifically the area between the waist and the lower ribs, from the navel toward the back. It was also said that kashhan refers to the two sides of the abdomen, external and internal. It is the flank — the upper side of the body.

The term has no connection to the buttocks in any classical Arabic lexicon. The critical reading depends entirely on this fabricated mistranslation. Once the actual meaning is restored — the flank and side of the torso — the narration describes exactly what it says: a man kissing the side of the Prophet ﷺ out of love after being offered the chance to strike him there in retaliation.

The New Testament Parallel

Those who read sexual implication into a Companion kissing the Prophet’s ﷺ side out of love do not apply the same reading to the Gospels they accept.

John 13:23–25 (ESV) “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter motioned to him to ask who it was of whom he spoke. He leaned back on Jesus’ breast and said to him, ‘Lord, who is it?’”
John 19:26 (ESV) “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’”
John 21:20 (ESV) “Then Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following him, who also had leaned on his chest at supper. When Peter saw this, he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, what does this mean?’”

The Gospel of John records a disciple leaning on Jesus’s bosom, lying on his breast, and reclining against his chest — repeatedly, in front of the other disciples, at the Last Supper. Saint Augustine identified this disciple as John the Evangelist, and noted that he was the disciple who enjoyed Christ’s love the most. Augustine also noted that Peter felt jealousy at the intimacy of this relationship. The same Gospel that records a disciple physically reclining on Jesus’s chest is used by critics to mock a Companion kissing the Prophet’s ﷺ side in a gesture of love.

The John account describes a disciple leaning on Jesus, not kissing him Critics may argue that leaning is less intimate than kissing, and the two situations are not comparable.
The disciple in John did not merely lean — he reclined his head against Jesus’s breast, a posture of close physical intimacy maintained openly at a formal meal in front of all the disciples. The critics’ own scripture presents this without embarrassment, commentary, or apology. The standard of scrutiny must be applied consistently.

The same critics who raise this objection accept without question that prophets in their own scriptures committed adultery, that one stripped naked while drunk, and that another warmed himself with a virgin before his death. They find nothing problematic in any of that. But a Companion kissing his Prophet ﷺ in a moment of love and refusing to take revenge from him — this they present as evidence of moral corruption. The double standard is the argument.

Conclusion

The hadith of Usaid ibn Hudayr describes a playful, affectionate exchange between the Prophet ﷺ and one of his most beloved Companions. The Prophet ﷺ poked Usaid as part of his known practice of joking with his Companions, offered him retaliation in full fairness, lifted his shirt to make equal retaliation possible, and Usaid responded by embracing the Prophet ﷺ and kissing his side — declaring that revenge on the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was unthinkable to him. The term kashh refers to the side and flank of the torso, not the buttocks — a mistranslation critics invented to manufacture a scandal that the text does not contain. The multiple narrations in Abu Dawud, al-Nasa’i, al-Bayhaqi, and the strong chain cited by al-Dhahabi all describe the same type of incident: a Companion turning an offer of retaliation into an act of love. The Gospel of John records the beloved disciple lying on Jesus’s breast repeatedly and at length without objection from the Evangelist, from Jesus, or from the tradition that preserved it. The critics who invented a scandal in this hadith have not applied their own standard to their own scripture.
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