I said, "Messenger of Allah, tell me, from what was creation made?"He replied, "From water."
قلت: يارسول الله! أخبرني مم خلق الخلق؟ فقال: من الماء.
Ishaq bin Rahawayh (301) narrated it from Abu Muawiya. Hamza Zayyat narrated to us, from Abu Mujahid Saad Tai, from Abu Madla, from Abu Hurairah, and he mentioned it within a long hadith. Its chain is hasan because of Abu Madla, for his hadith is hasan. Ibn Majah deemed him trustworthy (1752). Ibn Hibban mentioned him in Thiqat, and in Taqrib he is described as "acceptable." The correct view is what I have stated.This hadith was also narrated by Tirmidhi (2526) via Muhammad bin Fudayl, from Hamza Zayyat, from Ziyad Tai, from Abu Hurairah, within a long hadith, and this portion was mentioned in it. He said, "This hadith's chain is not that strong, and in my view it is not connected. This hadith has also been narrated with another chain from Abu Madla, from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet ﷺ."I say, regarding Ziyad Tai mentioned in Tirmidhi's chain, Ibn Hajar said in Taqrib, "unknown, he transmitted an unconnected report from Abu Hurairah."It was also narrated by Ahmad (8043), Abd bin Humayd (1420), and Ibn Hibban (7387), all of them via Saad Tai, who said, Abu Madla, the freed slave of the Mother of the Believers, narrated to me, from Abu Hurairah, within a long narration, except that they did not mention the portion referred to.As for what Hakim narrated (452/2) via Abdul-Razzaq, from Umar bin Khubayb Makki, from Humayd bin Qays Araj, from Tawus, who said, "A man came to Abdullah bin Amr bin As and asked him what creation was made from. He said, 'From water, light, darkness, wind, and dust.'" This is daif.As for Hakim, he said, "This hadith's chain is sahih." Dhahabi commented on this, saying, "I searched for this Umar but could not identify him, and the report is rejected."I say, this is because he added things to the hadith that are not corroborated.