Azami 442

Imam Ahmad (2580) narrated it, as did his son Abdullah in Sunnah (1116), Ajurri in Shariah (1033), Lalikai in Sharh Usul Itiqad (897), and Ibn Abu Asim in Sunnah (433), all of them through routes from Hammad bin Salama, from Qatada, from Ikrima, from Ibn Abbas, who related it. Its chain is sahih. Dhahabi said in Uluw (226), "Its chain is strong." Haythami said in Majma, "Its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih." Ibn Kathir said in his Tafsir, "Its chain meets the standard of the Sahih, but it is an abridgment of the hadith of the vision." Abu Zura Razi said, "The hadith of Qatada from Ikrima from Ibn Abbas concerning the vision is sahih, and only a Mutazilite would deny it." Diya Maqdisi mentioned it in Mukhtara.However, some scholars of knowledge placed the burden on Hammad bin Salama, saying, he was one of the oceans of knowledge, but he may have narrated a rejected hadith, because when he grew old his memory deteriorated. Ibn Jawzi said in Ilal Mutanahiya (23/1), "This hadith is not established, and all its routes rest on Hammad bin Salama." But Ibn Adi said, "The hadiths narrated concerning the vision have been narrated by others besides Hammad bin Salama." Bayhaqi mentioned it in Asma wa Sifat.I say, it is as he said, for the hadith of the vision to which the scholars referred in their remarks was narrated by Imam Ahmad (3484) from Abdul-Razzaq, who said, Muammar told us, from Ayub, from Abu Qilaba, from Ibn Abbas, who said that the Prophet ﷺ said, "My Lord came to me tonight in the most beautiful form, I think he means in sleep, and He said, 'Muhammad, do you know what the exalted assembly are disputing about?' I said, 'No.' The Prophet ﷺ said, then He placed His hand between my shoulders until I felt its coolness between my breasts, or he said, my collarbone, and I came to know what is in the heavens and what is on the earth. Then He said, 'Muhammad, do you know what the exalted assembly are disputing about?' I said, 'Yes, they dispute about the atonements and the ranks.' He said, 'And what are the atonements and the ranks?' He said, 'Lingering in the mosques after the prayers, walking on foot to the Friday prayers, and completing wudu thoroughly in unpleasant circumstances. Whoever does that lives well and dies well, and his sins become like the day his mother bore him. And say, Muhammad, when you pray, "O Allah, I ask You for the good deeds, and to abandon the forbidden deeds, and love of the poor, and if You intend a trial for Your servants, take me to You without being tried." He said, and the ranks are, feeding others, spreading peace, and praying at night while people sleep.'" He then related the rest of the hadith.Abu Qilaba, whose name is Abdullah bin Zayd Jarmi, did not hear from Ibn Abbas. Tirmidhi (3233) narrated it through the route of Abdul-Razzaq and said, "They have mentioned a man between Abu Qilaba and Ibn Abbas in this hadith, and Qatada narrated it from Abu Qilaba from Khalid bin Lajlaj, from Ibn Abbas." He then narrated it (3234) from the hadith of Muaz bin Hisham, from his father, from Qatada, and said, "This is a hasan gharib hadith from this angle." End of quote.As for what has been narrated concerning Abdullah bin Umar, that he sent to Abdullah bin Abbas asking him whether Muhammad saw his Lord, and Abdullah bin Abbas sent back to him, "Yes indeed," and Abdullah bin Umar sent his messenger back to him asking, "How did he see Him?" He said, he sent back saying that he saw Him in a green meadow, before Him a bed of gold on a throne of gold carried by four angels, one angel in the form of a man, one angel in the form of a bull, one angel in the form of an eagle, and one angel in the form of a lion, this is disconnected. Ibn Khuzayma narrated it in Tawhid (386), as did Abdullah bin Ahmad in Sunnah (217), and Bayhaqi in Asma wa Sifat (934), all of them through routes from Muhammad bin Ishaq, from Abdul-Rahman bin Harith bin Abdullah bin Ayyash bin Abu Rabia, from Abdullah bin Abu Salama, from Ibn Umar, who related it.Bayhaqi said, "Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar alone narrated it, and it has already been discussed that what he narrates is weak when he does not clarify that he actually heard it, and in the narration there is a disconnection between Ibn Abbas and the one who narrated from him, and none of these wordings appear in the sahih narrations from Ibn Abbas, and it has been narrated from another daif route." End of quote.