Azami 472

Abu Dawud (4727) reported it from Ahmad bin Hafs bin Abdullah, who said, "My father narrated to me," who said, "Ibrahim bin Tahman narrated to me, from Musa bin Uqba, from Muhammad bin Munkadir, from Jabir bin Abdullah," and he mentioned the hadith. Its isnad is sahih. Dhahabi graded it sahih in Uluw (213). Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari (8/665), "Its isnad is sahih according to the standard of the two Sahihs."It has been reported from Ibn Masud that he said, "Between the lowest heaven and the one next to it is a distance of five hundred years, and between each two heavens is a distance of five hundred years, and between the seventh heaven and the Throne (Kursi) is five hundred years, and between the Throne and the water is five hundred years, and the Throne is upon the water, and Allah is above the Throne, and He knows what state you are in." Darimi reported it in Radd Ali Jahmiya (81), and Tabarani in Kabir (9/228), and Ibn Khuzayma in Tawhid (178), all of them through the hadith of Hammad bin Salama, from Asim, from Zirr, from Abdullah bin Masud, and he mentioned it, and it is stopped at him (mawquf). Its isnad is hasan due to some discussion regarding Asim bin Bahdala, though he is hasan al-hadith.As for what has been reported from Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib, who said, "I was at Batha among a group, and among them was the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when a cloud passed by, and he looked at it and said, 'What do you call this?' They said, 'Cloud (sahab).' He said, 'And muzn?' They said, 'And muzn.' He said, 'And anan?'" Abu Bakr said, "They said, 'And anan.'" He said, "'How far do you think it is between you and the sky?' They said, 'We do not know.' He said, 'Between you and it is either one, two, or three, and the sky above it is likewise,'" until he counted seven heavens, "'then above the seventh heaven there is a sea, the distance between its top and bottom being like the distance between one heaven and another. Then above that are eight mountain goats (awal), the distance between their hooves and their knees being like the distance between one heaven and another. Then upon their backs is the Throne, the distance between its top and bottom being like the distance between one heaven and another. Then Allah is above that .'"In it there is an unidentified man. Abu Dawud (4724), Tirmidhi (3320), and Ibn Majah (193) all reported it through the route of Simak bin Harb, from Abdullah bin Umayrah, from Ahnaf bin Qays, from Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib, and he mentioned it, their wordings being close to one another. Ibn Khuzayma graded it sahih and reported it in Kitab Tawhid (172), and Hakim (2/387), both of them through this same route. Hakim said, "This is a hadith sahih in isnad, and the two of them (Bukhari and Muslim) did not report it." Dhahabi said elsewhere (2/412), "In it is Yahya, who is weak (wahin)."I say, this Yahya is Ibn Ala Razi Bajali, who is very daif. Through his route, Abdul-Razzaq reported it from him, from his uncle Shuayb bin Khalid, "Simak bin Harb narrated to me," Imam Ahmad reported it (1770). However, he has a corroborator (mutabi). Munziri also discussed it in Sunan Abu Dawud, saying, "In it is Walid bin Abu Thawr, and his hadith is not to be relied upon."I say, however, he also has a corroborator, so what remains in the isnad is Abdullah bin Umayrah, with the first letter pronounced with a fatha, the Kufan. Ibn Hibban mentioned him in Thiqat (5/42) and did not mention anyone who narrated from him other than Simak bin Harb. Aqeeli included him in Duafa (852), and Ibn Adi in Kamil (4/1547), and both of them cited Bukhari as saying, "We do not know of his having heard from Ahnaf bin Qays." Dhahabi said in Mizan (2/469), "In him there is unidentifiability (jahalah), Bukhari said, 'His hearing from Ahnaf bin Qays is not known.'" That is, there is also a break in the chain (inqita). He said, "He has, through him, from Abbas, the hadith of muzn and anan. Simak bin Harb narrated it from him. Walid bin Abu Thawr and a group narrated it from Simak. Yahya bin Ala also narrated it, and he is weak, from his uncle Shuayb bin Khalid, from Simak." This is the end of Dhahabi's statement.Hafiz said in Taqrib, "Acceptable (maqbul)," meaning where he is corroborated, otherwise his hadith is lenient (layyin), and I did not find a corroborator for him. As for Tirmidhi, he said, "Hasan gharib, and Walid bin Abu Thawr reported something similar from Simak and made it a raised (marfu) hadith, and Sharik reported part of this hadith from Simak and made it stopped (mawquf), not raising it."Juzqani, in Abatil (1/77), went on to grade this hadith as sahih, saying, "This is a hadith sahih, reported from Simak by a group, among them Anbasah bin Saeed, Walid bin Abu Thawr, Amr bin Abu Qays, and others." But he overlooked that its pivot is upon Abdullah bin Umayrah, in whom there is unidentifiability along with a break in the chain, as mentioned before. Perhaps he looked at the meaning of the hadith and did not delve deeply into knowledge of its isnad.There is also disagreement over whether it is raised (marfu) or stopped (mawquf), for Sharik reported it from Simak with his isnad as stopped at Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib, in his comment on the saying of Allah Most High, "And the angels will be on its sides, and there will bear the Throne of your Lord above them, that day, eight" [Haqqah 69:17], "angels in the form of mountain goats (awal)." Ibn Khuzayma reported this in Tawhid (189), and in one narration of his, "What is between their hooves and their knees is sixty-three years." Sharik said on one occasion, "And their shoulders are lodged against the Throne."Likewise, what has been reported from Abu Hurairah is not sound, that he said, "While the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was sitting with his companions, a cloud came over them, and the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said, 'Do you know what this is?' They said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'This is anan, these are the water carriers of the earth, which Allah drives to a people who neither thank Him nor call upon Him.'" He said, "'Do you know what is above you?' They said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'It is the Raqi, a protected roof and a restrained wave.'" Then he said, "'Do you know how far it is between you and it?' They said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'Between you and it is a distance of five hundred years.'" Then he said, "'Do you know what is above that?' They said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'Above that are two heavens, the distance between them being five hundred years,'" until he counted seven heavens, the distance between each two heavens being like the distance between the heaven and the earth. Then he said, "'Do you know what is above that?' They said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'Above that is the Throne, and between it and the sky is a distance like that between the two heavens.'" Then he said, "'Do you know what is beneath you?' They said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'It is the earth.'" Then he said, "'Do you know what is beneath that?' They said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'Beneath it is another earth, the distance between them being five hundred years,'" until he counted seven earths, the distance between each two earths being five hundred years. Then he said, "By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, if you were to lower a rope down to the lowest earth, it would descend upon Allah." Then he recited, "He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is knowing of all things" [Hadid 57:3].Tirmidhi (3298) reported it from Abd bin Humayd and others, the meaning being the same, they said, "Yunus bin Muhammad narrated to us, Shayban bin Abdul-Rahman narrated to us, from Qatada, who said, 'Hasan narrated, from Abu Hurairah,'" and he mentioned it. Imam Ahmad (8828) and Ibn Abu Asim in Sunnah (578) both reported it through two other routes from Qatada with his isnad, similarly.Abu Isa Tirmidhi said, "This is a hadith gharib from this route, and it is reported from Ayub and Yunus bin Ubayd and Ali bin Zayd, who said, 'Hasan did not hear from Abu Hurairah.' Some scholars have interpreted this hadith, saying, 'He only descended upon the knowledge of Allah, His power, and His authority, and the knowledge of Allah, His power, and His authority are in every place, while He is upon the Throne as He described in His Book.'" This is the end of Tirmidhi's statement.I say, in the isnad there are two flaws. The first, Qatada did not explicitly state that he heard it from Hasan, and he is a mudallis (one who conceals defects in transmission). The second, the break in the chain, for Hasan, who is Imam Basri, did not hear from Abu Hurairah, as the majority of scholars have confirmed. There is also something objectionable (nakarah) in its text.Juzqani said in Abatil (1/71), "This is a hadith batil (false), and it has a flaw hidden from anyone who has not delved deeply. Whoever reflects on this hadith and considers the statements of its narrators would judge it to be sahih due to their trustworthiness and integrity, but the flaw in it is Hasan's mursal transmission from Abu Hurairah, for he never heard anything at all from Abu Hurairah, and no one knows of Hasan's mursal transmission from Abu Hurairah except those who have delved deeply." Then he quoted from Imam Ahmad, Yunus, Ali bin Zayd, and others that he never heard a single word from Abu Hurairah. He said, "Nuaym said, 'Sufyan narrated to us, from Masawir Warraq, who said, "I said to Hasan Basri, 'From whom do you narrate these hadiths?' He said, 'From a book we have, which I heard from a man.'"'"Then he reported the hadith from another route, from Abu Jafar Razi, from Qatada, from Hasan, from Ahnaf bin Qays, from Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said, "By the One in whose hand is my soul, if you were to lower a rope down to the seventh earth, it would come upon your Lord ." Then he recited, "He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is knowing of all things" [Hadid 57:3].He said, "This Abu Jafar Razi, his name is Isa bin Mahan, and his kunya is Mahan Abu Isa, originally from Marw, and he moved to Ray and was named after it. He was among those who would come out alone with objectionable narrations from well-known narrators. I am not pleased with relying on his hadith except where it agrees with the trustworthy narrators." He quoted from Imam Ahmad that he said, "Abu Jafar Razi's hadith is disordered (mudtarib)." This is the end.Dhahabi said in Mizan (4/510), in the biography of Abu Jafar Razi, "He is Isa bin Mahan, and Salama bin Abrash reported from Abu Jafar Razi, from Qatada, from Ahnaf, from Abbas, as a raised hadith," and he mentioned the hadith, "and he said, 'It is munkar (objectionable), and Qatada never met Ahnaf.'"Bayhaqi said in Asma wa Sifat (2/289), "In the narration of Hasan from Abu Hurairah there is a break in the chain, and his hearing from Abu Hurairah is not established. It is also reported through another disconnected route from Abu Dharr, as a raised hadith." Then he reported it, and it is as follows.Likewise, what has been reported from Abu Dharr is not sound, that he said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Between the earth and the sky is a distance of five hundred years, and the thickness of the lowest heaven is a distance of five hundred years, and between each heaven and the heaven next to it is a distance of five hundred years, and the earths are likewise, and between the seventh heaven and the Throne is like the sum of all of that, and if you were to dig a hole for your companion and then lower him down, you would find Allah there."Bayhaqi reported it in Asma wa Sifat (850) from Abu Abdullah Hafiz and Abu Saeed Ibn Abu Amr, who said, "Abu Abbas Muhammad bin Yaqub narrated to us, Ahmad bin Abdul-Jabbar narrated to us, Abu Muawiya narrated to us, from Amash, from Abu Nasr, from Abu Dharr," and he mentioned it.Bayhaqi said, "Abu Hamza Sukkari and others corroborated him from Amash regarding the wording."I say, Bazzar reported it in Kashf (2087) from Muhammad bin Muamar, "Muhadir, meaning Ibn Muwarra, narrated to us, Amash narrated to us, from Amr bin Mura, from Abu Nasr, from Abu Dharr," and he mentioned something similar, in a shortened form. Bazzar said, "We do not know of it being reported from Abu Dharr except through this isnad. Abu Nasr, I reckon, is Humayd bin Hilal, and he did not hear from Abu Dharr."I say, along with the break in the chain between Abu Nasr and Abu Dharr, Dhahabi said in Uluw (p. 89), "Abu Nasr is not known, and the report is munkar."Likewise, what has been reported from Jubayr bin Mutim, from his father, from his grandfather, is not sound, that he said, a bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, "O Messenger of Allah, souls have suffered exhaustion, dependents have been lost, wealth has been depleted, and livestock have perished, so ask Allah for rain on our behalf, for we seek intercession through you before Allah, and we seek intercession through Allah before you." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Woe to you! Do you know what you are saying?" And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ began to glorify Allah (sabbaha), and he continued glorifying Him until that was recognized in the faces of his companions. Then he said, "Woe to you! No one seeks intercession through Allah before any of His creation, the majesty of Allah is greater than that. Woe to you! Do you know what Allah is? His Throne upon His heavens is like this," and he gestured with his finger like a dome over it, "and it creaks under Him like a saddle creaks under its rider."Abu Dawud (4726) reported it from Abdul-Ala bin Hammad, Muhammad bin Muthanna, Muhammad bin Bashshar, and Ahmad bin Saeed Riyati, who said, "Wahb bin Jareer narrated to us," Ahmad said, "We wrote it down from his manuscript, and this is his wording," he said, "My father narrated to us, he said, 'I heard Muhammad bin Ishaq narrating, from Yaqub bin Utba, from Jubayr bin Muhammad bin Jubayr bin Mutim,'" and he mentioned the hadith.Ibn Bashar said in a hadith, "Allah is above His Throne, and His Throne is above His heavens," and he continued the hadith. Abdul-Ala, Ibn Muthanna, and Ibn Bashar said, "from Yaqub bin Utba and Jubayr bin Muhammad bin Jubayr, from his father, from his grandfather."The hadith with the isnad of Ahmad bin Saeed is the sahih one, and a group agreed with him on this, among them Yahya bin Main and Ali bin Madini. A group reported it from Ibn Ishaq, as Ahmad also said. "The hearing of Abdul-Ala, Ibn Muthanna, and Ibn Bashar was from a single manuscript, as far as I have been informed." This is the end.By this, Abu Dawud is pointing to the disagreement that occurred in the isnad, and he said, "The sahih version is what the group reported from Muhammad bin Ishaq, from Yaqub bin Utba, from Jubayr bin Muhammad..." In the isnad is Jubayr bin Muhammad bin Jubayr, whom no one has affirmed as reliable except Ibn Hibban, who included him in Thiqat, and for this reason Hafiz said of him, "Acceptable (maqbul)," meaning when corroborated, and we did not find a corroborator for him. Muhammad bin Ishaq is a mudallis and he used the ambiguous form "from" (anana).Darimi reported the hadith in Radd Ali Jahmiya (71), Ibn Abu Shayba in Kitab Arsh (11), Ibn Abu Asim in Sunnah (576), Ibn Khuzayma in Kitab Tawhid (175), Lalikai in Usul Itiqad (656), Daraqutni in Sifat (38), and Bayhaqi in Asma wa Sifat (883), all of them through routes from Muhammad bin Ishaq, from Yaqub bin Utba, from Jubayr bin Muhammad, and they mentioned the isnad and the hadith. Some of them made it from Yaqub bin Utba and Jubayr bin Muhammad bin Jubayr, and the sahih version, as Abu Dawud said, is through Yaqub bin Utba, from Jubayr bin Muhammad bin Jubayr. This is also what Daraqutni graded as sahih, and he said, "Whoever said in it 'from Yaqub bin Utba and Jubayr bin Muhammad' has erred."Munziri said in Mukhtasar Abu Dawud, "Abu Bakr Bazzar said, 'We do not know of this hadith being reported from the Prophet ﷺ through any route except this one. And Muhammad bin Ishaq did not weigh it lightly, "Yaqub bin Utba narrated to me."'" This is the end of his statement. He said "Yaqub bin Utba" this way, but the correct form is "Yaqub bin Utba," who is Ibn Mughira Thaqafi.Then Munziri said, "Muhammad bin Ishaq is a mudallis, and when a mudallis says 'from so-and-so' without saying 'he narrated to us,' or 'I heard,' or 'he informed us,' his hadith is not relied upon. Bazzar pointed to this, even though when Ibn Ishaq explicitly states that he heard directly, scholars disagree over relying on his hadith, so what about when he does not state it explicitly? Yahya bin Main and others reported it and did not mention in it the word 'to me.'"Hafiz Abu Qasim Dimashqi said, "Yaqub bin Utba bin Mughira bin Akhnas Thaqafi Akhnasi alone reported this, from Jubayr bin Muhammad bin Jubayr bin Mutim Qurashi Nawfali. Neither of them has a narration in the two Sahihs of Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismail Bukhari and Abu Hasan Muslim bin Hajjaj Nisaburi. Muhammad bin Yasar alone reported it from Yaqub, and Ibn Ishaq's hadith is not relied upon, and more than one of the imams has criticized him, and a group has called him a liar." This is the end of Munziri's statement.Hafiz bin Qayyim responded to him on some of his points, a detailed response, and supported the position of those who graded this hadith sahih. See Tahzib Sunan.Dhahabi said in Uluw (1/413), "This is a very gharib hadith, singular (fard), and Ibn Ishaq is an authority in the campaigns (maghazi) when he states his source explicitly, but he has objectionable and strange narrations, so Allah knows best whether the Prophet ﷺ said this or not. Allah, there is nothing like Him. The creaking that occurs at the Throne is of the same kind as the creaking that occurs in a saddle, and that is a description of the Merciful and of the Throne, and Allah forbid that we should count it as a description of Allah Himself. Moreover, the word 'creaking' (atit) has not come with an established, explicit textual proof. Our statement in these hadiths is that we only believe what is sahih from them, and what the early generations agreed upon letting pass and affirming, but whatever has some criticism in its isnad, or whatever scholars have disagreed about accepting or interpreting, we do not commit ourselves to any definite position regarding it, rather we transmit it in general terms and clarify its status. We have only presented this hadith because of what it contains of the widely attested transcendence (uluw) of Allah above His Throne, which is in agreement with the verses of the Book."Hafiz bin Asakir has a treatise weakening this hadith titled Tabyan Wahm wal-Takhlit fima Akhrajahu Abu Dawud min Hadith Atit.As for atit, Abu Ubayd said, it is the sounds of camels. Jawhari said, atit is the sound of a saddle and camels from the heaviness of their loads.Likewise, what has been reported from Ibn Abbas, stopped at him (mawquf), is not sound, "Reflect upon everything, but do not reflect upon Allah, for between the seventh heaven and His Kursi (footstool) is seven thousand years of light, and He is above that ."Abu Shaykh reported it in Azama, stopped at Ibn Abbas, through the route of Asim bin Ali, from his father, from Ata bin Saaib, from Saeed bin Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas. Asim and his father are both daif, and Ata bin Saaib became confused in his old age (mukhtalit).