The hadeeth in question:
Narrated Al-Abbas ibn AbdulMuttalib: ..... The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) counted seven heavens. “Then above the seventh heaven there is a
river, between whose top and bottom is a distance like that between one heaven
and another.
Then above that there are eight (angels in the form of)
mountain goats. The distance between
their hooves and their knees is like the distance between one heaven and the
next. Then on their backs is the Throne, and the distance between the top and
the bottom of the Throne is like the distance between one heaven and another.
Then Allaah is above that, may He be blessed and exalted.”
عَدَّ
سَبْعَ سَمَوَاتٍ " ثُمَّ فَوْقَ السَّابِعَةِ بَحْرٌ بَيْنَ أَسْفَلِهِ
وَأَعْلاَهُ مِثْلُ مَا بَيْنَ سَمَاءٍ إِلَى سَمَاءٍ ثُمَّ فَوْقَ ذَلِكَ
ثَمَانِيَةُ أَوْعَالٍ بَيْنَ أَظْلاَفِهِمْ وَرُكَبِهِمْ مِثْلُ مَا
بَيْنَ سَمَاءٍ إِلَى سَمَاءٍ ثُمَّ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِمُ الْعَرْشُ بَيْنَ
أَسْفَلِهِ وَأَعْلاَهُ مِثْلُ مَا بَيْنَ سَمَاءٍ إِلَى سَمَاءٍ ثُمَّ
اللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى فَوْقَ ذَلِكَ " .
| Grade | : Da'if (Al-Albani) | ضعيف (الألباني) | حكم : |
“..some of the
scholars criticized him for some strange matters in his hadeeth(1).
Hence he was classed as da’eef (weak) by Shu’bah
and Ibn al-Mubaarak(2),
and Ibn Abi Khaythamah said: I heard Ibn Ma’een being asked: What is his fault?
He said: He narrated ahaadeeth which no one else
narrated(3),
but he is thiqah. Ibn ‘Ammaar said: They say that
he used to make mistakes(4),
and they differed concerning his hadeeth(5).
Al-Thawri regarded him as somewhat da’eef(6)
but no one rejected him. Al-Nasaa’i said: Sometimes he repeats everything he
hears, therefore when he narrates a hadeeth which no one else narrated(7),
that cannot be regarded as sound.
Ibn Hibbaan said in al-Thiqaat: he makes many
mistakes(8).
See his biography in Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb
(4/204)
Note from Mahir:
Just to keep it clean and simple, the man in question was criticized for:
1.
strange matters in his hadith (As the one
above)
2.
he was classed as weak
3.
he narrated things NO ONE heard before him
4.
he used to make mistakes
5.
they differed among his hadith
6.
some said he was somewhat weak
7.
he repeats everything he hears even if it’s
from a bad source, thus it makes him a weak reporter
8.
He made MANY mistakes!
Continuing with the fatwa:
As for ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umayrah: we do not know
anything about his biography except that he narrated from al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, and
no one is known to have narrated from him except Simaak ibn Harb. None of the
scholars stated whether he was thiqah or da’eef except Ibn Hibbaan who mentioned
him in al-Thiqaat. Ibn Hajar said in Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb (5/301): al-Bukhaari
said: It is not known whether he heard from al-Ahnaf. He was mentioned by Ibn
Hibbaan in al-Thiqaat, and al-Tirmidhi classed his hadeeth as hasan. I (Ibn
Hajar) say: Abu Na’eem said in Ma’rifat al-Sahaabah: He lived during the
Jaahiliyyah and he was the guide of al-A’sha, but it
is not proven that he accompanied the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) or saw him. Muslim said in al-Wuhdaan:
Simaak alone narrated from him. Ibraaheem
al-Harbi said: I do not know him. End quote.
Because Simaak’s report is not
to be accepted when he is the only one narrating it,
and because we find that there are some doubts about ‘Abd-Allaah ibn
‘Umayrah, the scholars differed as to whether the hadeeth should be classed as
saheeh or da’eef.
Al-Tirmidhi said concerning the hadeeth: it is
hasan ghareeb. It was classed as saheeh by Ibn Khuzaymah in his report in his
book al-Tawheed where he stipulated some conditions for its soundness. Al-Haakim
said in al-Mustadrak: it is saheeh according to the conditions of Muslim
although they (al-Bukhaari and Muslim) did not
narrate it.
Among the later scholars, Ibn Taymiyah in
Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (3/192) and Ibn al-Qayyim in Mukhtasar al-Sawaa’iq (433) said
its isnaad is jayyid.
With regard to the scholars who classed it as
da’eef:
This is what is understood from the words of
al-Bazaar in his Musnad (4/115), where he says: We do not know of these words
being narrated except with this isnaad from al-‘Abbaas from the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him). We do not know of
anyone who narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umayrah except Simaak ibn Harb.
End quote.
Ibn ‘Adiyy said in al-Kaamil (9/27): it is not
known.
Al-Mazzi indicated that it is
da’eef in Tahdheeb al-Kamaal (10/391).
Al-Dhahabi said in al-‘Uluw (1/60): It was
narrated only by Simaak from ‘Abd-Allaah, and ‘Abd-Allaah is somewhat unknown.
End quote. But al-Dhahabi classed the hadeeth as hasan in al-‘Arsh (24).
Another of the later scholars
who classed it as da’eef was al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah (1247).
What seems most likely – and
Allaah knows best – is that the hadeeth is da’eef.
As Simaak ibn Harb was the only one who narrated this hadeeth which has to do
with matters of the unseen, this means that it is not acceptable.
The fact that little is known about ‘Abd-Allaah ibn
‘Umayrah further damages the soundness of the hadeeth. Then there is the
interruption (in the isnaad) between him and al-Ahnaf ibn Qays.
If anyone wants to quote this hadeeth as
evidence that Allaah is above His creation and that He is above the mighty
Throne, the Qur’aan and saheeh Sunnah are full of such evidence and there is no
need to quote this hadeeth as evidence. There are a thousand pieces of evidence
which Imam al-Dhahabi compiled in his book al-‘Uluw, for those who want to know
more.
We see that this hadith is NO PROOF at all that
there is an error in Islam regarding cosmology, the infidels are just too
desperate to find a mistake, and all they do is look for weak hadiths to
“Debunk” Islam.
