Thursday 18 Ramadan 1445 - 28 March 2024
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Falseness Hadeeth About Adam Praying by Virtue of the Prophet

Question

I read this hadeeth (prophetic narration) and I would like to know whether it is saheeh (authentic) or not.
“When Adam committed his sin, he said, ‘O Lord, I ask You by virtue of Muhammad to forgive me.’ Allah said, ‘O Adam, how do you know of Muhammad when I have not yet created him?’ He said, ‘O Lord, when You created me with Your own hand, and breathed into me the soul that You created, I raised my head and saw written on the pillars of the Throne, La ilaha ill-Allah Muhammad Rasool Allah [There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah]. Then I knew that You would not mention in conjunction with Your name any but the most beloved of Your creation to You.’ Allah said, ‘You have spoken the truth, O Adam. He is indeed the most beloved of My creation to Me. Pray to me by virtue of Him, for I have forgiven you. Were it not for Muhammad, I would not have created you.”

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

This hadeeth is mawdoo’ (fabricated). It was narrated by al-Hakim via ‘Abd-Allah ibn Muslim al-Fahri (who said), Isma’eel ibn Muslimah narrated to us, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam told us, from his father, from his grandfather, from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “When Adam committed his sin…” Then he quoted the hadeeth as the questioner quoted it. 

Al-Hakim said: The isnad (chain of narrators) of this hadeeth is saheeh. 

This is what al-Hakim said! But a number of scholars rebuked him and denounced him for classing this hadeeth as saheeh. They ruled that this hadeeth is false and fabricated, and they pointed out that al-Hakim contradicted himself when commenting on this hadeeth. 

There follow some of their comments: 

Al-Thahabi said, criticizing the words of al-Hakim quoted above: 

Rather it is mawdoo’ (fabricated), and ‘Abd al-Rahman is not reliable, and I do not know who ‘Abd-Allah ibn Muslim al-Fahri is. 

Al-Thahabi also said in Meezan al-I’tidal: It is a false report. 

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar agreed with him in Lisan al-Meezan. 

Al-Bayhaqi said:  

‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam is the only one who narrated it with this isnad, and he is da’eef (weak). Ibn Katheer agreed with him in al-Bidayah wa’l-Nihayyah, 2/323. 

Al-Albani said in al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah, 25: (it is) mawdoo’. 

Al-Hakim himself (may Allah forgive him) accused ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd of being a fabricator of hadeeth, so how could his hadeeth be saheeh? 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said in al-Qa’idah al-Jaleelah fi’l-Tawassul wa’l-Waseelah (p. 69): 

Al-Hakim’s narration of this hadeeth is something for which he was denounced, and he himself said in his book al-Madkhil ila Ma’rifat al-Saheeh ‘an al-Saqeem:  

‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Zayd ibn Aslam narrated fabricated hadeeths from his father, and it is obvious to any competent hadeeth scholar that he is the one to blame for fabricating hadeeths. I say: ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam is da’eef (weak) because he made a lot of mistakes.

 See Silsilat al-Ahadeeth al-Da’eefah by al-Albani, 1/38-47.

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Source: Islam Q&A