(1) The report is found in his Tahdhib Tarikh, 4/197, where he remarks: “This hadith is munkar, and its isnad contains more than one unknown transmitter.” Al-Ahwazi recorded similar material in a work on the Divine attributes that he entitled Al-Bayan fi ‘uqud ahli al-iman, into which he inserted a number of objectionable hadiths, such as: “When Allah wished to create Himself He created the horse, let it run until it perspired, then created Himself from that sweat.” Such a narration must neither be transmitted nor believed. Al-Ahwazi inclined to the doctrine of the Salimiyya, taking the texts only in their outward sense and clinging to weak reports that bolstered his view. The story of the horse is a sheer fabrication forged by certain zindiqs (heretics) to discredit the scholars of hadith; a few witless people then adopted it, even though its falsehood is certain both by the Sharia and by sound reason. Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Badran—may Allah have mercy on him—commented on Ibn ‘Asakir’s critique, saying: “Some feeble-minded individuals who claim scholarship in our own times follow the path of the Salimiyya without even knowing their doctrine. They seize upon everything that is merely said to be a hadith, accepting what is fabricated or forged. When told, ‘This is a spurious report,’ they retort, ‘But has it not been called a hadith?’ They allege that their conduct springs from love for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, yet they forget the hadith that is unanimously transmitted: ‘Whoever lies about me deliberately, let him take his seat in the Fire.’ You see them reciting forged narrations in their lessons so as to deceive the masses, bewilder the inexperienced listener, and speak at such length that any alert person turns away in disgust. Love of the Prophet ﷺ is not attained by lying about him; he ﷺ never uttered what contradicts sound intellect or the clear Book. Let the rational person refrain from attributing to the Prophet anything that the zindiqs have planted in order to corrupt his pure religion. Whoever does so becomes an accomplice of the zindiqs and a cheat toward the Muslims.” For further discussion of this report, see: Al-La’ali al-masnu‘a, 1/27–28; Tanzih al-shari‘a, 1/138–39; Al-Fawa’id al-majmu‘a, p. 447; and Mizan al-i‘tidal, 1/513. (2) p. 415. (3) Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari, p. 416.