the right hand of the Creator—exalted be He—on earth (1).
Ibn Jurayj narrated: “I heard Muḥammad ibn ʿAbbād ibn Jaʿfar say, ‘I heard Ibn ʿAbbās say: This Black Corner is Allah’s right hand on earth; through it He shakes hands with His servants just as a man shakes hands with his brother.’” (2)
Yet the sounder path here is to avoid probing into whether the expression is literal or figurative. We have no need to confine what the early generations left unrestricted; rather, we affirm it and remain silent. To ask, “Is it literal or metaphorical?” is a kind of verbal clumsiness and stammering. Accordingly, we censure anyone who investigates such matters—and Allah is the One who grants success.
304 – al-Masjidī, Abū al-Qāsim Sahl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Naysābūrī *
The upright shaykh and ḥadith transmitter, Abū al-Qāsim Sahl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Naysābūrī, known as al-Masjidī and also called al-Sabʿī.
(1) Al-Dhahabi’s remark is sound only when the hadith in question is actually authentic; if, as here, it is not, one should refrain from forced interpretations. Al-Khatib recorded it in his History, 6/328, and Ibn ʿAdi in al-Kamil, 17/2, through the chain of Is-haq ibn Bishr al-Kahili—Abu Maʿshar al-Madaini—Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir—Jabir, as a prophetic report: “The Black Stone is Allah’s right hand on earth; by it He shakes hands with His servants.” Al-Khatib states that Is-haq ibn Bishr relays objectionable material on the authority of Malik and others; he was declared a liar by Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah, Musa ibn Harun, and Abu Zurʿah. Ibn ʿAdi and al-Daraqutni add that he belongs to the class of fabricators. A second chain, cited by Ibn ʿAsakir (15/90/2), is no better, for it contains Abu ʿAli al-Ahwazi, who is likewise accused of forgery. Hence, as Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn al-Arabi have stated, the report is spurious.
(2) I have not yet discovered who transmits this wording from Ibn Jurayj so that I might investigate it. Ibn Qutaybah cites it only as a mawquf statement of Ibn ʿAbbas in Gharib al-Hadith, 2/337; the chain there includes Ibrahim ibn Yazid al-Khuzi, a narrator who is discarded.
(*) Sources consulted for this entry: fol. 28b; al-Ansab, 7/32; al-Tahbir, 1/314–317; al-Muntakhab, fol. 71a; al-Lubab, 2/100–101; Tarikh al-Islam, 4:250/2.