Saʿid al-Khudri in its longer version. This report was recorded by both al-Bukhari and Muslim (1) through the narration of al-Layth, while the first report was likewise recorded by them (2) but through a different transmitter.
Ibn al-Qasim had asked Malik about it solely because al-Layth was the one who narrated it. It may therefore be said: either Malik’s remark contradicts what al-Layth and others like him actually did, or it is not a contradiction at all; rather, Malik only disliked relating such traditions to someone (3) who would be led astray by them and whose intellect could not bear them—just as Ibn Masʿud said, “No man conveys a report to a people whose minds cannot grasp it except that it becomes a trial for some of them.” (4) Indeed, Malik would refrain from transmitting many hadiths
and Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, Ibn Qutayba, and others—and this is the position one must hold regarding such a hadith. Dr. Abdulaziz bin Ibrahim al-Shahwan has a valuable commentary on this hadith; see his remarks in Ibn Khuzayma’s Tawhid, vol. 1, pp. 88–91. Also consult what Shaykh Hamoud bin Abdullah al-Tuwaijri states in his book Aqidah Ahl al-Iman fi Khalq Adam ‘ala Surat ar-Rahman. I have recently reviewed a letter from Shaykh ‘Abdulaziz bin Baz (No. 380/Kh, dated 30/3/1408 AH) affirming what appears in the aforementioned work of Shaykh Hamoud—that the pronoun in the authentic hadith concerning the creation of Adam in His (Allah’s) image refers to Allah, exalted is He. This understanding aligns with the report of Ibn ‘Umar: “Allah created Adam in the image of ar-Rahman,” which was authenticated by Imam Ahmad, Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, al-Ajuri, Ibn Taymiyyah, and others.
(1) Its chain (isnad) was cited above via al-Layth ibn Sa‘d.
(2) Its chain was likewise cited above.
(3) In the original text: lima. The reading confirmed in the S and T editions renders the discourse coherent.
(4) Muslim records it in the introduction to his Sahih (vol. 1, p. 11) from Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “Do not relate to people a hadith their minds cannot grasp, for it will become a fitnah for some of them.” Al-Sam‘ani also transmits it on the authority of Ibn Mas‘ud with the wording: “When a man relates a hadith and someone of insufficient understanding hears it, affliction (fitnah) befalls them.” See Adab al-Imala wa al-Istimala by al-Sam‘ani, p. 60. The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) included it in Dara‘ Ta‘ârud al-‘Aql wa al-Naql, vol. 1, pp. 50–51. Likewise, ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Convey to people what they are familiar with, and leave…”