Ibn Kathīr said: “Everything prostrates before His greatness, willingly or unwillingly, and the manner in which each thing prostrates is peculiar to it” (1).

Ibn Hajar said: “The apparent meaning of the hadith is that its settling occurs every day and night when it prostrates. The opposite of settling is its continual motion, which is expressed as ‘running its course.’ And Allah knows best” (2).

In any event, the discussion here is not about the sun’s settling or its prostration. I merely wished to demonstrate that the text of the hadith of Abū Dharr—may Allah be pleased with him—contains no difficulty, contrary to Rashīd Ridā’s claim—may Allah have mercy on him—and that the scholars received it with acceptance and explained its meaning.

As for his criticism of the chain of transmission of this hadith, it was a mistake on his part. The hadith has a continuous chain transmitted by trustworthy narrators. His claims that Ibrāhīm ibn Yazīd al-Taymī practiced concealment in transmission, that he did not meet Abū Dharr, Hafsa, or Aisha, and that he did not live during their time may be answered as follows:

1 — The chain of this hadith does not contain a narration by Ibrāhīm ibn Yazīd al-Taymī directly from Abū Dharr. Rather, its chain—as recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim—is from Ibrāhīm ibn Yazīd al-Taymī, from his father, from Abū Dharr.

Ibrāhīm’s father was Yazīd ibn Sharīk al-Taymī. He narrated from Umar, Ali, Abū Dharr, Ibn Masūd, and other Companions—may Allah be pleased with them. His son Ibrāhīm, Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaī, and others narrated from him. He was declared trustworthy by Ibn Main, Ibn Hibbān, and Ibn Sad—