For no rational person may claim that the meaning of this hadith contradicts either reason or revelation, unless he supposes that it indicates that the Creator, glorified and exalted be He, can suffer illness and hunger. Whoever says this has lied about the hadith.

Whoever claims that this is the hadith’s apparent meaning, what it signifies, or what it implies has lied. The speaker himself explained the hadith and clarified his intent so fully that all doubt was removed. He explained that it was the servant who became hungry and ate, who fell ill and was visited by those attending the sick, and that Allah, glorified be He, neither ate nor was visited.

Even reports outside this category, such as those making extravagant claims about the merits of deeds, are regarded by hadith scholars as fabricated. These include the following report attributed to the Prophet, and others like it:

“Whoever prays two units of prayer on the day of ‘Āshūrā’, reciting such-and-such in them, will have the reward of seventy prophets recorded for him.”

Thus, no hadith is known to contradict reason or authentic revelation without being considered weak by the scholars—indeed, fabricated. Furthermore, no authentic hadith from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, containing a command or prohibition is known which the Muslims have unanimously ceased to follow, unless there is an authentic hadith indicating that it has been abrogated. Nor is there known from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,