in his explanation of Surah al-Najm, which, by scholarly consensus, was revealed in Mecca.

‘Uthmān ibn Sa‘īd al-Dārimī said in his Refutation of al-Marīsī and His Followers:

“The opponent narrated from Shādhān, from Hammād ibn Salamah ibn Qatādah, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbās, that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: ‘I entered into the presence of my Lord in the Garden of Eden, a curly-haired youth wearing two green garments.’

He said: ‘This is not the kind of hadith that scholars are obliged to disseminate and circulate among children.’ If the opponent considers it objectionable, how can he reject it on one occasion, then affirm it on another and give it an interpretation even more objectionable than the hadith itself? Allah knows best about this hadith and its defect. Nevertheless, I find it highly objectionable, because it is contradicted by the hadith of Abū Dharr, who asked the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—‘Did you see your Lord?’ He replied: ‘Light—how could I see Him?’

It is also contradicted by the statement of ‘Ā’ishah—may Allah be pleased with her—‘Whoever claims that Muhammad saw his Lord has uttered a monstrous falsehood against Allah.’ She then recited:

‘No vision can encompass Him, but He encompasses