of these prevents us from judging it authentic. By calling it weak, they do not mean that we know it to be false, for that would be a fabricated report—one they know to be an invented lie. Thus, when “weak” in their terminology refers to a lack of knowledge, one seeks certainty and confirmation concerning it. If corroborating evidence from other reports or elsewhere agrees with it, this establishes that its narrator related it truthfully and remembered it accurately. And Allah Most High knows best.

Section

The hadith in question contains the words “I saw my Lord,” “My Lord came to me in the most beautiful form,” and “He said, ‘What is the Highest Assembly disputing about?’” It also says, “He placed His hand between my shoulder blades.” When it is understood that this is a reliably established hadith and that the event took place in Medina, in a dream, the error of two groups becomes apparent. One group believes that it occurred while he was awake, on the night of the Ascension, and treats it as describing divine attributes that they either affirm or distort. We shall therefore discuss what al-Mu’assis has said: