Al-Qasim ibn Abi al-Mundhir reported; Abu al-Hasan ʿAli ibn Ibrahim ibn Salamah informed us; Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Majah informed us; Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abi al-Shawarib narrated to us; Abu ʿAsim al-ʿAbbadanī narrated to us; al-Fadl al-Raqashī narrated, from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, from Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“While the inhabitants of Paradise are reveling in their bliss, a Light will suddenly shine upon them, so they will lift their heads, and behold—the Lord, exalted is He, has appeared above them. He will say, ‘Peace be upon you, O people of Paradise.’ (1) That is the meaning of Allah’s word: ‘Peace—a word from a Merciful Lord.’ (2)
They will look at Him and He will look at them, and for as long as they gaze upon Him they will not turn to any other delight of Paradise. When He withdraws from them, His Light and His blessing will remain upon them in their dwellings. (3)"
(1) The word “qala” (“he said”) does not appear in manuscript H.
(2) Sūrat Yā-Sīn, verse 58.
(3) This ḥadīth is transmitted by Ibn Mājah in al-Muqaddimah, chapter “On What the Jahmīs Deny” (no. 184; vol. 1, p. 65); by Abū Nu‘aym in al-Hilyah (vol. 6, pp. 208–209); by al-‘Uqaylī in al-Du‘afā’ (vol. 2, p. 274); and by al-Haythami in Majma‘ al-Zawā’id (vol. 7, p. 98). Its isnād includes Abū ‘Āsim al-‘Abādānī (ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUbayd Allāh) and Abū al-Faḍl al-Raqāshī. Al-Dhahabī describes Abū ‘Āsim as “an eloquent preacher and ascetic, though a Qadari” (Al-Mīzān 2/458). Al-‘Uqaylī lists him among the weak, noting: “ʿAbd Allāh Abū ‘Āsim al-‘Abādānī from al-Faḍl ibn ‘Īsā al-Raqāshī—a ḥadīth-rejecter whose reports verge on conjecture” (al-Du‘afā’ 2/274). He then reports the ḥadīth via Abū ‘Āsim from al-Faḍl, adding: “It has no corroborators and is known only through him” (al-Du‘afā’ al-Kabīr 2/274–275). Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal judged al-Raqāshī weak; Ibn ‘Uyaynah said “nothing”; Abū Zur‘ah and Abū Ḥātim labeled him a ḥadīth-rejecter; al-Bukhārī stated: “He held to Qadar and is not fit to be narrated from” (Al-Kāmil, Ibn ‘Adī 6/2039). Although the chain is weak, the ḥadīth conveys two points definitively established by overwhelming evidence from the Qur’ān and Sunnah. The first concerns God’s action, which is precisely why the author cited this ḥadīth here.