and four bowings, it is stated that he performed that prayer only on the day Abraham died. It is well known that Abraham did not die twice, nor did the Prophet have two sons named Abraham. Mass-transmitted reports establish that he performed the eclipse prayer that day with two bowings in each unit of prayer, as narrated from him by ʿĀ’ishah, Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn ʿAmr and others. For this reason, al-Bukhārī narrated only these hadiths. This is an omission on Muslim’s part. Accordingly, al-Shāfiʿī and others judged the hadiths mentioning three and four bowings to be weak and did not regard that practice as recommended. This is the sounder of the two positions reported from Ahmad. It is also reported that he used to permit it before the weakness of these hadiths became clear to him.

Another example is the hadith narrated by Muslim:

“Allah created the soil on Saturday, the mountains on Sunday, the trees on Monday, harmful things on Tuesday, and light on Wednesday. He spread the animals throughout the earth on Thursday and created Adam on Friday.”

This hadith was challenged by scholars more knowledgeable than Muslim, such as Yahyā ibn Maʿīn, al-Bukhārī and others. Al-Bukhārī stated that these were the words of Kaʿb al-Ahbār. Some scholars considered it authentic, including Abū Bakr ibn al-Anbārī, Abū al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzī and others. Al-Bayhaqī and others agreed with those who judged it weak. This is the correct view, for it is established through mass transmission that Allah created the heavens, the earth and everything between them in six days. It is also established that creation was completed on Friday, which necessarily means that it began on Sunday. This is also the account held by the People of the Scripture, and the names of the days indicate this. It is likewise what is reliably transmitted in other hadiths and reports;