Gabriel, peace be upon him. See al-Bayhaqi’s al-Asmāʾ wa-al-Ṣifāt, pp. 438–441.
The compiler—may Allah have mercy on him—had originally inserted, on p. 50 of the main text, that sentence from Sharīk’s report, and later reproduced the entire report (MS fol. 21/1–2). I have removed it because of the flaw I mentioned earlier. In the second place where he cites it he says, “This is a singular ḥadith; some scholars have declared it objectionable, yet it has leapt the barrier and become established in the Ṣaḥīḥ.” I say: Muslim only admits into his collection what shows no sign of disqualifying defect, and that is not the case here—so reflect.
64- It was recorded by Aḥmad (1/374), and also by al-Bukhārī, al-Tirmidhī, and others.
65- I say: When this is added to his ﷺ statement in ḥadith 12, “His veil is light; were He to remove it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything His gaze reaches,” it follows that a barrier prevents seeing Him—namely the veiling light. This is the meaning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pointed to with his earlier words, “Light—how could I see Him?” Muslim recorded it (1/111). The alternate wording, “I saw light,” is also transmitted and is the sounder version, as I have shown in al-Yamānī’s Ithār al-Ḥaqq, pp. 182–183. I later found that Ibn al-Qayyim, in Juyūsh, p. 7, quotes Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah with an explanation of the ḥadith that matches what I have stated. Praise be to Allah for His guidance.
66- I say: This is an accepted principle in uṣūl al-fiqh, yet applying it here is, in my view, unfitting. The one who affirmed the vision—namely Ibn ʿAbbās—did not state it explicitly, and even if he had, he did not attribute it to the Prophet ﷺ. It therefore remains his personal opinion, countered by ʿĀʾishah’s opinion that denies the vision. The two views cancel each other out, as the Ḥanafīs say—though they misuse this formula when they apply it to prophetic ḥadiths! One must then revert to the default, which is negation; affirmation requires a specific proof, and none exists. The ḥadith of Ibn ʿAbbās will soon be examined, and we shall show the reasons it cannot be used as evidence. Moreover, the default is supported by the earlier ḥadith of Abū Dharr. Allah knows best.
79- The ḥadith of Ibn ʿAbbās who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I saw my Lord.” Its chain is sound.
67- I say: The compiler—may Allah have mercy on him—judged it strong because he looked only at the outward chain, which he cited from Aḥmad: “Aswad told us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah told us, from Qatādah, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās.” All of its transmitters are reliable and belong to Muslim’s narrators. However, Ḥammād ibn Salamah, despite his stature, is unreliable in what he narrates from anyone other than Thābit; for that reason Muslim records from him only what he transmits from Thābit. Al-Ḥāfiẓ therefore says in al-Taqrīb: “Trustworthy, devout— the most accurate of people with regard to Thābit, though his memory declined at the end of his life.” Moreover, Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī contradicted him in