-
It was recorded by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and others, and a number of scholars have declared it authentic, as I pointed out in al-Mishkāt—among them in al-Takhliṣ; further on, p. 58, he states categorically that the Prophet ﷺ uttered it.
-
The ḥadith of Muʿāwiyah ibn al-Ḥakam al-Sulamī:
“I had a flock of sheep pasturing between Uḥud and al-Jawāniyyah⦗1⦘, and among them was a slave-girl of mine⦗2⦘. One day I went out to them and found that a wolf had carried off a ewe. I am but a man descended from Adam, so I became upset and struck her⦗3⦘. Then I came to the Prophet ﷺ and informed him of the matter; it weighed heavily on me, so I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, shall I not set her free?’ He said, ‘Bring her to me.’ I brought her, and he asked her, ‘Where is Allah?’ She answered, ‘In the heaven.’ He asked, ‘And who am I?’ She replied, ‘You are the Messenger of Allah.’ He then said, ‘Set her free, for she is a believer.’”
This is an authentic ḥadith, recorded by Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasā’ī, and many other imams in their compilations. They transmit it exactly as it stands, without explaining it away or altering its wording.
Thus we have observed that whenever anyone is asked, “Where is Allah?” he instinctively answers, “In the heaven.” The report establishes two points:
(a) A legal ruling: it is permissible for a Muslim to ask, “Where is Allah?”
(b) The answer of the one questioned: “In the heaven.”
Whoever denies these two matters is, in fact, denying the Chosen Prophet ﷺ.
- This ḥadith comes through several chains; perhaps for that reason the author regarded it as mass-transmitted, though that requires examination. In some of the routes it is said that the girl was non-Arab and merely pointed to the heaven instead of saying, “In the heaven,” as occurs in the Musnad. Yet in its chain is al-Masʿūdī—his name is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah ibn Masʿūd al-Kūfī—who became confused in his later years, and he reported this narration after that confusion. It is found in the Musnad (2/291) and Sunan al-Bayhaqī (7/388) through the narration of Yazīd ibn Hārūn from him. Ibn Numayr said: “He was trustworthy, but he became confused toward the end; Ibn Mahdī and Yazīd ibn Hārūn heard mixed reports from him.” Hence al-Dhahabī’s statement in the Asl: