this man who exploits his knowledge and erudition to cast doubt among the Muslims about the ḥadiths of their Prophet ﷺ? May Allah repay him as he deserves.

Nor did he stop at this deception; he went so far as to accuse the narrator—whoever he may be, for every transmitter of this ḥadith is trustworthy—of knowingly lying against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The upshot of al-Kawtharī’s words is that the narrator chose to attribute to the Prophet the question put to the slave-girl, “Where is Allah?”, whereas, in al-Kawtharī’s view, the Prophet ﷺ never said that at all; rather, the narrator inserted it in place of Saʿīd ibn Zayd’s wording: “The Prophet ﷺ reached out his hand toward her, asking by gesture: Who is in heaven?”

It is therefore my duty to warn the Muslims against this al-Kawtharī and those like him who wrongfully accuse the innocent, reminding them of Allah’s statement: “O you who believe, if a defiantly sinful person comes to you with a report, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance…” (al-Ḥujurāt 49:6).

2- Ḥadith of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah: During his sermon on the Day of ʿArafah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Have I conveyed the message?” They replied, “Yes.” He then raised his index finger toward the sky, pointed it¹ toward them, and said, “O Allah, bear witness.” Recorded by Muslim.

3- This is an excerpt from Jābir’s long narration on the Prophet’s pilgrimage; I have published it in a separate treatise devoted to that ḥadith, issued by al-Maktab al-Islāmī.

3- Ḥadith of Abū Hurayrah: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Angels take turns among you—angels of the night and angels of the day. They gather at the dawn and afternoon prayers; then those who spent the night among you ascend to Him, and He asks them, though He knows best about them: ‘How did you leave My servants?’ They say, ‘We came to them while they were praying and we left them while they were praying.’” Agreed upon.

4- Ḥadith of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The merciful are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Show mercy to those on earth and He Who is in heaven will show mercy to you.” Recorded by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, who declared it authentic.