then we departed and set out on our way back.”
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafah narrates it in his well-known booklet, saying, “Marwān ibn Muʿāwiyah reported to us from Qatādah ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Taymī…,” as quoted in Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr. Ibn Kathīr remarks: “Its isnād is singular, and neither al-Bukhārī nor Muslim included it. Among its oddities is that the prophets begin by asking about him—peace and blessings be upon him—while later, after his return, he is the one who asks about them. What is well-known in the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections, as mentioned earlier, is that Gabriel first informed him about them so that he might greet them as one already acquainted with them. Another peculiarity is that this report claims he met the prophets—peace be upon them—before entering al-Aqṣā Mosque, whereas the correct view is that he only met them in the heavens, then descended to Jerusalem a second time with them, led them in prayer there, mounted al-Burāq, and returned to Mecca. And Allah knows best.”
I say: This chain of transmission has two defects:
- The link between Abū ʿUbaydah ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd and his father is broken, for he never heard from him.
- Qatādah ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Taymī is an unknown narrator; Ibn Abī Ḥātim listed him (7/135/759) without citing any endorsement or criticism, and he