(47) Allah will say to the scholars on the Day of Resurrection—(when He is seated upon His Throne) to judge His servants: “I did not place My knowledge in you except because I intend to forgive you for what has occurred among you, and I care not.” Al-Ḍaʿīfah no. 867. The Shaykh said: “Fabricated in its entirety, and it contains a very objectionable phrase: ‘Allah’s sitting upon the Throne.’ The ḥadīth is also transmitted without that wording through other routes, all of them weak—some even weaker than others—so it must be mentioned lest anyone be misled, just as I once was when I sourced the reports of al-Targhīb and, following Ibn Kathīr and the others we cited, graded it ḥasan. I have now withdrawn that ruling.” The narration appears as well in Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb (Maʿārif) no. 61.

(48) Ibn ʿAbbās Ⱡ related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched Abū Mūsā with a detachment by sea. While they were sailing on a pitch-dark night with their sail raised, a herald called out above them: “People of the ship! Halt, that I may inform you of a decree Allah has bound upon Himself.” Abū Mūsā replied, “Inform us if you truly will.” The voice said: “Allah has decreed upon Himself that whoever makes himself thirst for His sake on a hot day, Allah will quench his thirst on the Day of Thirst.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb, 2nd ed., no. 974, where the Shaykh graded it ḥasan. The same report is in Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb (Maʿārif) no. 577, where he graded it weak. I say: “ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muʾammal is weak, as al-Ḥāfiẓ said, and al-Bazzār considered him very weak in the Zawāʾid; the report appears in al-Ḍaʿīfah no. 6748. I once judged it ḥasan, following the author in the earlier edition, but after Kashf al-Astār was published and I examined its chain, I retracted.”

(49) “Allah has not listened to anything as He has listened”—in another wording: “like His listening”—“to a prophet of beautiful voice”—and in yet another wording: “of beautiful tarannum (melodic intonation)”—“who recites the Qurʾān aloud.” Ṣifat Ṣalāt al-Nabī ﷺ (Maʿārif), p. 127. The Shaykh remarked in Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb wa-l-Tarhīb (Maʿārif) under ḥadīth 875: “Allah has not listened to anything as He has listened to a prophet of beautiful tarannum with the Qurʾān.” I—Shaykh al-Albānī—say: “The word tarannum is anomalous; it contradicts the wording of the two Shaykhs—yataghannā (chants)—as I demonstrated in al-Ḍaʿīfah no. 6640. Previously I cited it in Ṣifat al-Ṣalāh on the authority of al-Ḥāfiẓ; it should therefore be deleted.”

(50) From Ibn ʿAbbās Ⱡ: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed two rakʿahs in which he recited nothing but the Opening of the Book.” Ṣifat al-Ṣalāh (Maʿārif), pp. 106–107. The Shaykh said: “Aḥmad, al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Usāmah in his Musnad (p. 38 of its supplements), and al-Bayhaqī transmitted it with a weak chain. I had graded it ḥasan in earlier editions, but it became clear to me that I was mistaken, because its backbone is Ḥanẓalah al-Dawsī, who is weak. I do not know how this escaped me—perhaps I mistook him for someone else. In any event, praise be to Allah who guided me to recognize my error, so I struck it out of the book. Allah then compensated me with something better: the ḥadīth of Muʿādh, which conveys the same ruling as the report of Ibn ʿAbbās. Praise belongs to Allah, by whose favor righteous deeds are perfected.”

The wording of the Muʿādh ḥadīth alluded to by the Shaykh: “Muʿādh used to pray the night prayer with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ … He said to the youth, ‘Nephew, how do you pray when you are alone?’ He answered, ‘I recite the Opening of the Book,’ … and so on.” Reported by Ibn Khuzaymah, no. 1634, and by al-Bayhaqī with a good chain.

(51) “Islam began as something strange and will return to being strange just as it began, so glad tidings to the strangers.” It was asked, “Who are the strangers?” He replied, “Those who break away from the tribes.” Al-Ṣaḥīḥah, ḥadīth 1273, 3/269–270 (Maʿārif ed.). The Shaykh said: “Narrated by al-Dārimī; Ibn Mājah 3988; Aḥmad and his son ʿAbd Allāh; al-Bayhaqī in al-Zuhd al-Kabīr; and al-Baghawī in Sharḥ al-Sunnah, through Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth from al-Aʿmash from Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī from Abū al-Aḥwaṣ from ʿAbd Allāh, traced back to the Prophet. Al-Baghawī said, ‘This ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ,’ and I would agree were it not that Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī (ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Allāh) is a mudallis and gives the report in ʿanʿanah form in every route from him, in addition to having become confused in his later years. I therefore withhold judgment on its authenticity, after having followed others in declaring it sound for a time.”

(52) “How excellent a death it is for a man to die defending his right.” Al-Ṣaḥīḥah no. 697. The Shaykh said: “Aḥmad—followed by Abū ʿUmar al-Dānī in al-Fitan and Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilyah—narrated it through Ibrāhīm ibn al-Muhājir from Abū Bakr ibn Ḥafṣ. The story is given in full, and Saʿd said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say,’ and then mentioned it. Abū Nuʿaym added, ‘Abū Bakr’s name is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥafṣ ibn ʿAmr ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ.’” The Shaykh continued: “I say: he is reliable, counted among the narrators of the two Shaykhs, and Ibrāhīm ibn al-Muhājir is, according to al-Taqrīb, ‘truthful but has weak memory.’ I later found that al-Haythamī, 6/244, judged the chain broken between Abū Bakr ibn Ḥafṣ and Saʿd, and that is a valid criticism. If no dependable corroborating route is found, the report should be moved to the other collection of weak narrations.”