al-Najm: 1–2]. Abū al-Faraj (1) said: “This [hadith] is the one mentioned above (2). One of these narrators stole it (3) and altered (4) its chain of transmission. Among the indications of his foolishness was his attribution of it to Anas, for Anas was not in Mecca at the time of the Ascension (5), nor when this surah was revealed (6). The Ascension took place one year before the Hijrah, whereas Anas only came to know the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in Medina. This chain of transmission is shrouded in layers of darkness.

“As for Mālik al-Nahshalī, Ibn Hibbān said: ‘He narrates from trustworthy transmitters reports that bear no resemblance to the hadiths of dependable authorities.’ As for Thawbān, the brother of Dhu al-Nūn al-Misrī, he was weak in hadith. Abū Qudā‘ah was a narrator of rejected hadiths whose reports were abandoned. Abū Bakr (7) al-Attār and Sulaymān ibn Ahmad are both unknown.”

The third point is that one indication that this report is a lie is its portrayal of Ibn Abbās as having witnessed the revelation of Surah al-Najm when the star fell into Alī’s home. Yet Surah al-Najm, by universal agreement, was among the earliest surahs revealed in Mecca. When the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—died, Ibn Abbās was merely approaching puberty and had not yet experienced a wet dream. This is established on his authority in the two Sahīh collections.

Thus, when this verse was revealed, Ibn Abbās had either not yet been born or was still a child too young to discern. When the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—emigrated, Ibn Abbās was about five (8) years old. Most likely, he had not yet been born when Surah al-Najm was revealed, for it was among the earliest portions of the Quran to be revealed.