Second: This hadith is a fabricated lie, by agreement of the scholars. Abū al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzī cited it in al-Mawdūāt (Fabricated Reports) through al-Dāraqutnī (1), who authored works (2) on unique and singular reports (3). Al-Dāraqutnī said:
“Amr ibn Thābit was alone in transmitting it from his father, from Abū al-Miqdām. No one other than Hasan (4) al-Ashqar narrated it from him. Yahyā ibn Maīn said, ‘Amr ibn Thābit is neither trustworthy nor dependable.’ Ibn Hibbān said, ‘He transmits fabricated reports from reliable narrators.’”
Third: The words that Adam received have been explained in the saying of Allah Most High:
“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers” [Surah al-Arāf: 23].
This and similar explanations have been narrated from the early generations (5), and none of the reports reliably transmitted from them contains the oath he mentioned.
Fourth: It is known as a matter of necessity that if any unbeliever or sinner below Adam in rank repents to Allah, Allah accepts his repentance, even if he does not adjure Him by anyone. How, then, could Adam need in his repentance something that no sinner—believer or unbeliever—needs? Some have narrated that he sought a means of approach through the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—even before his repentance; this is a lie. An account concerning this has also been related from Mālik, in an address of his to al-Mansūr; it is a lie attributed to Mālik, even though Qādī Iyād mentioned it in al-Shifā (The Healing).