the Merits of Days and Months” (1). He also reported that his teacher Ibn Nāsir said: “It is an authentic hadith, and its chain of transmission meets the criteria for authenticity.” The correct judgment, however, is what he stated in “Fabricated Reports,” which was the later of his two judgments. Ibn Nāsir was taken in by the apparent standing of its narrators. Otherwise, the hadith contradicts both Islamic law and reason. None of the recognized scholars narrated it in any book; rather, it was deceptively passed off on some later scholars.
The same happened with other hadiths (2), including reports attributed to Ahmad’s Musnad that are not actually in it. One example is a hadith narrated by ‘Abd al-Qādir ibn Yūsuf, from Ibn al-Mudhahhab, from al-Qatī‘ī, from ‘Abd Allāh, from his father, from ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Muthannā (3), from ‘Abd Allāh ibn Dīnār, from ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar, from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who reportedly said:
“The Quran is the speech of Allah, uncreated; it originated from Him and will return to Him.”
This statement is correct, and it is established by mass transmission that the early generations said it. However, attributing these words to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is a lie, and attributing this report to Ahmad’s Musnad is an obvious lie (4), for his Musnad is available, and this report is not in it.
(1) Ibn Rajab mentioned it in al-Dhayl ‘alā Tabaqāt al-Hanābila (Supplement to the Biographies of the Hanbalīs), 1/420, describing it as “a volume.”
(2) M: akādhīb (“lies”).
(3) M: ‘an abīhi Ibn al-Muthannā (“from his father, Ibn al-Muthannā”).
(4) I have not found this hadith. There are, however, many fabricated hadiths similar in wording and meaning, reported from various Companions. Al-Suyūtī mentioned some of them in al-La’āli’ al-Masnū‘a (Fabricated Pearls), 1/4–7. They include: … from Abū al-Zubayr, who said: “The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: ‘Whoever says that the Quran is created has disbelieved.’” Another is reported from Anas as marfū‘ (attributed to the Prophet): “Everything in the heavens and the earth and between them is created, except Allah and the Quran, for it is His speech: it originated from Him and will return to Him. There will come people …,” and so forth. These hadiths were also mentioned by Ibn ‘Irāq al-Kinānī in Tanzīh al-Sharī‘a (Purifying the Sharia), 1/134–135, and by ‘Alī al-Qārī in al-Asrār al-Marfū‘a (Elevated Secrets), pp. 57, 259. See also his statement on p. 479: “Al-Khalīlī said in Kitāb al-Irshād (The Book of Guidance): ‘This is akin to the consensus of the Companions, the Successors, and all Ahl al-Sunnah that the Quran is the speech of Allah, sent down and uncreated. These words are not a hadith of the Prophet—may blessings and peace be upon him.’”