and witness it. An event like this would give people every reason and incentive to report it; it is therefore inconceivable that only one or two people would transmit it. Had the Companions reported it, scholars would have transmitted it from them, just as they transmitted similar events—not unknown narrators whose accuracy and integrity are unverified.

Among all the chains of transmission of this hadith, there is not a single established chain whose narrators’ integrity and accuracy are known; nor is the continuity of its chain known.

In the year of Khaybar, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“I shall surely give the banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, and whom Allah and His Messenger love.” (1)

Several Companions transmitted this, and their reports are found in the Sahīh, Sunan, and Musnad collections (2).

The hadith under discussion, however, appears in none of the authoritative hadith collections:

(* It was not narrated by the compilers of Sahīh collections (3), nor by the compilers of Sunan or Musnad collections at all (4). Rather, they all left it aside and disregarded it. How, then, could such a momentous event—which, if true, would be among the greatest, most widely known and manifest miracles—have occurred when it was not narrated by the compilers of Sahīh collections *) (5) and Musnad collections, nor transmitted by any Muslim scholar or hadith master, and is not known in any authoritative hadith collection!

The first chain was transmitted by al-Qatrī, from ‘Awn, from his mother, from (6) Asmā’ bint ‘Umays. Neither ‘Awn nor his mother is among those whose retentive accuracy and integrity are known, nor are they among