They will say: “Yes.” He will say: “How will you recognize Him when you have not seen Him?” They will reply: “He has no equal.” Then He will manifest Himself to us, laughing, and say: “Rejoice, O Muslims! There is not one of you for whom I have not assigned a Jew or a Christian to take his place in the Fire.”

I say: This chain of transmission is weak. I do not know this ʿUmārah, and its wording, “It became apparent to Allah,” is rejected. ʿAlī ibn Zayd—namely, Ibn Judʿān—had weak retention. Yet the hadith is authentic as a whole, for it has a supporting report from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, through Abū al-Zubayr, who heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh being asked about coming to the Fire. He replied:

“On the Day of Resurrection, we shall come to such-and-such a place—see which of those places is above the people. Then the nations will be summoned along with their idols and whatever they used to worship, one after another. Then our Lord will come to us and say: ‘Whom are you waiting for?’ They will reply: ‘We are waiting for our Lord, Exalted is He.’ He will say: ‘I am your Lord.’ They will reply: ‘Not until we look upon You.’ Then He will manifest Himself to them, laughing ...”

This was recorded by Muslim (1/122) and Aḥmad (3/383). Aḥmad also recorded another chain from Abū al-Zubayr, with similar wording, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, at (3/345).

I say: This shows that Ibn Judʿān did retain the hadith. As for the remainder of the hadith in Aḥmad, he recorded it at (4/391, 402, 410), and Muslim at (8/104), through other chains from Abū Burdah, with similar wording. The hadith also has a supporting report from Abū Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the wording:

“When Allah gathers the first and the last on the Day of Resurrection, the Lord will come to the believers and stand before them, while the believers are on an elevated mound. They asked ʿUqbah, ‘What is a mound?’ He replied, ‘An elevated place.’ He will say: ‘Will you recognize your Lord?’ They will reply: ‘If He makes Himself known to us, we shall recognize Him.’ Then He will ask them a second time, and He will laugh in their faces, whereupon they will fall prostrate before Him.”

756 — “When Allah gathers the first and the last on the Day of Resurrection, the Lord will come to the believers and stand before them, while the believers are on an elevated mound. They asked ʿUqbah, ‘What is a mound?’ He replied, ‘An elevated place.’ He will say: ‘Will you recognize your Lord?’ They will reply: ‘If He makes Himself known to us, we shall recognize Him.’ Then He will ask them a second time, and He will laugh in their faces, whereupon they will fall prostrate before Him.”