بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Narration 1: of ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas’ūd
…Salamah al-Ahmar from Ash’ath ibn Tulīq from ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas’ūd who said:
بينا أنا عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أقرأ عليه حتى بلغت {عسى أن يبعثك ربك مقاما محمودا} قال يجلسني على العرش
“While I was with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) reciting to him until I reached {‘Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station’} he said: ‘He seats me upon the Throne (al-‘arsh).'” (al-‘Ulū of Al-Dhahabī #202)
Imām Al-Dhahabī said: “This is a rejected hadīth (hadīth munkar) – do not rejoice in it. This Salamah is abandoned in hadīth (matrūk al-hadīth) and Ash’ath did not meet Ibn Mas’ūd.” (al-‘Ulū pg. 94)
Salamah al-Ahmar:
Salamah ibn Sālih al-Ahmar al-Ju’fī, al-Kūfī.
He held the position of judge in Wāsit during the time of al-Rashīd. Ibn Ma’īn said: “Weak (da’īf)”, and he said: “Not trustworthy and reliable.” Al-Nasā’ī said: “Matrūk in hadīth”. And he said: “(He is) Weak (da’īf)”. Abū Dāwūd said: “(He is) Abandoned (matrūk) in hadīth.” al-Dāraqutnī said: “Weak” and he included him in “the weak and abandoned (narrators).” He died in the year 180H. – see Jāmi’ Likutub al-Du’afā wal-Matrukīn #5149.
Ash’ath ibn Tulīq [in al-Mīzan: “ibn Tābiq“]
Ibn Abī Hātim mentioned:
“982 – Ashʿath ibn al-Tulīq narrated from al-Hasan al-ʿUranī, Khallād ibn Muslim al-Saffār Abū Muslim narrated from him. He is counted among the people of Kūfah. I heard my father and Abū Zurʿah say that.
983 – Ashʿath ibn Tulīq al-Nahdī: He heard (from) Ibn ʿUmar, Ibn ʿUyaynah narrated from him. He is counted among the people of the Hijāz. I heard my father and Abū Zurʿah say that. ʿAbd al-Rahmān narrated to us, he said: My father mentioned it from Ishāq ibn Mansūr, from Yahyā ibn Maʿīn, that he said: Ashʿath ibn Tulīq al-Nahdī is trustworthy and reliable.” (Jarh wa Ta’dīl 2/200)
Ibn Hajr said: “He [Ibn Abī Hātim] differentiated between him and the first [Ashʿath] and did not mention authentication/praise nor disparagement/criticism regarding this one. And Allāh knows best.
In my view, they [both] are one [and the same person].” (Lisān al-Mīzān 2/201)
Al-Dhahabī said: “Ashʿath ibn Tābiq, (narrated) from Murrah al-Tayyib.
His hadīth is not sound said al-Azdī.
Then he [al-Azdī] cited for him the hadīth of Murrah from Ibn Masʿūd, who said: The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ), announced…
Then I saw that in the second part of the hadīth of Ahmad ibn Shabīb al-Hubtī… [isnād]…from Ashʿath ibn Tulīq, that he heard al-Hasan al-ʿArabī narrate more than once from Ibn Masʿūd, who said: Our Prophet and our beloved announced…” (Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 1/255).
Narration 2: of ‘Abdullāh ibn Salām
…Sa’īd al-Jurīrī from Sayf al-Sadūsī from ‘Abdullāh ibn Salām who said:
إذا كان يوم القيامة جيء بنبيكم صلى الله عليه وسلم فأقعد بين يدي الله على كرسيه فقلت للجريري يا أبا مسعود إذا كان على كرسيه أليس هو معه قال ويلكم هذا أقر حديث في الدنيا لعيني
“When it is the Day of Resurrection, your Prophet (ﷺ) will be brought and seated before Allāh upon His kursī.” So I said to al-Jurīrī: “O Abū Mas’ūd, if he is upon His kursī, is he not with Him?” He said: “Woe to you! This is the most beloved hadīth in the world to my eyes!” (al-‘Ulū of Al-Dhahabī #204 and #425, Kitāb al-Sunnah of Ibn Abī ‘Āsim ##786)
Imām Al-Dhahabī said: “This is stopped (mawqūf – statement of a companion) and its chain is not established.” (al-‘Ulū pg. 94)
Also weakened by Ibn Kathīr in al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 8/205.
Shaykh Al-Albānī said: “The narrators in its chain are trustworthy and reliable (thiqah) except for Sayf al-Sadūsī, whom I did not find [details in the biographical sources]. In his generation/class there is: Sayf Abū ‘Ā’id al-Sa’dī. He narrated from Yazīd ibn al-Barā’ (a Tābi’ī [Successor]). Al-Jurayrī narrated from him. Al-Bukhārī, Ibn Abī Hātim, and Ibn Hibbān wrote biographies of him, and he is among the unknown [narrators], so perhaps he is the one [in question], and it is possible that “al-Sadūsī” was a scribal error [corrupted] from “al-Sa’dī.” And Allah knows best.” (Takhrīj Kitāb al-Sunnah of Ibn Abī Āsim pg. 326)
Narration 3: of Ibn ‘Abbās
…from al-Dahhāk from Ibn ‘Abbās:
قوله تعالى {عسى أن يبعثك ربك مقاما محمودا} قال يقعده على العرش
regarding His saying, The-Most High: {‘Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station’}, he said: “He seats him upon the Throne (al-‘arsh).” (al-‘Ulū of Al-Dhahabī #204 and #329)
Imām Al-Dhahabī said: “Its chain is sāqit (fallen, i.e. very weak and not suitable for using as evidence nor for consideration), and this ‘Umar al-Rāzī is abandoned (matrūk) and in it is Juwaybar who has been spoken about (i.e. criticised).” (al-‘Ulū pg. 131)
‘Umar ibn Mudrik, Abū Hafs al-Qāss al-Rāzī:
Ibn Ma’īn said: “(he is) a liar (kadhdhāb).” (Mīzān 3/232)
Al-Dhahabī declared him weak in Mughnī fī al-Du’afā 2/128 and Dīwān al-Du’afā pg. 297.
Juwaybir ibn Sa’īd:
Ibn Hajr said in al-Taqrīb #1089: “(He is) very weak”.
Ibn Ma’īn said: “He is nothing”. Al-Nasā’ī said: “Abandoned.” al-Dāraqutnī said: “Abandoned.” Ibn Junayd said: “Abandoned.” (Tārīkh al-Dūrī 2/89, Mīzān 1/427, al-Du’afā 147)
Al-Dahhāk ibn Muzāhim
He was declared thiqah by Yahyā ibn Ma’īn in one narration, Ahmad, Abū Zur’ah, al-Ijlī (who said: “Thiqah, but he wasn’t a Tābi’ī”), al-Dāraqutnī, and included in al-Thiqāt by Ibn Hibbān (Dīwān al-Du’afā pg. 198, al-Mughnī 1/494, Mīzān 2/299, Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb 2/226-227)
from ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Maysarah, who said: I said to al-Dahhāk: “Did you hear anything from Ibn ‘Abbās?” He said: “No.” (Su’ālāt al-Bardhā’ī 1/385)
Mishshāsh, who said: “Al-Dahhāk did not hear anything from Ibn ‘Abbās.” (Su’ālāt al-Bardhā’ī 1/383)
Salm ibn Qutaybah, he said: Shu’bah narrated to me, he said: I said to al-Mishshāsh: “Did al-Dahhāk hear from Ibn ‘Abbās?” He said: “No, not even a word.” [al-Du’afā’ al-‘Uqaylī 3/141)
‘Alī Ibn al-Madīnī said: “Shu’bah would not narrate from him, and he used to deny that he [al-Dahhāk] ever met Ibn ‘Abbās.” ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Maysarah said: “He did not meet Ibn ‘Abbās. He only met Sa’īd ibn Jubayr and took Quranic commentary (tafsīr) from him in al-Rayy.” Ibn ‘Adī said: “Al-Dahhāk is known for [Quranic] commentary (tafsīr). As for his narration from Ibn ‘Abbās, Abū Hurayrah, and all those he narrated from, there is an issue with that (i.e. that requires examination).” (Mukhtasar al-Kāmil pg. 435)
Ibn Abī Hātim said, from his father: “He narrated from Abū Sa’īd, but it is not authentic, and [from] Ibn ‘Abbās, but it is not authentic.” Abū Hātim ibn Hibbān said in the book al-Thiqāt [The Trustworthy Narrators]: “He met a group of the Successors (tābi’īn) but did not directly encounter any of the Companions. Whoever claims that he met Ibn ‘Abbās has erred.” (al-Iktifā’ fī Tanqīh Kitāb al-Du’afā’ 1/469)
Al-Khalīlī said: “He did not hear from Ibn ‘Abbās, the scholars of Kūfah said: He heard it from Ikrimah during the time of al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd.” (al-Irshād pg. 134)
The above narration was also collected by al-Khallāl #295 in al-Sunnah via: Muhammad ibn Bishr ibn Sharīk. Al-Dhahabī said: “he is not reliable.” and Ahmad ibn al-Faraj, and ‘Ubādah ibn Abī Rawq al-Hamadānī who are unknown. And al–Dahhāk from Ibn ‘Abbās – see the verifiers comments on Kitāb al-‘Ulū 2/797, Dār al-‘Aqīdah)
Also collected by al-Tabarānī in “al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr” #12474 via Abdullāh ibn Sālih, ‘Abdullāh ibn Laī’ah, Atā ibn Dīnār, Sa’īd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbās:
أَنَّهُ قَالَ فِي قَوْلِ اللَّهِ : ﴿ عَسَى أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا تَحَمُودًا ، قَالَ : يُجْلِسُهُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ جِبْرِيلَ ، وَيَشْفَعُ لِأُمَّتِهِ ،فَذَلِكَ الْمَقَامُ الْمَحْمُودُ.
he said: “He will seat him between Himself and Jibrīl, and he will intercede for his nation (ummah), and that is the praised station (al-maqām al-mahmūd).”
Declared weak by al-Haythamī who said: “in it is Ibn Lahī’ah, who is weak when not corroborated, and ‘Atā’ ibn Dīnār—it is said: he did not hear from Sa’īd ibn Jubayr.”
The verifier commented on the above, saying: “Abdullāh ibn Sālih and Ibn Lahī’ah are both weak, and the narration of ‘Atā’ ibn Dīnār from Sa’īd ibn Jubayr is a written document and not a direct hearing.” (Majma al-Zawāid 14/236, Dār al-Minhāj)
Abdullāh ibn Sālih
Abdullāh ibn Lahī’ah
[There are also other similar narrations attributed to a group of sahābah, such as Ibn ‘Umar, ‘Āishah and others.
Qādī Abū Ya’lā mentions after narrating some of those narrations:
“…Abū Bakr (al-Najjād) said: I asked Abū Muhammad (Yahyā) ibn Sāʿid about (the hadith of) ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn ʿUmar from Nāfiʿ from Ibn ʿUmar from the Prophet (ﷺ) regarding His saying: “Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station” [al-Isrāʾ: 79]. He said: “He will seat me upon the Throne (al-ʿArsh).” He (Ibn Sāʿid) said: This is a fabricated (mawdūʿ) hadīth, it has no basis (asl). And as for the hadith of Yazīd ibn Hārūn from the Prophet (ﷺ) regarding His saying: “Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station” [al-Isrāʾ: 79], he said: “He will seat me with Him upon the Throne (al-ʿArsh)” – (he said, it is) a fabricated (mawdūʿ) hadīth, it has no basis (asl)….
Abū Bakr al-Najjād said: I asked Abū Bakr al-Bāghundī and he said: All these hadīths are false (bātilah), they are not preserved, except the narration of Mujāhid. And I asked Abū Ishāq ibn Jābir and Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn Surayj and Abū ʿAlī ibn Khayrān and Abū Jaʿfar ibn al-Wakīl and Abū al-Tayyib ibn Salamah, and each wrote with his (own) hand: that these hadīths have no basis, except what Ibn Fudayl narrated from Layth from Mujāhid.
Abū Bakr al-Najjād said: And he (Ibn Sāʿid) wrote to Abū Muhammad ibn ʿAbdān, and to Abū Yaʿlā, and to Abū Zakariyyā ibn Yahyā al-Sājī, and to Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Makram, and to Sahl ibn Nūh al-Basrī, and to Abū Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Marwazī, and to Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Sarrāj, and to Muhammad ibn Ishāq ibn Khuzaymah. And their letters (were) with (different) wordings but all of them (conveyed) one (message): that whoever narrates these hadīths should seek Allāh’s forgiveness, The Mighty and Majestic, for they are false (bātilah) and have no basis (asl), except what Muhammad ibn Fudayl narrated from Layth from Mujāhid. Except that Muhammad ibn Ishāq ibn Khuzaymah said: Whoever narrated from Ibn Masʿūd and from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, then he has narrated lies and falsehoods from the Prophet (ﷺ). And whoever deliberately narrates lies from the Prophet enters into the threat of the Prophet (in the hadīth): “Whoever lies about us deliberately, then let him take his seat in the Fire.”
Abū Bakr al-Najjād said: And all who wrote to me from the scholars of Hadīth according to this explanation said: And what I say regarding whoever narrated these hadīths: If he does not know their source, it was upon him to ask the people of knowledge. So when they inform him and make him aware it becomes obligatory upon him to reject them. So whoever narrates them after the scholars’ rejection, enters into the saying of the Prophet (ﷺ): “Whoever lies about me deliberately, then let him take his seat in the Fire.” (Abridged, Ibtāl al-Ta’wilāt pg. 529-531)
Shaykh ul-Islām ibn Taymiyyah said: “And al-Qādī Abū Yaʿlā authored his book Ibtāl al-Taʾwīl (The Refutation of Misinterpretation) as a response to the book of Ibn Fūrak. And he (Abū Yaʿlā), even though he provided chains of transmission for the hadīths he mentioned and mentioned who narrated them, in them are several fabricated hadīths, like the hadīth of direct visual seeing on the night of the Ascension (al-Miʿrāj) and the like.
And in them are things from some of the Salaf which some people narrated as raised (to the Prophet), like the hadīth of the seating of the Messenger (ﷺ) upon the Throne (al-ʿArsh). Some people narrated it through many chains as raised (to the Prophet), and they are all fabricated (mawdūʿah).” (Dar al-Ta’ārud 5/237)]
Narration 4: of Mujāhid
{عسى أن يبعثك ربك مقاما محمودا} قال يجلسه أو يقعده على العرش
… from Mujāhid [regarding the verse]: {‘Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station’}, He said: “He seats him” or “He makes him sit upon the Throne (al-‘arsh).”
Imām Al-Dhahabī said: “This statement has numerous/five routes and Ibn Jarīr extracted it in his Tafsīr.” (al-‘Ulū pg. 124)
Imām Al-Dhahabī also said: “I say: This [narration of the Prophet seating on the throne] is famous/well-known from the statement of Mujāhid and is narrated as elevated [to the Prophet (ﷺ)] (marfū’an), but it is false (bātil, i.e. like the fabricated hadīth).” (al-‘Ulū pg. 131)
Yahyā ibn ‘Abd al-Hamīd al-Himmānī Abū Zakariyyā al-Kūfī:
Al-Bukhārī said: “Ahmad and ‘Alī used to speak (critically) about him.” And Ibn Numayr and Ahmad said: “a liar (kadhdhāb).” And al-Nasā’ī said: “weak.” (Jāmi Li-Kutub al-Du’afā #14257)
Layth ibn Abī Sulaym:
Yahyā ibn Ma’īn said: “(He is) weak.” Ahmad said: “(He is) confused in hadīth.” ‘Uthmān ibn Abī Shaybah said: “He is trustworthy, truthful but he isn’t used as proof.” (Jāmi Li-Kutub al-Du’afā #10834)
Abū Hātim said: “Weak in hadīth.” Abū Zurʿah said: “Soft (weak) in hadīth, proof cannot be established by him according to the people of knowledge of hadīth.” Al-Jūzajānī said: “His hadīth is weakened.” (see al-‘Ilal 1/24, Jarh wa Ta’dīl 7/177, al-Kāmil 6/87 and Jāmi Li-Kutub al-Du’afā #10834)
Al-Nasā’ī said: “(He is) weak.” (al-Du’afā of al-Nasāʾī #541)
Al-Dāraqutnī said: “He is not strong.” (al-‘Ilal 6/21)
Ibn Hazm said: “(He is) weak.” (Jarh wa al-Ta’dīl of Ibn Hazm pg. 222)
Ibn al-Qattān said: “Layth is weak.” (Bayān al-Wahm 3/549)
Ibn Hajr said: “Truthful, (but) suffered mental confusion in his later (years), and his hadīth could not be distinguished, so (he was) abandoned.” (Taqrīb #6382)
Al-Albānī said: “Al-Manāwī said: “…and al-Tirmidhī himself constantly weakened him and considered (narrations) weak because of him”….Al-Bayhaqī said: “…he cannot be used as proof…” Ibn al-Jawzī said: “Ahmad and others abandoned him.” And Ibn Hibbān said: “He suffered mental confusion at the end of his life, so he would invert chains of transmission and elevate the mursal…”. Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī said in Al-Sārim al-Munkī (p. 63): “(he is) Weak, it is not permissible to use (him) as proof.” Al-Tahāwī said: “Even if he was from the people of virtue, his narration is not considered strong according to the people of knowledge.”
(Al-Albānī continues)… It became clear that the Imāms (of Jarh and Ta’dīl) are in consensus on his weakness, and his being trustworthy in himself (i.e. Truthful) does not remove from him the weakness with which he was described with…” (Mu’jam Asāmī al-Ruwāt 3/491-499)
Imām Al-Dhahabī also said: “As for the issue of seating our Prophet upon the Throne (al-‘Arsh), no text is established regarding that.” (al-‘Ulū 2/944)
Imām Al-Albānī declared the narration as Bātil (false) in al-Da’īfah 865 saying: “What indicates this is that it is established in the authentic [hadīth] that the praiseworthy station (al-maqām al-mahmūd) is the general intercession (al-shafā’ah al-‘āmmah) specific to our Prophet.”
In his checking of Mukhtasar al-‘Ulū pg. 191-192, Al-Albānī said: “And even if the (narration) were authentic as mursal (a statement of a Tābi’ī), there would be no proof in it…is the mursal hadīth anything except from the categories of weak hadīth according to the muhaddithīn (scholars of Hadīth)? So how can a virtue be established by it?! Rather, how can a creed be built upon it that Allāh, The Most-High seats His Prophet with Him upon the Throne?!”
Imām ibn ‘Abdul-Barr said: “Upon this (interpretation) are the people of knowledge regarding the interpretation of Allāh’s saying, The Mighty and Majestic: “Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station” – that it is (a reference to the) intercession (al-shafā’ah).
It has been narrated from Mujāhid that the praised station (al-maqām al-mahmūd) is that He (Allāh) will seat him with Him on the Day of Resurrection upon the Throne (al-‘Arsh).
This [statement], in their view, is rejected (munkar) as an interpretation of this verse.
What the community of scholars from the Companions, the Successors (al-Tābi’īn), and those after them among the later generations (al-khālifīn) hold is that the praised station is the station in which he intercedes for his community (ummah).
It has also been narrated from Mujāhid similar to what the community holds regarding this, so it became a consensus (ijmā’) in the interpretation of the verse among the people of knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah.
Ibn Abī Shaybah mentioned, from Shabāba, from Warqā’, from Ibn Abī Najīh, from Mujāhid regarding His saying: “Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station,” he said: The intercession of Muhammad (ﷺ).” (al-Tamhīd 11/671-672)
Imām ibn ‘Abdul-Barr also said in another place: “There is no one among the scholars except that his statements are taken and left, except the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ).
Mujāhid, even though he was one of the foremost in knowledge of the interpretation (ta’wīl) of the Qur’ān, has two statements regarding the interpretation of two verses that are abandoned by scholars and avoided by them.
One of them (is) this, and the other (is) his statement regarding Allāh’s saying, The Mighty and Majestic: “Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station” [al-Isrā’: 79]. Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allāh narrated to us, he said: Abū Umayya al-Tarsūsī narrated to us, he said: ‘Uthmān ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us, he said: Muhammad ibn Fudayl narrated to us, from Layth, from Mujāhid: “Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station,” he said: (Allāh) will widen (the space) for him on the Throne and seat him with Him*.
This is a statement contrary to the community of Companions and those after them. What the scholars hold regarding the interpretation of this verse is that the praised station (al-maqām al-mahmūd): (is) the intercession (al-shafā’ah).”
*The verifier commented on this statement of Mujāhid and said: “[extracted]…through various chains from Muhammad ibn Fudayl, with it (the same chain). The chain of transmission (isnād) of this report is weak, because its basis (madār) is on Layth, and he is Ibn Abī Sulaym – and he has uniquely narrated it from Mujāhid, and Layth’s memory had deteriorated, and he was contradicted by one who is more virtuous than him and more reliable, and that is Ibn Abī Najīh, who narrated from Mujāhid that the praised station is the intercession of the Prophet (ﷺ).
Likewise Ibn Jurayj narrated from Mujāhid the same (interpretation). Al-Tabarī extracted it 15/144, and this interpretation is more (correct) as al-Tabarī said, due to its agreement with what is established as elevated (marfū’) from (the Prophet ﷺ) that the praised station (refers to) intercession. (al-Tamhīd of Ibn ‘Abdul-Barr 5/170, al-Furqān print)
Hāfidh Ibn Kathīr said: “…And Layth ibn Abī Sulaym, Abū Yahyā al-Qattāt, ʿAtāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, and Jābir al-Juʿfī narrated from Mujāhid that he said in the interpretation (tafsīr) of al-Maqām al-Mahmūd: “That He (Allāh) will seat him with Himself upon the Throne.”
And something similar to this was narrated from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, and Abū Bakr al-Marwazī compiled a large volume about it. And he and others narrated it from more than one of the predecessors (al-Salaf) and the people of hadīth, such as Ahmad and Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh and many others. And Ibn Jarīr said: “This is something that neither the one who affirms it nor the one who denies it can reject.” And al-Hāfidh Abū al-Hasan al-Dāraqutnī versified it in a poem of his [note that the chain of narration to al-Dāraqutnī regarding the attribution of this poem was weakened by Al-Albānī in al-Da’īfah 2/256 – in the chain is Ibn Kidāsh who was a liar and would openly fabricate narrations].
I say (i.e. Ibn Kathīr): The like of this should not be accepted except from an infallible one (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ)), and no hadīth has been authentically established regarding this that can be relied upon or turned to for its sake. And the statement of Mujāhid and others regarding this—that it is al-Maqām al-Mahmūd—is not a proof by itself. And likewise, what was narrated from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām is not authentic. However, a group from among the people of hadīth received it with acceptance, though its chain of narration (isnād) to Ibn Salām is not authentic. And Allāh, The Perfect and Most-High, knows best to what is correct.” (al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 8/204-205)
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