“Were it not for you, I would not have created the universe”

How sound is the hadith, that states, that it were not for Muhammad (saw) Allaah (swt) would not have created this world.could you shatter some light in the matter.

Praise be to Allaah.

Many false and fabricated haadeeth have been narrated that say similar things.

For example:

“Were it not for you, I would not have created the universe.”

This was quoted by al-Shawkaani in al-Fawaa’id al-Majmoo’ah fi’l-Ahaadeeth al-Mawdoo’ah (p. 326).

He said:

Al-San’aani said: (it is) mawdoo’ (fabricated).

Al-Albaani said in al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah (282): (it is) mawdoo’.

Another example is the hadeeth narrated by al-Haakim according to which Ibn ‘Abbaas said:

“Allaah revealed to ‘Eesa (Jesus, peace be upon him):

‘O ‘Eesa, believe in Muhammad, and tell whoever you meet of your ummah to believe in him. For were it not for Muhammad, I would not have created Adam, and were it not for Muhammad, I would not have created Paradise and Hell. I created the Throne over the water and it would not settle until I wrote on it, Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah Muhammad Rasool Allaah (There is no god but Allaah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah).”

Al-Haakim said: its isnaad is saheeh!

But al-Dhahabi commented on that and said:

I believe it is fabricated and falsely attributed to Sa’eed.

Meaning, Sa’eed ibn Abu ‘Aroobah (one of the narrators of this hadeeth). This hadeeth was narrated from him by ‘Amr ibn Aws al-Ansaari, who is the one who is accused of fabricating it. Al-Dhahabi mentioned him in al-Meezaan where he said: “He produced a munkar report,” then he quoted this hadeeth, and said, “I believe that it is mawdoo’ (fabricated).” Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar agreed with him, as it says in al-Lisaan.

Al-Albaani said in al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah (280): There is no basis for it.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:

Is the hadeeth which some people quote – “Were it not for you, Allaah would not have created the Throne or the Kursiy or the earth or the heavens or the sun or the moon or anything else” saheeh or nor?

He replied:

Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is the leader of the sons of Adam, and the best and noblest of creation, hence some people say that Allaah created the universe because of him, or that were it not for him, Allaah would not have created the Throne or the Kursiy or the earth or the heavens or the sun or the moon.

But this hadeeth that is narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is neither saheeh (sound) nor da’eef (weak), and it was not narrated by any scholar in a hadeeth from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Neither was it known from the Sahaabah. Rather it is the words of one who is unknown.

Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 11/86-96.

The Standing Committee was asked:

Can it be said that Allaah created the heavens and the earth for the purpose of creating the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? What is the meaning of the hadeeth, “Were it not for you the universe would not have been created,” and does this hadeeth have any basis?

They replied:

The heavens and the earth were not created for the sake of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), rather they were created for the purpose which Allaah mentions (interpretation of the meaning):

“It is Allaah Who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof (i.e. seven). His Command descends between them (heavens and earth), that you may know that Allaah has power over all things, and that Allaah surrounds all things in (His) Knowledge”

[al-Talaaq 65:12]

As for the hadeeth mentioned, it is falsely attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and has no sound basis.

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 1/312

Shaykh Ibn Baaz was asked about this hadeeth and said:

The answer is that this was transmitted from the words of some of the common people who have no understanding. Some people say that the world was created for the sake of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and were it not for Muhammad the world would not have been created and mankind would not have been created.

This is false and has no basis, and these are corrupt words. Allaah created the world so that He would be known and worshipped. He created the world and He created mankind so that His names and attributes, His power and knowledge, would be known and so that He alone would be worshipped with no partner or associate, and so that He would be obeyed – not for the sake of Muhammad or for the sake of Nooh or Moosa or ‘Eesa or any other Prophet. Rather Allaah created the universe so that He alone would be worshipped, with no partner or associate.

Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb, 46.

And Allaah knows best.

one who memorizes forty ahaadeeth is a weak hadeeth

Could you tell me if the ahadith about memorizing 40 of the Prophet (SAAS) sunnah and being admitted to paradise or raised with the scholars are authentic.

Praise be to Allaah.

1 – This hadeeth is da’eef (weak). Despite its large number of isnaads they do not support one another, and there are many different versions with different wordings, such as, “…Allaah will resurrect him on the Day of Resurrection among the fuqaha’ and scholars,” and “… Allaah will resurrect him a scholar and a faqeeh,” and “I will be an intercessor and a witness for him on the Day of Resurrection,” etc.

(a) al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said:

It was narrated by al-Hasan ibn Sufyaan in his Musnad and in his Arba’een, from the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas, and he narrated it from thirteen of the Sahaabah. It was narrated by Ibn al-Jawzi in al-‘Ilal al-Mutanaahiyah, and he explained that all of these ahaadeeth are da’eef. Ibn al-Mundhir discussed it in a separate volume, and I discussed it in the sixteenth chapter of al-Imla’. I mentioned all of its isnaads in one volume but there is not one isnaad that is free of faults.

Al-Talkhees al-Habeer, 3/93, 94.

(b) Ibn al-Mulaqqin said:

The hadeeth “Whoever preserves forty hadeeth for my ummah will be recorded as a faqeeh” was narrated via approximately twenty isnaads, all of which are da’eef (weak).

Al-Daaraqutni said: All its isnaads are da’eef and none of them are proven.

Al-Bayhaqi said: Its isnaads are weak.

Khalaasat al-Badr al-Muneer, 2/145

Al-Bayhaqi said:

This text is well known among the people but it has no saheeh isnaad.

Shu’ab al-Eemaan, 2/270

Al-Nawawi said:

The scholars of hadeeth are agreed that it is a weak hadeeth, although it has many narrations.

Muqaddimat al-Arba’een al-Nawawiyyah.

2 – We should note here that there are reports in the Sunnah which mention the virtue of listening to the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and conveying it, even if it is just one hadeeth.

It was narrated that Zayd ibn Thaabit said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say,

“May Allaah bless a man who hears a hadeeth from us and memorizes it so that he can convey it to others, for perhaps he is conveying it to one who will understand it better than him, and perhaps the one who conveys knowledge does not understand it himself.”

(Narrated and classed as hasan by al-Tirmidhi, 2656; also narrated by Abu Dawood. 3660; Ibn Maajah, 230).

Al-Mubaarakfoori said:

What is meant is that Allaah has singled him out for happiness and joy because of the knowledge with which He has blessed him and the status among people in this world and blessings in the Hereafter that he attains thereby, so that the joy and blessings are seen on his face. And it was suggested that the hadeeth indicates what happens to the person of joy and blessing that appears on his face.

Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 7/347, 348

And Allaah knows best.

The hadeeth “The sleep of the fasting person is worship” is weak

I heard a khateeb mention a hadeeth from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “The sleep of the fasting person is worship.” Is this hadeeth saheeh?.

Praise be to Allaah.

This hadeeth is not saheeh, and it is not proven from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

Al-Bayhaqi narrated in Shu’ab al-Eeman (3/1437) from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Abi Awfa (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“The sleep of the fasting person is worship, his silence is tasbeeh, his du’aa’ is answered and his good deeds will be multiplied.”

Its isnaad was classed as weak by al-Bayhaqi who said: Ma’roof ibn Hassaan (one of the men in the isnaad) is da’eef (weak) and Sulaymaan ibn ‘Amr al-Nakha’i is weaker than him.

Al-‘Iraqi said in Takhreej Ihya’ ‘Uloom al-Deen (1/310):

Sulaymaan al-Nakha’i is one of the liars.

It was classed as da’eef by al-Manaawi in Fayd al-Qadeer (9293) and it was mentioned by al-Albaani in Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth al-Da’eefah (4696) who said: It is da’eef.

What the Muslims should do in general – and this applies even more so to khateebs and daa’iyahs – is to verify reports before attributing a hadeeth to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

It is not permissible to attribute to him anything that he did not say. He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Telling a lie about me is not like telling a lie about anyone else. Whoever tells a lie about me deliberately, let him take his place in Hell.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (1391) and by Muslim in the introduction to his Saheeh (4).