Ibn Taymiyya said in his book “al-qaida al-jaleela fit- tawwasali wal-waseela“, with commentary of Dr. Rabi`a bin Hadi `Umayr al-Mudkhali, professor in the Islamic University of Madinah al-Munawwara, on page 166, para 493:
روى ابن تيمية حديثين في هذا الموضوع عن توسل آدم عليه السلام بسيد السادات سيدنا روسل الله محمد عليه افضل الصلاة واتم التسليم عن عبد الرحمن بن زيد بن اسلم عن ابيه عن عمر بن الخطاب قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : لما اصاب آدم الخطيئة رفع رأسه فقال : يا رب , بحق محمد الا غفرت لي . فأوحى الله تعالى لآدم ومن محمد وهو تعالى اعلم ,فقال آدم يا رب انك لما اتممت خلقي رفعت رأسي الى عرشك فاذا مكتوب : لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله , فعلمت انه اكرم خلقك عليك اذ قرنت اسمه باسمك فقال : نعم قد غفرت لك وهو آخر الانبياء من ذريتك ولولاه ما خلقتك يا آدم .
“…and like that is the hadith that is narrated by `Abd ar-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam from his father from his grandfather from `Umar ibn al-Khattaab (ra), marfu’an and mawqufan `alayh, that when Adam (as) has committed the sin, he said, ‘O Lord! I ask you for the sake of Muhammad [bi haqqi Muhammad] to forgive me.’ He subhanahu wa ta`ala said, ‘How did you know Muhammad?’ He said, ‘because when you created me with Your Hands and blew into me from Your Spirit, I raised my head and I saw on the legs of Your Throne written, ‘laa ilaha ill-Allah Muhammadu Rasulullah’ so I knew You would not put next to your name except the one who is the most beloved to You.’ He said, ‘you have said the truth, O Adam, and if it were not for him [Muhammad], I would not have created you.'” [law laa huwa maa khalaqtuk ya Adam].
And Ibn Taymiyya continues:
“And this hadith is narrated by al-Haakim in his Mustadrak, from the hadith of `Abdillah bin Muslim al-FiHree, from Isma`il bin Salama. And Haakim said, ‘and it is the first hadith I have mentioned from `Abdur-Rahman in this book. And Haakim says that it is sahih. And it is related by Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Aajuri, in the book ‘ash-Shari’ah‘ mawqufan on ‘Umar from hadith ‘Abdillah bin Isma`il bin Abi Maryam mawqufan from `Abdur Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam.”
And we see here that Ibn Taymiyya is here presenting a hadith that was verified and certified by al-Haakim as authentic [sahih] and that is the hadith which related from Allah that “If not for Muhammad I would not have created you [O Adam]”. And this opposes the many objections to such hadith like the similar hadith of Jaabir which is related about Allah that he said, “law laak maa khalaqtu ‘l-khalq” – “If not for you [O Muhammad] I would not have created any of the Creation.”
Ibn Taymiyya now goes into a lengthy discussion of the authenticity of the hadith which he just stated was authentic according to al-Haakim. He attempts, through various arguments and demonstrations by way of similar cases, that this hadith is weak because al-Haakim is not as strong as some other scholars. Let us examine here some of his arguments.
And on page 172, para 506 Ibn Taymiyya says, in support of his reasoning for weakening the sahih hadith of al-Haakim:
“Muslim has narrated that ‘Allah has created soil on Saturday’. And some people who have more knowledge than him disputed that, like Yahya ibn Ma`een and Bukhari and others and they clarified that this was wrong and it was not the words of the Prophet (saws). And the proof is with them, because it has been proved by the Book and the Sunnah and the Consensus [ijma`a] that Allahu ta`ala has created the heavens and earth in six days and His last creation was Adam and his creation was on Friday. And this hadith that has been disagreed upon indicates that He created that in seven days. And it has been narrated a more authentic isnaad than this that the beginning of creation was on Sunday.”
Regarding Ibn Taymiyya’s Statement regarding the hadith of Yahya bin Ma’een
It is important to note that in the footnote on this paragraph, by Dr. Rabi`a bin Hadi `Umayr al-Mudkhali, professor in the Islamic University of Madinah al-Munawwara, says,“I could not find the words of Yahya bin Ma`een about this hadith after I researched it.”
The professor gives another footnote about this, saying: “al-Bukhari in al-Taarikh al-Kabeer, 1/1/413/414, in the biography of Ayyub ibn Khalid, ‘and Isma`il ibn Ummayya narrated from Ayyub ibn Khalid al-Ansaari from `Abdullah ibn Raf`i from Abi Hurayrah (ra) from the Prophet (saws) said, “khalaq-Allahu at-turbata yawm as-sabt” – [“Allah created soil on Saturday”]’. And some of them relate it from Abi Hurayrah from Ka`b and that is more authentic”
Finally, Dr. Rabi`a bin Hadi `Umayr al-Mudkhali gives a third footnote, saying: “I did not find a hadith marfu` that is an exact quote that the beginning of creation was on Sunday. But there are aathar from Ibn `Abbas, Ibn Mas`ud and `Abdullah ibn Sallaam that have been mentioned by Ibn Jareer in his Tareekh, 1/47. And the athar of Ibn `Abbas and Ibn Mas`ud, in it there is Isma`il ibn `Abdur Rahman as-Saddi, trustworthy? but he was accused of being Shi`i. And regarding the athar of Ibn Sallaam, in its isnad Abu Ma`ashar, Najeeh bin `Abdur Rahman as-Sindi is weak [da`eef] and in it `Abdullah ibn Saalih. I did not know who he is, and I think he is the writer of Layth, and if he is then he is weak [da`eef]….”
Here we see that Ibn Taymiyya is building a house of cards in order to prove that the hadith of al-Haakim “law laa Muhammadan maa khalaqtuk” is weak, through a series of Byzantine arguments whose major foundation here is seen to be without support. And this is to be seen in a major scholar to be a tremendous weakness and serious indication of corruption, and Allah knows best.
We see here that Ibn Taymiyya states that Muslim was wrong based on the fact that “those more knowledgable than him” disputed it, starting with Yahya bin Ma`een. SURPRISE THOUGH IT MAY BE, we find that YAHYA BIN MA`EEN DID NOT SPEAK AGAINST THIS HADITH AT ALL!!!
Ibn Taymiyya then tries to show that A HADITH NARRATED BY Imam Muslim was rejected by other scholars, “more knowledgable than him” and that the hadith Muslim narrated as sahih is not so, because Bukhari rejected it. We THEN FIND that in fact, Bukhari NARRATED IT HIMSELF.
On the contrary, the “hadith” “that the beginning of creation was on Sunday” which Ibn Taymiyya tries to use to support his argument AGAINST the hadith “Allah created soil on Saturday” is in fact no hadith at all but is an athar with no verifiable authenticity! And these are the words of a Wahabi muhaqqiq!
Now in a further footnote to this discussion of Ibn Taymiyya, on the hadith of Muslim by the Professor Rabi`a in which he says, “It was narrated by Muslim in the book ‘description of hypocrites and the laws relating to them’/chapter ‘the beginning of Creation’ hadith 27, and Ahmad 2/327, and Ibn Ma’een in at-Tareekh, 3/52 and Bayhaqi in‘al-‘asma was-siffaat‘, page 364.”
Here again we see how Ibn Taymiyya was using misleading arguments against Imam Muslim. Here it is clearly related by Ibn Ma`een, whereas Ibn Taymiyya said, “And some people who have more knowledge than him disputed that, like Yahya ibn Ma`een…”
Subhanallah! How much could a man have hated the Prophet (saws) so much to go to such deceitful lengths to weaken a hadith which honors the Prophet (saws) so magnificently, and showing that tawassul through him is acceptable!!!
