Two false hadiths fabricated by some ignorant people among those who exaggerate about the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is a human being, one of the sons of Adam, and he is the leader of the sons of Adam. He was not created from light (noor). Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Say (O Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)): “I am only a man like you. It has been revealed to me that your Ilaah (God) is One Ilaah (God — i.e. Allaah)”

[al-Kahf 18:110].

See also the answers to questions no. 4509 and 75395.

Secondly:

What you mentioned about the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) asking Jibreel (peace be upon him): “O Jibreel, how old are you?” and his saying, O Messenger of Allah, I do not know, but in the fourth covering, I saw a star shine once every seventy thousand years, and I saw this seventy-two thousand times. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: By the glory of my Lord, I was that star”,

this is false and there is no basis for it. It is something made up by some ignorant Sufis.

Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn as-Siddeeq al-Ghamaari (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

In some books of al-Mawlid an-Nabawi (books that speak of the Prophet’s Birth) it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah that he said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) asked Jibreel (peace be upon him): “O Jibreel, how old are you?”… And he quoted the hadith, then he said:

This is an abhorrent lie; may Allah punish those who fabricated it and made it up.

Murshid al-Haa’ir (p. 5)

Thirdly:

It was narrated by al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak (4228) and via him by al-Bayhaqi in Dalaa’il an-Nubuwwah (5/488), via ‘Abdullah ibn Muslim al-Fihri: Ismaa‘eel ibn Maslamah narrated to us: ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Zayd ibn Aslam informed us, from his father, from his grandfather, that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When Adam committed his sin, he said: ‘O Lord, I urge you by virtue of Muhammad to forgive me?’

“Allah said: ‘O Adam, how do you know Muhammad when I have not yet created him?’

“He said: ‘O Lord, because when You created me with Your own hand and breathed into me the soul that You created, I lifted my head and I read on the pillars of the Throne the words: Laa ilaaha ill-Allah, Muhammad Rasool Allah. And I know that You did not connect to Your name any but the most beloved of Your creation to You.’

“Allah said: ‘You have spoken the truth, O Adam. Verily he is indeed the most beloved of My creation to Me. Call upon Me by virtue of him, for I have forgiven you. Were it not for Muhammad I would not have created you.’”

Al-Haakim said, immediately after narrating this report: This is a hadith that has a saheeh isnaad, and it is the first hadith that I have narrated from ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Zayd ibn Aslam in this book. End quote.

But adh-Dhahabi rejected it saying: Rather it is fabricated (mawdoo‘).

‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Zayd ibn Aslam is matrook al-hadith (i.e., his hadith is to be rejected). As-Saaji said: He is munkar al-hadith (i.e., his hadith is not acceptable). At-Tahhaawi said: According to the scholars, his hadith is the ultimate in weakness. Al-Haakim and Abu Nu‘aym said: He narrated fabricated (mawdoo‘) hadiths from his father. Ibn al-Jawzi said: They are unanimously agreed that he is weak (da‘eef).

Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb (6/162)

Regarding ‘Abdullah ibn Muslim al-Fihri, adh-Dhahabi said: He narrated from Ismaa‘eel ibn Maslamah ibn Qa‘nab, from ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Yazeed ibn Salam a false report in which it says “O Adam, were it not for Muhammad, I would not have created you.”

Mizaan al-I‘tidaal (2/504). This is a reference to this hadith.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Al-Haakim’s narration of this hadith is something for which he is criticised, because he himself said in Kitaab al-Madkhal ila Ma‘rifat as-Saheeh min as-Saqeem: ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Zayd ibn Aslam narrated fabricated (mawdoo‘) hadiths from his father.

I say: ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Zayd ibn Aslam is weak (da‘eef) according to scholarly consensus. He made many mistakes. He was classed as weak (da‘eef) by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Zur‘ah, Abu Haatim, an-Nasaa’i, ad-Daaraqutni, and others. Abu Haatim ibn Hibbaan said: He used to mix up reports without realising to the extent that he narrated many mursal reports as marfoo‘ and narrated mawqoof reports as if they had complete isnaads.  Therefore he deserves to be rejected.

With regard to al-Haakim classifying this and similar hadiths as saheeh, this is something for which the leading scholars of hadith criticised him and said: al-Haakim classes hadiths as saheeh when they are mawdoo‘ (fabricated) and false according to the scholars of hadith. End quote.

Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (1/254).

So these two hadiths are false, and it is not permissible for the Muslim to attribute either of them to the Prophet ( blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), because this comes under the heading of telling lies about him, and telling lies about him is a major sin that incurs punishment.

And Allah knows best.