Investigation of a Miʿrāj al-Nabī ﷺ Narration: Review of al-Mawāhib and Sermon Literature
📚 Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 445
Original Source of the Narration
In Islāmī Khuṭbāt by Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Salām Bastawī (vol. 1, p. 220, sermon no. 23), a narration is quoted from Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنه concerning the Miʿrāj of the Prophet ﷺ.
Narration (summary):
- The Prophet ﷺ was merged into light and passed through 70,000 veils, each different from the other, until all sounds of men and angels ceased.
- Feeling a sense of isolation, he heard a caller in the voice of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه saying: “Stop, your Lord is engaged in prayer.”
- The Prophet ﷺ expressed astonishment at two things:
- Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه seemingly preceding him,
- The idea of Allah being engaged in ṣalāh.
- Allah explained: His “prayer” meant mercy for the Prophet ﷺ and his Ummah, and that the voice was from an angel created in Abū Bakr’s likeness to remove his loneliness and prevent awe from hindering comprehension.
Chain Path:
Quoted in al-Mawāhib al-Ladunniyyah by al-Qasṭallānī (vol. 2, pp. 382–383) → from Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Ghālib → from Abū al-Rabīʿ ibn Sabʿ al-Sabtī’s book Shifāʾ al-Ṣudūr.
Status of Shifāʾ al-Ṣudūr
Ḥājjī Khalīfah (d. 1067 AH) in Kashf al-Ẓunūn (vol. 2, p. 1050) reports from the author of Mashāriʿ al-Ashwāq:
(wa awdaʿa) aḥādīthahu ʿarīyah ʿan al-isnād — “It contains aḥādīth devoid of chains of narration.”
This confirms Shifāʾ al-Ṣudūr is based on unsourced, unisnaded reports, making its narrations rejected and baseless.
Additional Notes
(1) Weak and Fabricated Reports in al-Mawāhib al-Ladunniyyah
Example from p. 378 (vol. 2):
A narration from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī رضي الله عنه via Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah by al-Bayhaqī (vol. 2, pp. 393–394):
“Then I ascended to the seventh heaven and found Ibrāhīm resting his back against al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr…”
Issue in Chain:
Contains Abū Hārūn ʿAmārah ibn Juwain al-ʿAbdī:
- Imām Ḥammād ibn Zayd: kadhdhāb (liar) (al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, 2/364 – authentic chain).
- Imām Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn: not trustworthy, lies (Suʾālāt Ibn al-Junayd, 1).
Ruling: The narration is fabricated.
(2) Weak and Fabricated Reports in Islāmī Khuṭbāt
Example:
“Ṭūbā lil-mukhliṣīn…” attributed to al-Bayhaqī (Shuʿab al-Īmān, 6861).
- Al-Albānī: Fabricated (Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb, 1/19; Silsilat al-Ḍaʿīfah, 5/252, no. 2225).
- Contains ʿUbaydah ibn Ḥassān:
- Ibn Ḥibbān: Narrated fabrications from trustworthy narrators (al-Majrūḥīn, 2/189).
- Abū Ḥātim: Munkar al-ḥadīth (al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, 6/92).
(3) Caution with Unreliable Sources
Books like Shifāʾ al-Ṣudūr and popular sermon compilations often contain fabricated or baseless narrations without isnād. Public reading without verification can mislead and cause religious corruption.
Conclusion
- The Miʿrāj narration in question is baseless, coming from an unsourced work and unsupported by any authentic chain.
- Both al-Mawāhib al-Ladunniyyah and Islāmī Khuṭbāt contain numerous weak, fabricated, and unverified narrations.
- Only authentic, sourced narrations should be relied upon in matters of creed and sīrah.
ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
