Authored by: Hafiz Muhammad Anwar Zahid (ḥafiẓahullāh)
“The Prophet ﷺ performed actions while still in the cradle.”
In Ibn Sabʿ’s Khaṣāʾiṣ, it is mentioned:
“Angels used to rock his cradle, and the first words that emerged from his blessed tongue were:
Al-ḥamdu lillāhi kabīran, wal-ḥamdu lillāhi kathīran.”
Furthermore, Ibn ʿĀʾid and others have reported in various Mawlid books that the Prophet ﷺ also said:
“Lā ilāha illā Allāh, yā jalāla rabbī al-rafīʿ.”
✔ If the reference is to al-Wāqidī’s al-Maghāzī, then:
The printed edition from Calcutta (India), which is presently available for verification, contains no such report.
✔ Even if such a narration had been found:
Al-Wāqidī is a discredited narrator.
Many hadith scholars, including:
have declared al-Wāqidī to be a liar (kadhdhāb) or rejected (matrūk).
✔ These authors are from later generations (mutaʾakhkhirīn)
✔ They are known for lack of scrutiny in sourcing and carelessness in transmission
None of these narrations are traceable to reliable classical sources from the early authorities of hadith or seerah.
✔ It is unknown where they obtained such statements from.
The narrations about:
are:
Therefore, such reports cannot be accepted as authentic and hold no weight in Islamic scholarship based on hadith methodology.
❖ The Reported Miracles
Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar in Fatḥ al-Bārī (Vol. 2, p. 344) references al-Wāqidī’s Sīrah, stating that:“The Prophet ﷺ performed actions while still in the cradle.”
In Ibn Sabʿ’s Khaṣāʾiṣ, it is mentioned:
“Angels used to rock his cradle, and the first words that emerged from his blessed tongue were:
Al-ḥamdu lillāhi kabīran, wal-ḥamdu lillāhi kathīran.”
Furthermore, Ibn ʿĀʾid and others have reported in various Mawlid books that the Prophet ﷺ also said:
“Lā ilāha illā Allāh, yā jalāla rabbī al-rafīʿ.”
❖ Ḥadīth Authentication
◈ Regarding
✔ If the reference is to al-Wāqidī’s al-Maghāzī, then:
The printed edition from Calcutta (India), which is presently available for verification, contains no such report.
✔ Even if such a narration had been found:
Al-Wāqidī is a discredited narrator.
Many hadith scholars, including:
- Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
- Imām al-Bukhārī
- Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn
- Ibn Ḥibbān
have declared al-Wāqidī to be a liar (kadhdhāb) or rejected (matrūk).
◈ Regarding
✔ These authors are from later generations (mutaʾakhkhirīn)
✔ They are known for lack of scrutiny in sourcing and carelessness in transmission
None of these narrations are traceable to reliable classical sources from the early authorities of hadith or seerah.✔ It is unknown where they obtained such statements from.
❖ Conclusion
The narrations about:- Angels rocking the cradle
- The Prophet ﷺ speaking phrases of praise or tawḥīd in infancy
- Any miraculous behavior in the cradle
are:
- Absent from early, reliable sources
- Untraceable to authentic chains
- Attributed through late and unreliable authors
- Based on fabricated or unverifiable content
Therefore, such reports cannot be accepted as authentic and hold no weight in Islamic scholarship based on hadith methodology.
