Authenticity and Ruling on Hadiths about Qutb and Abdal

❖ Investigative Review and Shar‘i Ruling on Narrations Regarding Qutb and Abdal ❖


Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1, Kitāb al-ʿAqāʾid, p. 85
Question:
Some individuals present Hadiths regarding the existence of Qutb and Abdal. Where are these Hadiths found, and what is their authenticity?

✿ Answer:​

Alḥamdulillāh, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:

① Narrations Concerning Abdal and Their Rulings​

In Sunan Abī Dāwūd (Kitāb al-Mahdī, Bāb 1, ḥadīth 4286) and Musnad Aḥmad (Vol. 2, p. 316), the following narration is mentioned:


"فَإِذَا رَأَى النَّاسُ ذَلِكَ أَتَاهُ أَبْدَالُ الشَّامِ وَعَصَائِبُ أَهْلِ الْعِرَاقِ فَيُبَايِعُونَهُ…"


"Then when the people will see that, the Abdal of Syria and the groups from Iraq will come and pledge allegiance to him..."


Ruling: This narration is weak (ḍaʿīf) because:
◈ There is tadlīs (concealment of the teacher's identity) in the chain from Qatādah, which weakens the narration.
◈ There is a narrator named Ṣāḥib Lahu who is unknown (majhūl).


In Musnad Aḥmad (Vol. 5, p. 322), another narration states:


"الأبدال في هذه الأمة ثلاثون…"
"There are thirty Abdal in this Ummah..."


Ruling: This narration was declared denounced (munkar) by Imām Aḥmad (رحمه الله), due to the following reasons:
◈ Narrator Ḥasan ibn Dhakwān was a severe mudallis and narrates using ʿanʿanah.
◈ ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Qays is a weak narrator.
◈ His meeting with ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit (RA) is not established.


In Musnad Aḥmad (Vol. 1, p. 112), another narration mentions:


"الأبدالُ يكونونَ بالشَّام…"
"The Abdal will be in Shām (Greater Syria)..."


Ruling: This narration is also weak, due to:
◈ Disconnection in the chain (inqiṭāʿ) — the meeting of Shurayḥ ibn ʿUbayd with ʿAlī (RA) is not established.
◈ Imām Ibn ʿAsākir (رحمه الله) also considered this narration disconnected (munqaṭiʿ).
(al-Ḥāwī lil-Fatāwī 2/242)

② Opinions of Hadith Scholars on Narrations of Qutb and Abdal​

Imām Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) wrote:





"ومن ذلك أحاديث الأبدال والأقطاب والأغواث والنقباء والنجباء والأوتاد كلها باطلة على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم"
“Among these are the ḥadīths about Abdal, Qutb, Aghwāth, Nuqabāʾ, Nujabāʾ, and Awtād – all of them are false and falsely attributed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”
(al-Manār al-Munīf, p. 136, Hadith 307)


—


ʿAllāmah Mullā ʿAlī Qārī (رحمه الله) echoed the same in al-Asrār al-Marfuʿah fī al-Akhbār al-Mawḍūʿah (p. 470).


—


Imām al-Suyūṭī (رحمه الله) attempted to prove the existence of Abdal by compiling narrations from Sayf ibn ʿUmar (a known liar/kadhdhāb), but his effort was unsuccessful.
(al-Ḥāwī lil-Fatāwī, Vol. 2, p. 242)


—


Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī (رحمه الله) rejected the authentication made by Imām al-Ḥākim by stating:


"بل موضوع"
“Rather, it is fabricated (mawḍūʿ).”

③ Mention of Abdal in a Saḥīḥ Mawqūf (Non-Prophetic) Narration​

al-Mustadrak of al-Ḥākim (Vol. 4, p. 553, ḥadīth 8658) contains a saḥīḥ mawqūf narration wherein:


ʿAlī (RA) said:


“There will be tribulations during which people will be tested like gold in a furnace. So do not revile the people of Shām, for among them are the Abdal. However, you may revile the tyrants among them…”


Ruling: This narration is authentic, but the term Abdal here refers to righteous and upright individuals — not the mystical Sufi ranks imagined to control the universe.

④ Conclusion​

✔ All marfūʿ (Prophetic) narrations regarding Qutb and Abdal are either weak (ḍaʿīf) or fabricated (mawḍūʿ).
✔ Some authentic non-Prophetic reports mention Abdal, but they refer only to righteous believers, not mystical or spiritual ranks as claimed in Sufi doctrine.
✔ The belief systems that claim Qutb and Abdal manage the cosmos are false and misleading, and have no basis in authentic Sharʿī evidence.


ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب