Baseless Mi'raj al-Nabi ﷺ Narration in al-Mawahib and Sermon Literature

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:
  
  1. Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه seemingly preceding him,
  2. 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