✦ Authenticity and Research on the Narration: "Kuntu Kanzan La Uʿraf" ✦
Derived from: Fatawa of the Scholars of Hadith, Volume 9
Is the narration “كُنتُ كنزًا لا أُعرَف…” a valid Hadith?
The narration:
"كُنتُ كنزًا لا أُعرَف، فأحببتُ أن أُعرَف، فخلقتُ خلقًا، فعرّفتهم بي، فبي عرفوني"
"I was a hidden treasure, and I desired to be known, so I created creation, and through Me they came to know Me”
is neither an authentic Hadith nor does it have any reliable chain of transmission attributed to the Prophet ﷺ.
✔ Imam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله stated:
“This is not the saying of the Prophet ﷺ, and I do not know of any authentic or weak chain for it.”
(Al-Fatawa al-Kubra, Vol. 5, p. 88; Majmuʿ al-Fatawa, Vol. 18, p. 122)
✔ Imam ʿAjlūnī رحمه الله included this statement in his work Kashf al-Khafāʾ (Vol. 2, p. 132), noting that:
Hafiz Ibn Hajar, Imam al-Zarkashi, and Imam al-Suyuti also confirmed that this is not a Hadith.
✔ Shaykh al-Albani رحمه الله said about it:
"Lā aṣla lahu" — “It has no basis.”
(Al-Silsilah al-Ḍaʿīfah, Vol. 1, p. 166)
The statement “Kuntu Kanzan La Uʿraf…” is not authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ. Scholars unanimously agree that it has no chain of narration, and it must not be referred to as a Hadith. Quoting it as a prophetic saying is incorrect and misleading.
وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
Derived from: Fatawa of the Scholars of Hadith, Volume 9
❖ Question:
Is the narration “كُنتُ كنزًا لا أُعرَف…” a valid Hadith?
❖ Answer:
The narration:
"كُنتُ كنزًا لا أُعرَف، فأحببتُ أن أُعرَف، فخلقتُ خلقًا، فعرّفتهم بي، فبي عرفوني"
"I was a hidden treasure, and I desired to be known, so I created creation, and through Me they came to know Me”
is neither an authentic Hadith nor does it have any reliable chain of transmission attributed to the Prophet ﷺ.
❖ Scholarly References:
✔ Imam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله stated:
“This is not the saying of the Prophet ﷺ, and I do not know of any authentic or weak chain for it.”
(Al-Fatawa al-Kubra, Vol. 5, p. 88; Majmuʿ al-Fatawa, Vol. 18, p. 122)
✔ Imam ʿAjlūnī رحمه الله included this statement in his work Kashf al-Khafāʾ (Vol. 2, p. 132), noting that:
Hafiz Ibn Hajar, Imam al-Zarkashi, and Imam al-Suyuti also confirmed that this is not a Hadith.
✔ Shaykh al-Albani رحمه الله said about it:
"Lā aṣla lahu" — “It has no basis.”
(Al-Silsilah al-Ḍaʿīfah, Vol. 1, p. 166)
❖ Summary:
The statement “Kuntu Kanzan La Uʿraf…” is not authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ. Scholars unanimously agree that it has no chain of narration, and it must not be referred to as a Hadith. Quoting it as a prophetic saying is incorrect and misleading.
وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
