This is a small survey on the hadeeth: ‘Allah created 3 (and in another transmission ‘4’) things with His Hand\u2026’ It seems that there is a small error in one of the books that cite this hadeeth, and I hope by this survey we can clear up where that discrepancy may have occurred. <\/p>\n
A brother asked me about the hadeeth originally as it is cited in ‘Aqeedat ul-Wasiteeyah<\/em> by ‘Ibn Taymeeyah. It is as follows:<\/p>\n And in a hadeeth of ‘Abd Allah bin ‘Amrw: {Indeed Allah, Lofty and Exalted is He, created 3 things with His Hand: He created ‘Aadam with His Hand, He wrote the Tawraah with His Hand, and He planted the Garden of ‘Adn with His Hand}.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The verifier and checker of the book, ‘Alawee bin ‘Abd al-Qaadir as-Saqaaf placed the following notes for this passage:<\/p>\n Ad-Daaraqutnee transmitted it in as-Sifaat<\/em> (p. 45) with the verification of al-Faqeehee. And al-Bayhaqee in al-‘Asmaa’ was-Sifaat<\/em> (p. 403); from the hadeeth of al-Haarith bin Nawfal raised to the Prophet, ‘alayhis salaatu was-Salaam.<\/p>\n And it is sound on authority of ‘Ibn ‘Umar, Allah be pleased with him, that he said:<\/p>\n Allah created 4 things with His Hand: the Throne, the Pen, ‘Aadam, and the Garden of ‘Adn. Then He said to the rest of creation: ‘Be’. Thus it was.<\/p>\n Ath-Thahabee said in al-‘Uluuw<\/em>: ‘Its chain is good (Jayyad)’.<\/p>\n Al-‘Albaanee said in Mukhtasar al-‘Uluuw<\/em> (p. 105): ‘Its chain is authentic upon the conditions of Muslim’.- end quote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So we have 2 issues here. 1) The text of ‘Aqeedat ul-Wasiteeyah<\/em> attributes to ‘Abd Allah bin ‘Amrw the statement of ‘3 things’ that Allah created with His Hand, and I believe this addition of ‘waw’ to the name to be a mistake, rather it is ‘Abd Allah bin ‘Umar. 2) The report of ‘Ibn ‘Umar says ‘4 things’, not ‘3’.<\/p>\n If we look at the source texts for the narrations involved, we find out a few more things.<\/p>\n First, let’s look at the original narration of ‘Ibn ‘Umar:<\/p>\n Al-Mustadrak<\/em> by al-Haakim<\/p>\n #3202- Shaykh ‘Abu Bakr bin ‘Ishaaq narrated to us, Muhammad bin Reeh as-Samaak informed us, Yazeed bin Haaruun narrated to us, Sufyaan bin Sa’eed informed us, on authority of ‘Ubayd al-Kaatib al-Maktab, on authority of Mujaahid, on authority of ‘Ibn ‘Umar, Allah be pleased with him, he said:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n “Allah created 4 things with His Hand: The Throne, the Garden of ‘Adn, ‘Aadam, and the Pen; and He was veiled from the creation with 4: Fire, darkness, light, and darkness”.<\/p>\n (Al-Haakim comments): This narration is authentic of chain and neither of the two came out with it.- end quote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mukhtasar al-‘Uluuw<\/em> by al-‘Albaanee<\/p>\n (Authentic) on authority of Mujaahid, he said, ‘Abd Allah bin ‘Umar said: “the hadeeth without the additional wording”.- end quote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Al-‘Asmaa’ was-Sifaat<\/em> by al-Bayhaqee<\/p>\n #677- Muhammad bin ‘Abd Allah al-Haafith reported to us, ‘Abu Bakr bin ‘Ishaaq narrated to us, Muhammad bin Rabih as-Samaak narrated to us, Yazeed bin Haaruun narrated to us, Sufyaan bin Sa’eed narrated to us, on authority of ‘Ubayd al-Maktab, on authority of Muhaahid, on authority of ‘Ibn ‘Umar, Allah be pleased with him, he said: “the hadeeth, with the addition”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n (Al-Bayhaqee comments): This stops at ‘Ibn ‘Umar, and the veil is attributed to the creation not the Creator.- end quote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So we have ad-Daaraqutnee and ath-Thahabee reporting the narration of ‘Ibn ‘Umar without the added words, and this is what has been deemed as authentic, while al-Haakim and al-Bayhaqee reported the narration with the addition, with al-Haakim also authenticating the chain and al-Bayhaqee declaring it cut-off at the level of ‘Ibn ‘Umar.<\/p>\n Now let us take a look at the hadeeth of ‘Abd Allah bin al-Haarith bin Nawfal:<\/p>\n As-Sifaat<\/em> by ad-Daaraqutnee<\/p>\n #26- al-Hasan bin ‘Alee al-Basree narrated to us, ‘Abu ar-Rabee’a az-Zahraanee narrated to us, ‘Abu Ma’mar narrated to us, ‘Awn bin ‘Abd Allah bin al-Haarith narrated to us, on authority of his brother, on authority of his father ‘Abd Allah bin al-Haarith bin Nawfal, he said: The Messenger of Allah said:<\/p>\n “Indeed Allah, Lofty and Exalted is He, created 3 things with His Hand: He created ‘Aadam with His Hand, He wrote the books of the Tawraah with His Hand, and He planted al-Firdaws with His Hand”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n – end quote.<\/p>\n Now of course this is a different chain and different hadeeth, however it should be noted the hadeeth mentions ‘3 things’ and the first one mentions ‘4 things’, and the wordings from these two hadeeth were mixed together in the text of al-Wasiteeyah<\/em>.<\/p>\n We also find that in the version of the hadeeth collected by al-Bayhaqee there is an addition:<\/p>\n Al-‘Asmaa’ was-Sifaat<\/em> by al-Bayhaqee<\/p>\n #676- ‘Abu Nasr bin Qataadah reported to us, ‘Abu Bakr Muhammad bin al-Ma’mal bin al-Hasan bin ‘Eesaa narrated to us, al-Fadhl bin Muhammad ash-Sha’raanee narrated to us, ‘Ismaa’eel bin ‘Abe ‘Aways narrated to us, my father narrated to me, on authority of ‘Awn bin ‘Abd Allah bin al-Haarith al-Haashimee, from the tribe of Nawfal, on authority of his brother ‘Abd Allah bin ‘Abd Allah bin al-Haarith, on authority of his father, Allah be pleased with him, he said: “the hadeeth, with the addition-<\/p>\n “Then he said: ‘By my honor, there does not reside in it the addiction of alcohol nor ad-Duyuuth’. So they said: ‘Oh Messenger of Allah, indeed we know the addiction of alcohol, but what is ad-Duyuuth?’ He, prayers and blessing upon him, said: ‘He who facilitates for his people the evil’.”<\/p>\n (Al-Bayhaqee comments): ‘This is Mursal. And in it indeed proof is established that the Books here are meant as part of the creation, and indeed He intended: He created the drawings of the Tawraah, and it is its letters; and as for what is written, then it is the Speech of Allah, Lofty and Exalted is He, an Attribute from the Attributes of His Self, not distinct from Him.- end quote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And to sum up with what is found in the compilation of as-Suyuutee on the hadeeth of ‘Abd Allah bin al-Haarith bin Nawfal:<\/p>\n Jaami’ al-‘Ahaadeeth<\/em> by as-Suyuutee<\/p>\n #6828- the hadeeth up to: “\u2026And He created al-Firdaws with His Hand” (ad-Daaraqutnee in as-Sifaat) then the addition from ad-Duyuuth on\u2026to the end (Al-Khiraa’atee in Masaawaa’ al-‘Akhlaaq on authority of ‘Abd Allah bin al-Haarith bin Nawfal [ad-Daylamee on authority of ‘Alee], and also ‘Abu Shaykh.<\/p>\n As for the hadeeth that came from ad-Daylamee then from the strange terms of the hadeeth is: ad-Duyuuth: ‘he who was not watchful of his people (silent upon the sins of his people)’.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In conclusion, yes, there is either a scribal error in the manuscript of al-Waasiteeyah<\/em> or a mix-up of the words of the hadeeth on the part of ‘Ibn Taymeeyah. However, the report is sound, meaning the report of ‘Ibn ‘Umar without the addition, and the narrations are verifiable.<\/p>\n For the original Arabic quotes for the sources follow the link below:<\/p>\n