Answered by: Maulana Mohammad Ahsan Osmani
Question
Assalaamu Alaikum, I hope that you are well. I have posted a Hadith that is circulating in some parts of the internet. However, I am able to find a reference and would like to know the reference and the authenticity of the hadith below. Jazak Allah Khair
Once the Prophet (PBUH) appeared to the gathering of the companions. He noticed that all of them were in deep thinking. So he asked, “What’s the matter?”
“We are thinking of the creation of Allah.”
“Very well, think of Allah’s creations, but not about how He might have come first lest it should inject bizarre thoughts.”
Then the Prophet (PBUH) said, “Let it be known to you, (pointing at the west horizon) there’s a white Earth there. Sun is 40 times brighter there. There exists a creation of Allah, none of them has ever gone astray.”
The companions said, “Where’s Satan then, to them?”
“They do not know of the creation of Satan.”
“Are they humans? Children of Adam?”
“No,” the Prophet (PBUH) replied, “they even don’t know of Adam.
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
This Hadith is mentioned in Ihyaa ul Uloom Al-Deen of Imam Ghazali in the chapter of Tafakkur.[1] My teacher, who specialized in Hadith, told me that this narration seems to be a combination of two Ahadith; the first portion of the Hadith, regarding pondering over the creation of Allah (sbw), is da’eef (weak), and the remainder of the Hadith is da’eef jiddan (extremely weak). However, the translation of the Hadith which you have provided does not appear to be accurate in terms of matching the original Arabic.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Maulana Mohammad Ahsan Osmani
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
[1]Ihyaaul Uloom Al-Deen: v. 4, p. 563 (Maktaba Rasheedia)