Wanted to know regarding this saying of Sufyan Thawri (rahimahullah)
إذا ختم الرجل القرآن قبل الملك بين عينيه
‘When a man completes the Quran, an angel kisses him between his eyes.’
The kissing of the angel is a thing which cannot be perceived through understanding, but it has not been attributed to Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam).
- Can this be regarded as a mursal of a Tabi’?
- If so, can it be regarded Hukman marfu’?
- If not, can it be regarded as a kashf of Sufyan Thawri? As it has been termed as ‘min mukhabbati Sufyan’ by Imam Ahmad (rahimahullah).
- Is it suitable to quote?
Answer
Firstly, we have located this as the statement of
Imam Habib ibn Abi ‘Amrah (rahimahullah) – demise: 142 A.H.
Imam Sufyan Thawri is the one who reported this from Habib (rahimahumallah).
It is also reported as the statement from Imam ‘Isa ibn Yunus (rahimahullah)
See references here.
To answer your questions,
1,2,3. None of these will apply.
This will merely be understood as these Imams (Habib ibn Abi ‘Amrah and ‘Isa ibn Yunus) having had some substantiation for it.
In cases like these, the ‘Ulama sometimes use the term: هذا من مشكاة النبوة, which translates as: it is from the niche of nubuwwat, i.e, it seems to be derived from a source linked up to Rasulullah (sallallahu’alayhi wasallam). However, since we do not have clear substantiation, we wouldn’t say more.
(See an example of this term at the end of Adabul Ikhtilaf of My Honourable Teacher; Al-‘Allamatul Muhaddith, Shaykh Muhammad ‘Awwamah -hafizahullah-)
4. One may indeed quote this as the statement of the above two scholars (rahimahumallah).
Note: I discussed this exact example with My Honourable Teacher; Al-‘Allamatul Muhaddith, Shaykh Muhammad ‘Awwamah (hafizahullah) on 22 August, 2019. The above is a summary of his response.
وذكر شيخنا- حفظه الله- أنه رأى ابن القيم يستعمل هذا التعبير: ‘من مشكاة النبوة’.
And Allah Ta’ala Knows best,
Answered by: Moulana Muhammad Abasoomar