Sahih Muslim — Hadith #9341

(This hadith was also narrated to us by Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna and Ibn Bashshar. They said: Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us that): Shu'ba narrated to us from Abu Ishaq with this chain of narration. However, the hadith of Mansur is more complete and longer. This hadith has been included by Bukhari in "Kitab al-Tahajjud" and "Kitab al-Tawhid"; by Abu Dawud in the chapters on "Prayer" and "Sunnah"; by Tirmidhi in the chapter on "Prayer"; by Nasai in "Kitab al-Nu'ut"; and by Ibn Majah in the chapter on "Prayer". "The hadith of Abu Hurayrah is an authentic hadith." He said. As can be understood from the narrations here, the descent of Allah to the lower heaven has been expressed in various ways. In the first narration, it is stated that it occurred when the last third of the night remained; in the second, when the first third had passed; in the third, when half or two-thirds had passed; in the fourth, when half or the last third had passed; and in the fifth, when the first third had passed. A reconciliation was found between these seemingly contradictory narrations as follows: Some hadith scholars, such as Tirmidhi, preferred the first narration and used the term "most authentic" for it. When one of the narrations is considered most authentic, the others remain authentic. Therefore, they are all correct. Iyad used the term "authentic" for the narration he preferred. This term implies that the remaining narrations are weak. However, Nawawi (631-676) rejected Qadi's statement, saying that Imam Muslim had transmitted the various narrations of the hadith with authentic chains of transmission. According to Nawawi, it is probable that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned one of the times in these narrations once and the other at another time; and that Abu Hurayrah heard all of them and narrated them. After transmitting this hadith, he mentioned Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, Rifa'at al-Juhani, Jubayr ibn Mut'im, Ibn Mas'ud, Abu'd-Darda', and Uthman ibn Abi al-As, and besides them, Jabir ibn... He stated that there are also narrations from Abdi İlah, Ubâdetü'bnü's- Sâmit, Ukbetü'bnü Âmir, Amru'bnü Anbese, Ebû'l-Hattâb, Ebû Bekr-i Sıddîk, Enes b. Mâlik, Ebû Mûse'l-Eş'arî, Muâz b. Cebel, Ebû Sa'lebe, Âige, Ibn Abbâs and other companions, and he listed their hadiths as follows: