Why is this hadith inauthentic?

[TawhidFirst]

Assalamu Aleikum,

Bismillah.

Shaykh Yasir, this is an urget question:

in the book The Fundamentals of Tawheed, it states that the following hadith is inauthentic, can you please let me know what makes it inauthentic (like: does the chain contain liers, who is the lier, and according to whom is he a lier)

"The heavens and earth cannot contain Allah but the heart of the true believer contains Him."

[TawhidFirst]

I am aware that of course meaning wise it's impossible. But what I am looking for is something in the chain of the hadith that makes it inauthentic. This question was posed to me, not by me.

[AbdulBasit]

Salaams! I'm not Shaykh Yasir, nor am I a Shaykh. In sha Allah, once Shaykh Yasir responds you'll have the full response, Allah willing.

But from what I know -- I checked on that particular hadeeth -- here is some info about it.

FIRST OF ALL< it is a "hadeeth qudsee" (i.e. it is supposedly, that the Prophet stated that Allah Himself said). Here is the arabic/english wording:

ما وسعني لا سمائي ولا أرضي ولكن وسعني قلب عبدي المؤمن
[Allah says] "Nothing can contain me, not my heavens nor my earth. However, the heart of my believing servant contains me."

Subhanallah -- this is actually not even a hadeeth. The reason why you can't find its chain is because, it has NO chain. This is actually a report from the Israa'eeliyaat narrations. This is not found in our sources (Quran/Sunnah/Hadeeth).

* Actually, Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah was asked about this very hadeeth; subhanallah. Someone cited it for him, and asked if it was "saheeh" or not. He replied:

الحمد لله

هذا ما ذكروه في الإسرائيليات ليس له إسناد معروف عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم . ومعناه وضع في قلبه محبتي ومعرفتي .

وما يروى : " القلب بيت الرب " ، هذا من جنس الأول ، فإن القلب بيت الإيمان بالله تعالى ومعرفته ومحبته .

وما يروونه : " كنت كنزا لا أعرف فأحببت أن أعرف فخلقت خلقا فعرفتهم بي فبي عرفوني " .

هذا ليس من كلام النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ولا أعرف له إسناداً صحيحاً ولا ضعيفاً . وما يروونه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : " إن الله خلق العقل ، فقال له : أقبل ، فأقبل ، ثم قال له : أدبر ، فأدبر ، فقال : وعزتي وجلالي ما خلقت خلقا أشرف منك ، فبك آخذ وبك أعطي " .

هذا الحديث باطل موضوع باتفاق أهل العلم بالحديث .

وما يروونه : " حب الدنيا رأس كل خطيئة " هذا معروف ، عن جندب بن عبد الله البجلي وأما عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فليس له إسناد معروف .

وما يروونه : " الدنيا خطوة رجل مؤمن " ، هذا لا يعرف عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ولا غيره من سلف الأمة ولا أئمتها .

وما يروونه : " من بورك له في شيء فليلزمه " ، " ومن ألزم نفسه شيئا لزمه " .

الأول : يؤثر عن بعض السلف ، والثاني : باطل فإن من ألزم نفسه شيئاً قد يلزمه وقد لا يلزمه بحسب ما يأمر به الله ورسوله .

His response is much longer. All is found in "Fataawaa Al-Kubraa". Basically, after responding Ibn Taymiyyah began to mention numerous other weak or fabricated hadeeth.

But what did he say about this (so-called) hadeeth? He said: "This is what has been passed down from the 'Israa'eeliyaat' (Israelite traditions). It has no chain of narration to the Prophet Muhammad. But its meaning (is correct, for it means) the love and knowledge of Allah is in the believer's heart. And as for what they narrate ((The heart is the house of the Lord)), this is from the same category as the previous report. But again, the meaning is that the heart is the house of Imaan in Allah, and knowing Him, and loving Him.

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I hope this helped a little bit.

Your brother in Islaam,
AbdulBasit Khan. :)