Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

 

In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Mercy-Giving

 

The hadith cited above is not authentic. It is a strange and isolated narration from Sulayman b. Abi Karimah; most of his narrations are strange (dubious) and therefore untrustworthy).

 

He has been judged as weak and unreliable narrator by eminent scholars of hadith such as Imam Ahmad, Yahya b. Ma`in. Imam Daraqutni states, we ought to reject his reports.  Ibn Hajar cites Imam Bukhari’s judgment on the above hadith: “It is not authentic.”

It is important to point out: Matters of ghayb belong to the realm of ‘Aqidah. Matters of aqidah must be based on textual evidence that is well attested; therefore, we can rely on such dubious or weak traditions to make judgments on such matters.

 

We have sufficiency in well-attested traditions; we do not speculate on such matters; instead, we ought to leave the full knowledge of the unseen realities to the All-Knowing: so, we say Allahu a’lam (Allah knows best).