On al-Ghazali’s statement regarding his weakening of the hadith of Musa with the Angel of Death, and his refutation of al-Nasa'i and al-Maziri in their authentication of the hadith?

Al-Hawini: Our Shaykh, in the bookThe Shaykh : of Muhammad al-Ghazali, he denied the hadith of Musa (peace be upon him) and the Angel of Death, and refuted the defense of al-Maziri and al-Nawawi, saying it is a trivial defense that is not acceptable. He said: Because the angels are not exposed to defects, and because the righteous do not dislike death; so how about the messengers? How about the resolute among the messengers?

The Shaykh : I believe there is a clear error in this statement, and I do not know; is it from the transmitter or the one from whom it was transmitted?
Al-Hawini: What is it?

The Shaykh : That you say in his name that the angels are not exposed to defects.
Al-Hawini: They are not afflicted.

The Shaykh : Or they are not afflicted, it is not important, but does he not know that the angel who came to Musa came in the form of a human?
Al-Hawini: He does not know this.

The Shaykh : Does he know?
Al-Hawini: I believe he does not know.

The Shaykh : He does not know, so his statement falls; because the hadith, as in "Musnad al-Imam Ahmad" with a valid chain, states that the angels used to come to those before us in the form of humans. So the sent angel—and he is the Angel of Death—when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sent him to Musa saying to him: Answer your Lord, he was in the form of a human. And like Musa, the one who spoke to Allah, and the chosen one from Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)—if a person came to him and said to him: Answer your Lord; so he struck him that strike, and blessed is the one who was struck, who did not punch him with that punch,The questioner : and the one who was asked. So Musa punched him and he died, but he did not kill him, rather he gouged out his eye; because he was in the form of a human. So the doubt is actually based on ignorance of the Sunnah, and on not striving to follow the hadith narrations by which many of the difficulties that arise for some people are resolved. This is the answer to that doubt.
Al-Hawini: Okay, but do the righteous actually dislike death as he said?

The Shaykh: Who?
Al-Hawini: The righteous dislike death because, of course, he understood from Musa gouging out the eye of the Angel of Death, that they dislike death.

The Shaykh : Disliking death, first I say: it is a natural, instinctive matter, like the fear of Musa from the magicians of Pharaoh, so this is a matter in which a chosen prophet is not blamed. Second: if we, humans who are exposed to falling into sins and disobedience, know the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , then if one of us dislikes death because he seeks the good, excellent life, to increase in this long life righteous deeds, then his dislike of death—and reality is so—does not become a blame, but turns into praise. But the problem is that the people of desires—like this man and his like—only follow the doubts from the authentic Prophetic hadiths, to appear before people as if they are from the critics, while they are not there. This is my answer to this second doubt.
Al-Hawini: The scholars mention in this hadith—also—that Musa (peace be upon him) gouged out the eye of the Angel of Death in application of his law, which is gouging out the eye of the one who looks or enters without permission, even though this did not come in the hadith and was not referred to; is this a sufficient answer?

The Shaykh : No, rather it is an answer that does not stand, and we have no need for it at all, because it is based on what has no basis in our Shari'ah. Yes.

Another questioner : The position of Musa at the end of the hadith is that he was ordered to place his hand on the skin of a bull, so he chose to be taken at that time, so where is the dislike of death if he knew that he was truly the Angel of Death? And he was given the choice between placing his hand on the skin of a bull and having a year for every hair, so he said: . The end of the hadith refutes the saying of the one who said that he disliked death.

The Shaykh : This is correct, the first order was based on the fact that Musa did not discover that that person who was in the form of a human was actually an angel. So when the angel came to him by a sign from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), he knew that he was truly a messenger from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and he said to him this sign, so he said to him: , so what you mentioned is completely valid.
Yes.