What is the authenticity of the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: (Musa (peace be upon him) struck the eye of the Angel of Death, blinding him)?

The questioner : The questioner says: Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . I heard a scholar weaken this hadith, saying: The scent of Isra'iliyyat emanates from this hadith. How do we respond to him? Is it permissible to call the Angel of Death Azrael? Is there an authentic narration that his name is Azrael? And how is it permissible for a Prophet to strike an angel, knowing that the Angel of Death is severe? Did Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) permit Musa (peace be upon him) to do so?

The Shaykh : This question has two branches:
The first branch concerns the hadith of Musa (peace be upon him) striking the Angel until he popped out his eye.
The other branch is whether it is authentic that the Angel of Death is called Azrael, as is common among many people.
We will answer this second part because the answer is brief, so that we may return to answering the first part:
It is not authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at all to name the Angel of Death Azrael. The names Jibril, Mikail, and Israfil have come in many hadiths, and this is established. But naming the Angel of Death Azrael has no basis in the Sunnah, let alone in the Noble Qur'an.
We return to answering the first part of the question, which is the hadith of the Angel of Death and the weakening of it by those scholars who weakened it:
Before the answer, I want to remind you of a scientific principle acknowledged even by those who are not Muslim. This scientific principle is: It is not permissible for one who is ignorant of a science to speak about it; because it contradicts texts from the Book and the Sunnah. Among this is the saying of our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He): . So, the one who wants to speak about medicine, for example, is not permitted to speak if he is an exegete; because medicine is not his science. Just as this specialist doctor is not permitted to speak about exegesis or jurisprudence or anything else; because if this and that person speak outside their specialization, they have followed what they have no knowledge of, and they have contradicted the aforementioned Qur'anic text. I think this is one of the matters where the old Arabic proverb can be mentioned: "This is a matter in which two do not differ, and two goats do not butt heads in it," meaning: It is not permissible to speak in a certain science except the specialists. If this is an established matter—and it is—let us return to this hadith or others. Who speaks about it? The doctor, for example? The answer: Of course not. The alchemist, for example? The answer: No. Many, many questions approach the truth. The exegete? The answer: No. The jurist? The answer: No. So who speaks? It is the scholar of hadith. And the scholars of hadith "were"—as it was said:
When they were counted as few, *** Today they are less than few.
Therefore, it is not permissible for students of knowledge to be emboldened by a word attributed to a scholar whose identity and specialization we do not know, if he says: Such-and-such a hadith is weak. This is a rule we must adhere to always and forever. And among the wonders of the calamities that have befallen the nation, due to heedlessness of the scientific principles scattered in the Book and the Sunnah, is that they distance themselves from them completely. And when it comes to what concerns themselves, you find they verify such a Qur'anic text that obliges Muslims to refer to the specialists. For example, if one of us or one of our dependents is afflicted with a certain disease, he does not go to any doctor; rather, first of all, he asks about the specialist in that disease, then he continues asking, searching, and verifying about the skilled specialist in that disease. Only then does he go to him and present himself or his loved one to him. As for what concerns religion, the matter has become chaos with no system. That is because people today, whenever they see a person musing around some jurisprudential issues, or some Qur'anic verses, or Prophetic hadiths, assume that he is the scholar of his time! So they direct their questions to him, and they fall into the prohibited thing mentioned in the first hadith, which is his saying (peace be upon him): .
After this, I return to say: Any person who speaks outside his specialization is not permitted to do so, especially if it becomes clear that his speech contradicts the specialists in the science in which he spoke without knowledge. So, the hadith of Musa (peace be upon him) striking the Angel of Death is a hadith narrated by Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim in their "Sahihayn" from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Our Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) said: . This is the text of the hadith in the "Sahihayn".
So the answer now requires us to speak about more than one issue:
The first issue: It becomes clear after this hadith is recorded in the "Sahihayn" that the one who weakened it is the weak one; because he spoke without knowledge. And in my opinion, this weakener is one of those many people who empower and judge by their minds—if I do not say their desires!—in ruling on authentic hadiths that they are weak, and perhaps they say: They are fabricated. What is the evidence for what they claimed of weakness and fabrication? It is their judging by their minds and following their desires, ; because faith has weakened in the hearts of many people, even among those who may claim affiliation with knowledge. This is from one side, and from another side, they have not studied the Sunnah with a conscious, comprehensive study of the paths of the hadith, which is its custom to remove what may occur in the minds of some as a difficulty.