Ibn Kathir mentioned in his *Tafsir* that Allah, the Exalted, showed His Prophet the images of the prophets on a piece of cloth; what is the degree of authenticity of that?
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The questioner : The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked his Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, to show him the image of the angels and the image of the prophets, so it descended in the form of silk. This is a hadith; I do not remember its exact wording. What is its degree of authenticity or weakness?
The Shaykh : I mentioned something after that; do you remember anything else in it?
The questioner : We found it; we read it in *Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir*.
The Shaykh : I am saying: do you remember anything of its meaning in its text?
The questioner : I do not remember anything, but we mentioned it when we discussed the hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked his Lord for the image of Aishah, so it descended on a piece of silk?
The Shaykh : This is authentic; this is in al-Bukhari.
The questioner : As for the hadith that the image of the prophets descended on a piece of silk?
The Shaykh : I do not know it. Okay; when Ibn Kathir mentioned it, did he attribute it to a source?
The questioner : He did not comment on it.
The Shaykh : No, did he attribute it to a source?
The questioner : I do not remember that he attributed it, but he presented it like this...
The Shaykh : May Allah have mercy on the imams of hadith.
Another questioner : O Allah, amen.
The Shaykh : The hadith is an ocean with no shore. They narrate from Imam al-Zuhri, who was a distinguished Tabi'i, and although he did not meet any of the Companions except those whose deaths were delayed, such as Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), he narrates from him a great deal. They relate that he attended the session of a hadith scholar, and the hadith scholars at that time would hold academic circles and narrate hadiths with their chains of transmission: "So-and-so narrated to me, he said: So-and-so narrated to me," and so on. Al-Zuhri sat and listened. After he finishedThe Shaykh : his narration, al-Zuhri approached him and, expressing surprise at some of the hadiths, asked him:The Shaykh : "Do you know the entire hadith?" He said: "No." He said: "Three-quarters of it?" He said: "No." He said: "Half of it?" He said: "Perhaps." He said: "Consider what you heard as half of the other half. We consider this to be three-quarters..."
The Shaykh : I mentioned something after that; do you remember anything else in it?
The questioner : We found it; we read it in *Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir*.
The Shaykh : I am saying: do you remember anything of its meaning in its text?
The questioner : I do not remember anything, but we mentioned it when we discussed the hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked his Lord for the image of Aishah, so it descended on a piece of silk?
The Shaykh : This is authentic; this is in al-Bukhari.
The questioner : As for the hadith that the image of the prophets descended on a piece of silk?
The Shaykh : I do not know it. Okay; when Ibn Kathir mentioned it, did he attribute it to a source?
The questioner : He did not comment on it.
The Shaykh : No, did he attribute it to a source?
The questioner : I do not remember that he attributed it, but he presented it like this...
The Shaykh : May Allah have mercy on the imams of hadith.
Another questioner : O Allah, amen.
The Shaykh : The hadith is an ocean with no shore. They narrate from Imam al-Zuhri, who was a distinguished Tabi'i, and although he did not meet any of the Companions except those whose deaths were delayed, such as Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), he narrates from him a great deal. They relate that he attended the session of a hadith scholar, and the hadith scholars at that time would hold academic circles and narrate hadiths with their chains of transmission: "So-and-so narrated to me, he said: So-and-so narrated to me," and so on. Al-Zuhri sat and listened. After he finishedThe Shaykh : his narration, al-Zuhri approached him and, expressing surprise at some of the hadiths, asked him:The Shaykh : "Do you know the entire hadith?" He said: "No." He said: "Three-quarters of it?" He said: "No." He said: "Half of it?" He said: "Perhaps." He said: "Consider what you heard as half of the other half. We consider this to be three-quarters..."
Source
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The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.