What is your comment on the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to Aisha: “The Jews have lied; there is no punishment before the Day of Resurrection”?

The questioner : What is your comment on the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to Aisha ? Is it permissible for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to speak about a matter of the unseen that he did not know?

The Shaykh : Where did you gather this hadith from?

The questioner : It is in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad.

The Shaykh : And is the chain of narration authentic?

The questioner : I do not know.

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah.

The questioner : Ibn Hajar mentioned this, and another hadith...

The Shaykh : No, no, that is enough, that is enough, the first hadith.

The questioner :

The Shaykh : That is enough, my brother, but this hadith cannot possibly have been said by the Messenger. Do you have another similar one? Or, excuse me, it cannot be similar?

The questioner : Ibn Hajar brought both hadiths and said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know about the punishment of the grave in the beginning, and then Allah informed him of it.

The Shaykh : You did not say the punishment of the grave, may Allah guide you. You said there is no punishment in the Hereafter.

The questioner : No, I said the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) . I did not say .

The Shaykh : You just mentioned the grave before you mentioned the grave.

The questioner : Yes, I did not mention it, but I asked like this: What is your comment on the saying of the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, to Aisha: ?

The Shaykh : I do not know this hadith. And you say it is in the Musnad. We know for certain, along with Ibn Hajar and other distinguished scholars, that not every hadith in the *Musnad* is authentic. However, there is in *Sahih al-Bukhari* what clarifies the error of this hadith. The Lady Aisha mentioned to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that a Jewish woman entered upon her and prayed for Aisha, saying, “May Allah protect you from the punishment of the grave.” When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon her and she mentioned to him that the Jewish woman had said so, he (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) said: or . As for “there is no punishment,” that is a denounced hadith, without doubt.

The questioner : But Ibn Hajar brought both hadiths: this hadith you mentioned and this one, and he accepted both, saying that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know about the occurrence of the punishment of the grave in the beginning, and then he knew it.

The Shaykh : This is not correct, this answer is absolutely incorrect. The scholars of Usul (principles of jurisprudence) establish in the books of Usul al-Fiqh a very important issue that has two sides: the positive side, which is what should be believed, and the negative side, which is what is not permissible to believe. Both relate to what is called abrogation (naskh). Abrogation exists in the Shari'ah, but abrogation is divided into two types: abrogation related to rulings, which is permissible and indeed occurs, and abrogation related to reports (khabar), which is impossible to occur because it casts doubt on every report that comes, whether in the Qur'an or the Sunnah. It would be said, “Perhaps this report is abrogated.” Therefore, abrogation does not occur in reports. And therefore, it is not permissible to say that the Messenger said and then said there is punishment. This is an impossible matter. But I still cannot believe that Ibn Hajar answers with this answer. If you wish, call me on the phone every night in Ramadan. Ramadan is almost over, and we ask Allah to accept from us all our fasting and standing in prayer from the ninth to the tenth of every night. After Ramadan, I have two hours after the 'Isha' prayer; call me and I will have reviewed this specific hadith. This is a denial of punishment, so how can it be accepted later? This is one of two things: either the hadith you say Imam Ahmad narrated in the *Musnad* has an invalid chain, or Ibn Hajar made a mistake in transmitting it, or the one who transmitted it from him is the one who made the mistake. And the best is to leave it. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.