Is the hadith authentic in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah created Adam in the image of al-Rahman”?

The questioner : Is the hadith authentic in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said Is this hadith authentic?

The Shaykh : No, only the version is authentic: It does not include the addition of al-Rahman. This wording is agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. The hadith in "Sahih al-Bukhari" is with the following text: His length, whose length? Adam’s. Therefore, the hadith you hear or read in some books with the wording you asked about, is a hadith that is weak in its chain and denounced in its text, in the terminology of the scholars of hadith. As for the weakness of its chain, I had discussed it in detail in some volumes of my book "Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah wa al-Mawdu'ah wa Atharaha al-Sayyid fi al-Ummah." Some of its routes include Habib ibn Abi Thabit, who is a tadlis narrator, and he narrated it with 'an 'an (indirect narration) without explicitly stating that he heard it. This is understood by students of hadith. As for the text of the hadith being denounced, it has become clear to you, if Allah wills, from its contradiction with the first authentic narration, which did not specify the referent of the pronoun .

The questioner : Meaning, in the image of Adam.

The Shaykh : Yes, the meaning is like that. This authentic narration in al-Bukhari and Muslim did not specify the hidden referent. It said: Then it contradicts the second narration in "Sahih al-Bukhari," which cannot be interpreted except by referring the pronoun to Adam (peace be upon him), because he is the one described as the father of mankind in terms of length, width, and the like. As for al-Rahman, (Glorified and Exalted is He) from being likened to any of His creation or any other thing. As for the first hadith, it relates to the etiquette of the Arabic language. When an Arabic text contains a pronoun and that pronoun could refer to one of two mentioned entities in the context, the original linguistic rule is that the pronoun refers to the nearest mentioned entity. This is known by those who are students of knowledge. So here, note with us: Allah created Adam. Allah was mentioned before anything else, then Adam after Him, in His image. So if we refer the pronoun to the nearest mentioned entity, the pronoun refers to Adam. This interpretation, based on the Arabic rule, is supported by al-Bukhari’s narration . Thus, the first narration, when interpreted based on the Arabic linguistic rule, meets the other narration narrated by Imam al-Bukhari, which explicitly describes how Allah created Adam, stating that Adam’s length is sixty cubits. Anything else?

The questioner : In response to the topic, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade striking the face and said: Does the pronoun not refer to the struck face? Allah created Adam in the image of the struck one, this struck one.

The Shaykh : This supports what we mentioned earlier.