quote:
In the Tafseer of Ibn Katheer, in the Tafseer of Sooratul Qadr, a narration is mentioned on the authority of Imaam Aboo Muhammad bin Abee Haatim, who quoted in his commentary a hadeeth from Ka'b which said: "Sidratul Muntaha is at the border of the 7th heaven..." and it con't's to say that "In the midst of the tree is the seat of Jibreel" then mentions that Allaah commands Jibreel to take all the angels to earth and that Jibreel shakes hands with all the believers. Is this an authentic narration?
1 - It is weak due to majhool narrators (those whose status/precision as narrators is unknown) in the chain.
2 - If it was authentic, it would only be the statement of a taabi'ee, as the Ka'b being referred to is Ka'b al-Ahbaar, a taabi'ee who was known to narrate Israa'eeliyyaat. So even if it was authentic, it would be considered from the Israa'eeliyyaat, and this is why Ahmad Shaakir removed it from his Mukhtasar of Tafseer Ibn Katheer, based on his goal of removing all the Israa'eeliyyaat from the book.
And our position on the Israa'eeliyyaat is that we do not affirm them unless we have an authentic text from the revelation to affirm them, nor do we negate them unless we have an authentic text that negates them.
For more details (in Arabic):
http://www.sahab.net/sahab/showthread.php?s=&threadid=326880
And Allaah knows best.
Moosaa ibn John Richardson
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سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك
أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت
أستغفرك وأتوب إليك