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Authentic Hadiths on Quraysh Questioning the Prophet About Baitul Maqdis
Series: The Incident of Quraysh Questioning the Prophet About Baitul Maqdis
Introduction
Before we search for the true appearance of Baitul Maqdis in the event of Isra’, we need to begin with a more basic question. Did the Quraysh truly ask Prophet Muhammad SAW about Baitul Maqdis? If so, what exactly did they ask? Were they merely questioning his claim that he had reached Baitul Maqdis in a single night, or did they actually ask him to mention the signs of that place as proof?
This question matters because the Quraysh did not simply accept the account of Isra’. They heard it, then they denied it. They wanted to find a way to bring down the Prophet SAW in front of the public. Baitul Maqdis became the subject of questioning because it was far from Makkah. By normal travel standards, it was impossible for a person to go there and return in a single night. This was where they tried to test whether the Prophet SAW had truly reached that place, or whether he was merely making a claim that could not be proven.
At the same time, we also cannot read these hadiths beyond what their wording actually states. The hadiths below do show that Quraysh asked about Baitul Maqdis. These hadiths also show that Allah made Baitul Maqdis visible to the Prophet SAW so that he could answer their questions. The question is, do these hadiths mention one by one the features of Baitul Maqdis that he described to Quraysh? That is what we need to examine before drawing any conclusion.
So, the hadiths below must be read with a clear purpose. We are not merely repeating the story of Isra’. We want to see how far these hadiths actually provide information about Baitul Maqdis. What is mentioned, we accept. What is not mentioned, we cannot add based on our assumptions. Only from there can we know whether these hadiths truly give a picture of the appearance of Baitul Maqdis, or whether they merely prove that the Prophet SAW did answer Quraysh when they questioned him about it.
Note Before Entering the Hadiths
In the opening article of this series, I have already explained why this discussion on Baitul Maqdis arises even though my original study is about Masjidil Aqsa. Therefore, that explanation will not be repeated at length in this article.
This article will focus on one matter only: do authentic narrations truly show that Quraysh questioned the Prophet SAW about Baitul Maqdis after the incident of Isra’?
For that reason, the hadiths below must be read within clear boundaries. If a hadith mentions Baitul Maqdis, we read it as Baitul Maqdis. If a hadith mentions its signs, we acknowledge that those signs were mentioned. However, if the hadith does not list one by one the appearance, features or structure of Baitul Maqdis, we cannot add them through assumption.
Sahih al-Bukhari 3886
حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ بُكَيْرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ عُقَيْلٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو سَلَمَةَ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، سَمِعْتُ جَابِرَ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ
Yahya bin Bukair narrated to us. Al-Laith narrated to us, from ‘Uqail, from Ibn Shihab. Abu Salamah bin ‘Abd al-Rahman narrated to me: I heard Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with them both, say that he heard the Messenger of Allah SAW say:
" لَمَّا كَذَّبَنِي قُرَيْشٌ قُمْتُ فِي الْحِجْرِ، فَجَلاَ اللَّهُ لِي بَيْتَ الْمَقْدِسِ، فَطَفِقْتُ أُخْبِرُهُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِ وَأَنَا أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ ".
“When Quraysh declared me a liar, I stood in al-Hijr. Then Allah made Baitul Maqdis clear to me. So I began informing them about its features while I was looking at it.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 4710
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ صَالِحٍ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ وَهْبٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي يُونُسُ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، قَالَ أَبُو سَلَمَةَ سَمِعْتُ جَابِرَ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ
Ahmad bin Salih narrated to us. Ibn Wahb narrated to us. He said: Yunus informed me, from Ibn Shihab. Abu Salamah said: I heard Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with them both, say: I heard the Prophet SAW say:
لَمَّا كَذَّبَنِي قُرَيْشٌ قُمْتُ فِي الْحِجْرِ، فَجَلَّى اللَّهُ لِي بَيْتَ الْمَقْدِسِ فَطَفِقْتُ أُخْبِرُهُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِ وَأَنَا أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ
“When Quraysh declared me a liar, I stood in al-Hijr. Then Allah made Baitul Maqdis clearly visible to me. So I began informing them about its signs while I was looking at it.”
زَادَ يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَخِي ابْنِ شِهَابٍ عَنْ عَمِّهِ " لَمَّا كَذَّبَنِي قُرَيْشٌ حِينَ أُسْرِيَ بِي إِلَى بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ ". نَحْوَهُ. {قَاصِفًا} رِيحٌ تَقْصِفُ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ.
Ya‘qub bin Ibrahim added: The nephew of Ibn Shihab narrated to us, from his uncle: “When Quraysh declared me a liar, when I was taken by night to Baitul Maqdis...”
Then there is an explanation of a Qur’anic expression: “{Qasifan}: a wind that crushes everything.”
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3133
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ عُقَيْلٍ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ
Qutaibah narrated to us. Al-Laith narrated to us, from ‘Uqail, from al-Zuhri, from Abu Salamah, from Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, that the Messenger of Allah SAW said:
لَمَّا كَذَّبَتْنِي قُرَيْشٌ قُمْتُ فِي الْحِجْرِ فَجَلاَ اللَّهُ لِي بَيْتَ الْمَقْدِسِ فَطَفِقْتُ أُخْبِرُهُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِ وَأَنَا أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ
“When Quraysh declared me a liar, I stood in al-Hijr. Then Allah manifested Baitul Maqdis to me. So I began informing them about its signs while I was looking at it.”
Abu ‘Isa said: This hadith is hasan sahih.
وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ مَالِكِ بْنِ صَعْصَعَةَ وَأَبِي سَعِيدٍ وَابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ وَأَبِي ذَرٍّ وَابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ
Al-Tirmidhi also mentioned that, under the same chapter, there are narrations from Malik bin Sa‘sa‘ah, Abu Sa‘id, Ibn ‘Abbas, Abu Dharr and Ibn Mas‘ud.
Sahih Muslim 170
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا لَيْثٌ، عَنْ عُقَيْلٍ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ
Qutaibah bin Sa‘id narrated to us. Laith narrated to us, from ‘Uqail, from al-Zuhri, from Abu Salamah bin ‘Abd al-Rahman, from Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, that the Messenger of Allah SAW said:
لَمَّا كَذَّبَتْنِي قُرَيْشٌ قُمْتُ فِي الْحِجْرِ فَجَلاَ اللَّهُ لِي بَيْتَ الْمَقْدِسِ فَطَفِقْتُ أُخْبِرُهُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِ وَأَنَا أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ
“When Quraysh declared me a liar, I stood in al-Hijr. Then Allah manifested Baitul Maqdis to me. So I began informing them about its signs while I was looking at it.”
Sunan Abi Dawud 457
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا لَيْثٌ، عَنْ عُقَيْلٍ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ
Qutaibah bin Sa‘id narrated to us. Laith narrated to us, from ‘Uqail, from al-Zuhri, from Abu Salamah bin ‘Abd al-Rahman, from Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, that the Messenger of Allah SAW said:
لَمَّا كَذَّبَتْنِي قُرَيْشٌ قُمْتُ فِي الْحِجْرِ فَجَلاَ اللَّهُ لِي بَيْتَ الْمَقْدِسِ فَطَفِقْتُ أُخْبِرُهُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِ وَأَنَا أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ
“When Quraysh declared me a liar, I stood in al-Hijr. Then Allah manifested Baitul Maqdis to me. So I began informing them about its signs while I was looking at it.”
Status: Da‘if (Al-Albani)
This da‘if assessment refers to this specific route of Abu Dawud, not to the origin of the event and not to the main matan, because the same wording has been established through the narrations of al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Sahih Muslim 170
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا لَيْثٌ، عَنْ عُقَيْلٍ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ
Qutaibah bin Sa‘id narrated to us. Laith narrated to us, from ‘Uqail, from al-Zuhri, from Abu Salamah bin ‘Abd al-Rahman, from Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, that the Messenger of Allah SAW said:
لَمَّا كَذَّبَتْنِي قُرَيْشٌ قُمْتُ فِي الْحِجْرِ فَجَلاَ اللَّهُ لِي بَيْتَ الْمَقْدِسِ فَطَفِقْتُ أُخْبِرُهُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِ وَأَنَا أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ
“When Quraysh declared me a liar, I stood in al-Hijr. Then Allah manifested Baitul Maqdis to me. So I began informing them about its signs while I was looking at it.”
Sahih Muslim 172
وَحَدَّثَنِي زُهَيْرُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا حُجَيْنُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ، وَهُوَ ابْنُ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الْفَضْلِ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم
Zuhair bin Harb narrated to me. Hujain bin al-Muthanna narrated to us. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, meaning Ibn Abi Salamah, narrated to us, from ‘Abdullah bin al-Fadhl, from Abu Salamah bin ‘Abd al-Rahman, from Abu Hurairah, who said: The Messenger of Allah SAW said:
لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنِي فِي الْحِجْرِ وَقُرَيْشٌ تَسْأَلُنِي عَنْ مَسْرَاىَ فَسَأَلَتْنِي عَنْ أَشْيَاءَ مِنْ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ لَمْ أُثْبِتْهَا
“I saw myself in al-Hijr while Quraysh were asking me about my night journey. They asked me about certain things from Baitul Maqdis that I had not fixed firmly in my memory.”
فَكُرِبْتُ كُرْبَةً مَا كُرِبْتُ مِثْلَهُ قَطُّ
“Then I was overcome by a distress unlike any distress I had ever experienced.”
قَالَ فَرَفَعَهُ اللَّهُ لِي أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ
He said: “Then Allah raised it for me so that I could look at it.”
مَا يَسْأَلُونِي عَنْ شَىْءٍ إِلاَّ أَنْبَأْتُهُمْ بِهِ
“They did not ask me about anything except that I informed them about it.”
وَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنِي فِي جَمَاعَةٍ مِنَ الأَنْبِيَاءِ
“And indeed, I saw myself among a group of prophets.”
فَإِذَا مُوسَى قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي
“Then there was Musa, standing in prayer.”
فَإِذَا رَجُلٌ ضَرْبٌ جَعْدٌ كَأَنَّهُ مِنْ رِجَالِ شَنُوءَةَ
“He was a man of moderate build, with curly hair, as if he were from the men of Shanu’ah.”
وَإِذَا عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي
“And there was ‘Isa ibn Maryam, peace be upon him, standing in prayer.”
أَقْرَبُ النَّاسِ بِهِ شَبَهًا عُرْوَةُ بْنُ مَسْعُودٍ الثَّقَفِيُّ
“The person who most closely resembled him was ‘Urwah bin Mas‘ud al-Thaqafi.”
وَإِذَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي
“And there was Ibrahim, peace be upon him, standing in prayer.”
أَشْبَهُ النَّاسِ بِهِ صَاحِبُكُمْ
“The person who most resembled him was your companion.”
يَعْنِي نَفْسَهُ
Meaning: the Prophet himself.
فَحَانَتِ الصَّلاَةُ فَأَمَمْتُهُمْ
“Then the time for prayer came, so I led them in prayer.”
فَلَمَّا فَرَغْتُ مِنَ الصَّلاَةِ قَالَ قَائِلٌ يَا مُحَمَّدُ هَذَا مَالِكٌ صَاحِبُ النَّارِ فَسَلِّمْ عَلَيْهِ
“When I finished the prayer, someone said: O Muhammad, this is Malik, the keeper of Hellfire, so greet him with salam.”
فَالْتَفَتُّ إِلَيْهِ فَبَدَأَنِي بِالسَّلاَمِ
“So I turned toward him, and he greeted me first with salam.”
Closing
The main sahih narrations in this section establish that after the event of Isra’, Quraysh declared Prophet Muhammad SAW a liar and tested him by asking about Baitul Maqdis. The Prophet stated that Allah made Baitul Maqdis visible to him until he was able to answer their questions.
However, the hadiths in this section do not narrate in detail what features of Baitul Maqdis the Prophet mentioned. What has reached us is only the information that he informed them about its signs, not the list of those signs themselves. Therefore, the true appearance of Baitul Maqdis cannot yet be determined based only on the hadiths presented in this section.
What is certain from these hadiths is that Quraysh did deny the Prophet SAW after the event of Isra’. They asked about Baitul Maqdis, then Allah made Baitul Maqdis visible to him. So the Prophet SAW was able to answer their questions, and that answer was enough to show that he had not fabricated the account. However, we cannot fabricate the appearance of Baitul Maqdis merely because the hadith says he informed them about its signs. These narrations prove the occurrence of the event. They do not provide a complete description of the building.
However, this does not mean that all narrations about that event have already been presented. There are still other narrations that touch on the same situation with different wording and from different angles of narration. Some mention a longer conversation, a person who had travelled to Baitul Maqdis, a trade caravan that became a subject of verification, and additional information that may help us understand how Quraysh checked the Prophet’s answers. However, every narration must still be examined according to its source, sanad, matan, and the strength of its wording.
Therefore, our search needs to continue into other, longer narrations, especially narrations that mention Quraysh’s conversation with someone who had travelled to Baitul Maqdis, or narrations that mention the trade caravan as a subject of verification. That is where we need to examine whether there is truly additional information on how they checked the Prophet’s answers, who knew the appearance of Baitul Maqdis, and what features became the subject of their questions, or whether those narrations merely add another angle of storytelling without giving a clearer picture of its appearance.
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