Ibn Taymiyya on

"If not for Muhammad I would not have created you

[Adam]"

Ibn Taymiyya said in his book "al-qaida al-jaleela fit- tawwasali wal-waseela",
with commentary of Dr. Rabi'a bin Hadi 'Umayr al-Mudkhali, professor in the
Islamic University of Madinah al-Munawwara, on page 166, para 493:

"...and like that is the hadith that is narrated by 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn
Aslam from his father from his grandfather from 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (ra),
marfu'an and mawqufan 'alayh, that when Adam (as) has committed the sin, he
said, 'O Lord! I ask you for the sake of Muhammad [bi haqqi Muhammad] to
forgive me.' He subhanahu wa ta'ala said, 'How did you know Muhammad?' He
said, 'because when you created me with Your Hands and blew into me from
Your Spirit, I raised my head and I saw on the legs of Your Throne written, 'laa
ilaha ill-Allah Muhammadu Rasulullah' so I knew You would not put next to
your name except the one who is the most beloved to You.' He said, 'you have
said the truth, O Adam, and if it were not for Muhammad, I would not have
created you.'" [law laa Muhammadan maa khalaqtuk].

And Ibn Taymiyya continues:

"And this hadith is narrated by al-Haakim in his Mustadrak, from the hadith of
'Abdillah bin Muslim al-FiHree, from Isma'il bin Salama. And Haakim said, 'and
it is the first hadith I have mentioned from 'Abdur-Rahman in this book. And
Haakim says that it is sahih. And it is related by Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Aajuri, in
the book 'ash-Shari'ah' mawqufan on 'Umar from hadith 'Abdillah bin Isma'il
bin Abi Maryam mawqufan from 'Abdur Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam."

And we see here that Ibn Taymiyya is here presenting a hadith that was verified
and certified by al-Haakim as authentic [sahih] and that is the hadith which
related from Allah that "If not for Muhammad I would not have created you [O
Adam]". And this opposes the many objections to such hadith like the similar
hadith of Jaabir which is related about Allah that he said, "law laak maa
khalaqtul khalq" - "If not for you [O Muhammad] I would not have created any
of the Creation."

Ibn Taymiyya now goes into a lengthy discussion of the authenticity of the
hadith which he just stated was authentic according to al-Haakim. He attempts,
through various arguments and demonstrations by way of similar cases, that this
hadith is weak because al-Haakim is not as strong as some other scholars. Let us
examine here some of his arguments.

And on page 172, para 506 Ibn Taymiyya says, in support of his reasoning for
weakening the sahih hadith of al-Haakim:

"Muslim has narrated that 'Allah has created soil on Saturday'. And some people
who have more knowledge than him disputed that, like Yahya ibn Ma'een and
Bukhari and others and they clarified that this was wrong and it was not the
words of the Prophet (saws). And the proof is with them, because it has been
proved by the Book and the Sunnah and the Consensus [ijma'a] that Allahu
ta'ala has created the heavens and earth in six days and His last creation was
Adam and his creation was on Friday. And this hadith that has been disagreed
upon indicates that He created that in seven days. And it has been narrated a
more authentic isnaad than this that the beginning of creation was on Sunday."

Regarding Ibn Taymiyya's Statement regarding the hadith of Yahya bin

Ma'een

It is important to note that in the footnote on this paragraph, by Dr. Rabi'a bin
Hadi 'Umayr al-Mudkhali, professor in the Islamic University of Madinah al-
Munawwara, says, "I could not find the words of Yahya bin Ma'een about
this hadith after I researched it."

The professor gives another footnote about this, saying: "al-Bukhari in al-
Taarikh al-Kabeer, 1/1/413/414, in the biography of Ayyub ibn Khalid, 'and
Isma'il ibn Ummayya narrated from Ayyub ibn Khalid al-Ansaari from
'Abdullah ibn Raf'i from Abi Hurayrah (ra) from the Prophet (saws) said,
"khalaq-Allahu at-turbata yawm as-sabt" - ["Allah created soil on Saturday"]'.
And some of them relate it from Abi Hurayrah from Ka'b and that is more
authentic"

Finally, Dr. Rabi'a bin Hadi 'Umayr al-Mudkhali gives a third footnote, saying:
"I did not find a hadith marfu' that is an exact quote that the beginnning of
creation was on Sunday. But there are aathar from Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud and
Abdullah ibn Sallaam that have been mentioned by Ibn Jareer in his Tareekh,
1/47. And the athar of Ibn 'Abbas and Ibn Mas'ud, in it there is Isma'il ibn Abdur
Rahman as-Saddi, trustworthy? but he was accused of being Shi'i. And
regarding the athar of Ibn Sallaam, in its isnad Abu Ma'ashar, Najeeh bin Abdur
Rahman as-Sindi is weak [da'eef] and in it 'Abdullah ibn Saalih. I did not know
who he is, and I think he is the writer of Layth, and if he is then he is weak
[da'eef]...."

Here we see that Ibn Taymiyya is building a house of cards in order to prove
that the hadith of al-Haakim "law laa Muhammadan maa khalaqtuk" is weak,
through a series of Byzantine arguments whose major foundation here is seen to
be without support. And this is to be seen in a major scholar to be a tremendous
weakness and serious indication of corruption, and Allah knows best.

We see here that Ibn Taymiyya states that Muslim was wrong based on the fact
that "those more knowledgable than him" disputed it, starting with Yahya bin
Ma'een. Surprise though it may be, we find that Yahya bin Madeen did not
speak against this hadith at all!!!

Ibn Taymiyya then tries to show that a hadith narrated by Imam Muslim was
rejected by other scholars, "more knowledgable than him" and that the hadith
Muslim narrated as sahih is not so, because Bukhari rejected it. We then find
that in fact, Bukhari narrated it himself.

On the contrary, the "hadith" "that the beginning of creation was on Sunday"
which Ibn Taymiyya tries to use to support his argument AGAINST the hadith
"Allah created soil on Saturday" is in fact no hadith at all but is an athar with no
verifiable authenticity! And these are the words of a Wahabi muhaqqiq!

Now in a further footnote to this discussion of Ibn Taymiyya, on the hadith of

Muslim by the Professor Rabi'a in which he says, "It was narrated by Muslim in
the book 'description of hypocrites and the laws relating to them'/chapter 'the
beginning of Creation' hadith 27, and Ahmad 2/327, and Ibn Ma'een in at-
Tareekh, 3/52 and Bayhaqi in 'al-'asma was-siffaat', page 364."

Here again we see how Ibn Taymiyya was using misleading arguments against
Imam Muslim. Here it is clearly related by Ibn Ma'een, whereas Ibn Taymiyya
said, "And some people who have more knowledge than him disputed that, like
Yahya ibn Ma'een..."

Subhanallah! How much could a man have hated the Prophet (saws) so much to
go to such deceitful lengths to weaken a hadith which honors the Prophet (saws)
so magnificently and showing that tawassul through him is acceptable!!!