Two narrations about palaces of Paradise

12-6-2017 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. Is the following hadith authentic?
"Indeed, there are rooms in Paradise; the exteriors of which are seen from the interior and the interiors from the exterior. Allaah prepared them for those who give food in order to feed, spread the greeting of Salaam, and perform prayer during the night while the people are sleeping. The fine buildings in Eden Paradise."
The Prophet said regarding its meanings, "These places are built of emeralds and jewels, and in each building there will be 70 rooms of red color, and in each room there will be 70 sub-rooms of green color, and in each sub-room, there will be one throne, and over each throne there will be 70 beds of varied colors."
Narrated in Ihya Uloom.

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The first hadeeth, "Indeed, there are rooms in Paradise ... (until he says) while the people are sleeping." is an authentically reported hadeeth; however, the wording mentioned in the question was cited by Al-Bayhaqi on the authority of Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullah  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him with a weak chain of narration. Al-Albaani classified it as weak in his book Dha‘eef At-Targheeb wa At-Tarheeb, no. 2190.

However, the version cited by At-Tirmithi was reported on the authority of ‘Ali  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him. It reads, "The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, 'Indeed, in Paradise there are rooms whose outside can be seen from their inside, and their inside can be seen from their outside.' A Bedouin stood up and said, 'Who are they for, O Messenger of Allah?' He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, 'For those who speak good words, feed others, fast regularly, and perform prayer during the night while the people sleep.'" [At-Tirmithi - Al-Albaani graded it hasan (good)]

Ibn Hibbaan also cited it on the authority of Abu Maalik Al-Ash‘ari  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him; he related that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, "Indeed, in Paradise there are chambers whose outside can be seen from their inside, and their inside can be seen from their outside. Allah has prepared them for those who feed others, spread greetings of Salaam, and performed prayer during the night while the people sleep." [Ibn Hibbaan; Shu‘ayb Al-Arnaa’oot said that it has a strong chain of narration.]

As for the second hadeeth, "The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was asked about the verse: {...and pleasant dwellings in the gardens of Eden...} [Quran 9:72]...;" scholars of Hadeeth classified its chain of narration as weak.

Al-Haafith Al-‘Iraaqi  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him wrote, "It was narrated by Abu Ash-Shaykh in his book Al-‘Athamah and by Al-Aajurri in his book As-Suhbah on the authority of Al-Hasan ibn Khaleefah, who narrated it on the authority of Al-Hasan, who said, 'I asked Abu Hurayrah and ‘Imraan ibn Husayn about this verse...,' and this report is inauthentic..." [Takhreej Al-Ihyaa']

Al-Albaani classified it as Mawdhoo' (fabricated) in his book Dha‘eef Al-Jaami‘, no. 2198.

Al-Haythami said, "It was cited by At-Tabaraani, and its chain of narration included Jisr ibn Farqad, who was classified as a weak reporter." [Majma‘ Az-Zawaa'id]

Ibn Al-Jawzi said, "This is a fabricated report that is not attributable to the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and its chain of narration included Jisr." [Al-Mawdhoo‘aat]

Allah knows best.

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