Was Musaylimah the Liar actually real, especially given the contradictions in his history, such as his birth before the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his claim to prophethood before him?

The matter of Musaylamah al-Kadhdhab’s apostasy and his claim to prophethood is definitively and incontrovertibly established through continuous transmission (mutawatir). Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned that his story is well-known in all books of Hadith, Tafsir, and Maghazi. The continuous transmission of his apostasy and the fighting of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq against him is comparable to the continuous transmission of the disbelief of the Quraysh polytheists. It is narrated in the Sahihayn that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, confronted Musaylamah, saying: "Even if you were to ask me for this piece, I would not give it to you. You will not escape Allah’s decree concerning you. If you turn away, Allah will surely destroy you. I see in you the one whom I was shown in my vision," where the Prophet interpreted the dream of the two bracelets as two liars who would emerge after him, one of whom was Musaylamah. The discrepancy in Musaylamah’s birth date does not negate his existence, and investigating the time of his birth is a historical matter that does not entail any religious action.