What is the authenticity of the report found in Ibn Abi Shaybah’s Musannaf: "When the angels saw the children of Adam and how they sinned, they said: 'Our Lord, they sin.' He said: 'If you were like them, you would do as they do.' So choose two angels from among you. He said: So they chose Harut and Marut. Then the Blessed and Exalted said to them: 'Indeed, there is a messenger between Me and mankind, but there is no one between Me and you. Do not associate anything with Me, and do not steal, and do not commit fornication.' Abdullah said: Ka'b said: 'They did not complete that day until they fell into what was forbidden to them'"?
Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported Sep 2, 2026
The report is not from the words of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him; rather, it is from the words of Ka'b al-Ahbar. He was a reliable Tabi'i and a former Jewish scholar who used to narrate from the books of the Children of Israel, and the Prophet permitted narrating from them. The fact that the report is from the words of Ka'b al-Ahbar has been corrected by imams such as Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Hatim al-Razi, al-Bayhaqi, Ibn Kathir, al-Qurtubi, al-Sakhawi, and among contemporary scholars: Ahmad Shakir, al-Albani, and Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported
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