THE LIE OF QITMEER AND THE 7 SLEEPERS

All praises are due to Allah and blessings and peace be on his Prophet.

We are accustomed to finding in the talismans and other writings: My God, I ask you by the sacrality of Yamleekha, Maxaleema, Martools, Yathboons, Dhartoons, Kfashtitos, Mantwasisoss and their dog Qitmeer, and I had heard that they were supposed to be the young people of the cave. I would say: but how can one know the names of the 7 sleepers (many ulamas consider they were 7)? And even if they were known, why ask Allah by their sacrality, whereas we do not even say: O Allah, I ask you by the sacrality of Nooh, Ibrahim, Musa, Issa and Muhammed, blessings and peace be upon them? And how can one beg Allah by the sacrality of the dog Qitmeer, which is clearly written in this prayer: “and their dog Qitmeer”? You beg Allah to accept your prayer for the sake of a dog? My conclusion is that it is in fact names of devils and this prayer is shirk. We already experienced dealing with the devil Qitmeer - not the others, thus confirming my position.

I once mentioned this in a talk, and a brother sent me this hadeeth:

Tabarani mentions this hadeeth sahih – authentic - in Awsat: Muhammed Ibn Muhammed Ibn Nooman Ibn Shibl reports from his father according to Yahya Ibn Abi Wariq, from his father, from Adhahhak Ibn Muzahim, from Ibn Abbas, commenting the words of the Powerful and Majestic: “Only few know their number” soorat the Cave verse 22, Ibn Abbas says: “I am among those few: Maxmaleetha, Tamleekha who was sent the with the gold to the city, Martools, Yathboons, Dhartoons, Kfashteetos, Mantwaseesoss the shepherd and the dog is Qitmeer, smaller than a kurdish, bigger than a copt, not really larger than a copt”. Abu Shubayl says: my father says: “I was told that whoever writes these names on a cloth and throws it in a fire, the fire will die out”. Only Yahya the son of Abu Rawq narrated this hadeeth from his father.

This second hadeeth is even more stunning:

And they quote the benefits of these names:

Annisapoori says according to Ibn Abbas: the names of the sleepers of the cave are used to catch a thing which escapes or to flee a thing chasing you, to extinguish fire by writing them on a cloth and throwing it in the middle of the flames, for the tears of the children: they are written and put under the layer of the child, and for agriculture by writing it on a paper and by raising it on a wood in the middle of the plantation.

These hadeeths stopped me right away: am I fighting something the prophet (s) taught or Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them? Did I wrongfully attack all these ulamas who use these names to make talismans? Would these names have indeed a power? Our experience showing that devils hide behind these names would be false? Or these hadeeths are not authentic and all what I said was true? The answer is in the research of the authenticity of these hadeeths.

Here is the most complete answer I could find, it is in: aloloom.net

39- According to Abdallah Ibn Omar, may Allah be pleased with him, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever achieves the pilgrimage to the House (Kaaba) and does not visit me has left me”. Invented Hadeeth. Ibn Adiy reports it in the Complete (7/14), Ibn Hibban in the Criticized (2/66), Ibn Allah-Jawzi in the Invented (2/217). It is reported by Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Annooman Ibn Shibl: my grandfather narrated to me: Malik narrated to me according to Nafi according to Ibn Omar. The chain contains Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Annooman Ibn Shibl who is Albahili Albasri discredited by Addaraqutni which says: very weak. The scholar Ibn Hijr says: he is abandoned. Adhahabi mentions: Summary of the invented hadeeths: Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Annooman Ibn Shibl is the plague of Malik by inventing hadeeths according to his grandfather according to Malik according to Nafi according to Ibn Omar. The sheikh of Islam Ibn Taymiyya called in “The Big Fatawas” (5/148): concerning the hadeeth: “Whoever achieves the pilgrimage at the House (kaâba) and does not visit me has left me”, no scholar of sciences of hadeeth has reported it. It was invented and lied on behalf of the Messenger of Allah, and its meaning contradicts the consensus, because leaving the Messenger (s) is a great sin, even disbelief and hypocrisy, because we must love him more than our families and our goods as he says: “By the One who holds my heart in His hand, none of you will be a believer until he loves me more than his father, his son and all mankind”. However his visit is not compulsory according to consensus of Muslims, nothing orders it in the Book or Sunna. The order contained in the Book and Sunna is to bless and greet him, may Allah bless him, his family and his companions and greet them much”.

He also says, may Allah give him his mercy, in “the Big Fatawas” (5/289): as for the hadeeth reported by some: “Whoever achieves the pilgrimage to the House (Kaaba) and does not visit me has left me”, it is not reported by any alim. It is like the hadeeth: “Whoever visits me and visits my father, I guaranteed him the Paradise on behalf of Allah”: it is also false according to the consensus of ulamas, no one reported it and no one used it as an argument. Ibn Abdelhadi says in “the Severe Punishment”: you must know that this hadeeth is very refutable and has no origin, it is a lie and an invention, a lie invented on Malik, he has never reported it and only those who collect the weird news, the refutable and invented hadeeths mention it. Sheik Abul Faraj Ibn Aljawzi was right to classify it among the invented, and this man who disagrees is mistaking in his refusal and his arguments. The faulty one in this hadeeth is Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Noomane Ibn Shibl and not his grandfather as mentions Addaraqutni in the comment of the “Criticized” of Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban Albasti. This man who is opposed did not read the comment of Addaraqutni which we report: Ibn Hibban named in “the Book of the Weak”: Annooman Ibn Shibl, Abou Shibl, of the inhabitants of Basra, reporting from Abu Awana and Malik and people of Basra and Hijaz, the son of his son Muhamad Ibn Muhamed Ibn Noomane Ibn Shibl, according to Malik, from Nafi according to Ibn Omar: the Messenger of Allah (s) said: “Whoever achieves the pilgrimage to the House (Kaaba) and does not visit me has left me”. Ahmad Ibn Ubayd from Hamadhan reports from Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Noomane Ibn Shibl Abou Shibl according to his grandfather according to Malik. That’s all Ibn Hibban mentions of the biography of Annooman Ibn Shibl. The scholar Abul Hasan Addaraqutni says in the Comments of this book: this hadeeth is not known from Annooman Ibn Shibl except than by his grandson narrated from his son, and the charge is against him and not against Annooman. The scholar Abul Hassan is right in saying this because Annooman Ibn Shibl is known to report this hadeeth from Muhamad Ibn Alfadhl Ibn Atiyya famous for his lies and inventions of hadeeths according to Jabir Aljaafi according to Muhamad Ibn Ali according to Ali Ibn Abi Talib, reported in this way by Abu Umar and Uthmane Ibn Khazad according to Annooman Ibn Shibl. This invented hadeeth has an invalid chain of narrators inexorably and only Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Nooman reported it from his grandfather Annooman Ibn Shibl according to Malik according to Nafi according to Ibn Omar. This is where Muhamad uncovered himself by reporting this hadeeth, he exposed himself and denounced himself by attributing it to Malik according to Nafi according to Ibn Omar, because whoever has a minimum of science of the hadeeth knows that a person like Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Nooman known for his lies and inventions on his grandfather who is not known either for his integrity and his reliability and whom no Imam of reference counted like reliable, on the contrary he is criticized by Musa Ibn Haroon Alhammal, one of the Imams scholars and a reference in the evaluation of the narrators, of which the scholar Abdelghani Ibn Said Almisri says: he is the best expert in his time of the hadeeths of the Messenger of Allah (s) reported from Malik according to Nafi according to Ibn Omar, therefore a person like Muhamad being alone to report this refutable and invented hadeeth is a most obvious proof of his bad faith, his lie and rejection of his words. The hadeeths reported by Malik according to Nafi according to Ibn Omar are indexed, known and counted and are reported by the faithful narrators of Muwatta and others, and this hadeeth is not part of them. Malik has never reported it nor heard about it; and if it did belong to his hadeeths his eminent pupils would have urged to report it, and even if one of his great pupils was alone to report it the ulamas would be doubtful about it and would consider it as a refutable and strange hadeeth. So what to say when no reliable narrator reported it.

Ashawkani, may Allah grant him His Mercy, says: “Whoever achieves the pilgrimage to the House (Kaaba) and does not visit me has left me”: Assaghani says it is invented, like Azzarkashi and Ibn Aljawzi. Muhamad Ibn Dirweesh mentioned in “Noble Research”: it is not authentic. Sheikh Albani said in “the Weak Ones” (45): invented. The scholar Adhahabi mentions it in “the Balance” (3/237) like Assaghani in “the Invented Hadeeths” (P6) and Azzarkachi and Achawkani in: “Regrouping Knowledge on Invented Hadeeths” (P42). I say: and its default is Muhamad ibn Muhamad Ibn Annooman Ibn Shibl or his grandfather who says: Malik told us according to Nafi according to Ibn Omar from the Prophet (s). It is mentioned by Ibn Adiy (7/2480) and Ibn Hibban in “the Weak Ones” (2/73) quoted by Ibn Aljawzi in “Invented” (2/217) and they said: “he allegates catastrophic hadeeths on honest narrators, and backward ones on reliable narrators”; Ibn Aljawzi adds: Addaraqutni says: the defect is Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Annooman.

It results from this study that the narrator Muhammed Ibn Muhamed Ibn Nooman ibn Shibl is a liar who invented hadeeths with chains of narrators passing through his grandfather. The hadeeth he invented which caused the most comments from ulamas is the hadeeth concerning the visit of the tomb of prophet (s) during the pilgrimage and it is clear that this subject caused the attention of the ulamas in all times because the pilgrims would ask about it each time. The hadeeth mentioning the names of the 7 sleepers was treated less, but we find some ulamas who analyzed it.

The hadeeth was asked about to the Saudi Arabia fatwa committee chaired by Ibn Baz may Allah grant him mercy and he said: they are only absurdities. Fatwa volume 2 P265. An article in aluka.net on the israeeliyat of ashabul kahf explains after a detailed research that ALL information concerning the names and attributes of the sleepers and their dog do not come from the revelation, but from the news of the Jews and from pure fabrications.

I return now to tafseer Annisapoori, his quotation of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, on the uses of the names does not mention any narrator. Just before, Annisapoori stated that the first hadeeth of Ibn Abbas reported by Tabarani is authentic, yet it is an invented hadeeth. What to say of a hadeeth which mentions no narrator and which - to my knowledge - is untraceable: there is no trace of it in the collections of hadeeth and no resemblance with any existing hadeeth.

Ibn Katheer says: Annisapoori often qualifies hadeeths to be authentic too easily, he even sometimes says: authentic according to the criteria of Bukhari and Muslim (that means that the narrators of this hadeeth are regarded as reliable and authentic by Bukhari and Muslim, therefore the hadeeth has the same reliability as those reported by Bukhari and Muslim) whereas other ulamas check it out and find it invented. Dhahabi and Nawawee emit same criticisms on Annisapoori.

As a result the word of Annisapoori cannot authenticate a hadeeth, as we saw for the first hadeeth of Ibn Abbas reported by Tabarani, with stronger reason when Annisapoori himself does not quote any narrator of the hadeeth, but just: Ibn Abbas says.

The result is that these two hadeeths do not exist. You will find them on the Net in the sites of fortune tellers and “spiritual healers”, wizards and satanists hiding behind a veil of Islam and justifying themselves with this false hadeeth. Unfortunately, I also found it on the site of Amr Khalid and some sites of stories for children; I hope somebody will inform him to withdraw it.

I believe this matter is of an extreme gravity because here is a person, a liar, inventor of hadeeths, named Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Nooman Ibn Shibl, who was the origin of a practice of talismans, followed by many many ulamas who were misled by these hadeeths he invented and did not do all the checking, so he was the source of a widespread shirk in the Umma. Look at the hadeeth: it says that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, mentioned the 7 names, then Mohamed adds: my father said that he was informed that these names would extinguish a fire! Look how he completely releases himself from the constraints of the hadeeth by saying that his father told him (no way to check) that he heard (from an anonymous source) that these names would extinguish a fire! Doesn’t that confirm the bad intention and the perversion of this person? This led me to want to know more about him, and here is what I found.

It is mentioned in: alkamil fi-dduaafa:

1956. Annooman Ibn Shibl Albahili Albasri. I heard Ibrahim Ibn Muhamad Ibn Issa say: I heard Musa Ibn Haroon Alhammal say: Annooman Ibn Shibl Albasri was accused. According to Salih Ibn Ahmad Ibn Abi Muqatil from Imran Ibn Addajaji said: according to Annooman Ibn Shibl who was faithful according to Orwa according to Aïcha: the Messenger of Allah (s) said: “Do not ask for the assistance of an idol worshipper”. According to Ahmad Ibn Alhasan Alqummi, according to Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Noomane Ibn Shibl, my grandfather told me: Malik told me according to Nafi according to Ibn Omar, the Messenger of Allah (s) said: “Praying sitting is worth half the prayer upright”. According to Ibn Ishaq, according to Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Noomane Ibn Shibl: my grandfather told me: Malik told me according to Nafi according to Ibn Omar: Allah’s Messenger (s) said: “Whoever achieves the pilgrimage at the House and does not visit me has left me”. With the same chain: the Messenger of Allah (s) said: “Whoever achieves the pilgrimage at the house and doesn’t commit sexual act nor perversion will return as the day his mother brought him in this world”. The sheik said: these hadeeths according to Nafi according to Ibn Omar reported by Annooman Ibn Shibl according to Malik, are not reported of Malik by anybody else according to my knowledge. Many ulamas of Basra and others wrote the hadeeths of Annooman Ibn Shibl in Basra and I did not see a single one of his hadeeths that meets the conditions to be mentioned like reliable.

and on sahab.net

7. Aboul Qasim Ibn Bichrane reports in “the Hopes” (N°192) and Alhakim in his History as mentioned in “the Treasury of the Workers” (1/83) according to Ahmad Ibn Abu Tiba according to Annooman according to Assadfi according to Ibn Nafi according to Ibn Omar: the Messenger of Allah (s) said: “some people will come and say: there is no destiny; then they will go into apostasy. If you meet them, do not greet them, if they fall sick do not visit them and if they die do not attend their funeral because they are the partisans of the Antichrist and the atheist of this community. It is up to Allah to gather them with them”. And Annooman Ibn Shibl Albahili is accused to invent the hadeeths.

So all he did is to report hadeeths mentioned nowhere else. You imagine what that means? We already mentioned how ulamas deal with a hadeeth narrated by only one person. Now look at this:

In Islamic research of the committee of fatwa of Saudi Arabia, by explaining the hadeeth ghareeb (which has a single narrator) and his consequences, one gives the following example:

In the answer of Ibn Abdel Hadi to Assabki, when the latter used a hadeeth reported by a single narratorr known for lie and invention, Ibn Abdel Hadi spoke on the fact that a narrator is alone to report a hadeeth and what the ulamas think of it and said: “It is known to whoever has a minimum of knowledge of the hadeeth that a hadeeth reported by only one person like Mohammed Ibn Mohammed Ibn Annooman Ibn Shibl known for lie and forgery of hadeeths on his grandfather Annooman Ibn Shibl who is not known for his integrity…”

This narrator is given as an example! Already known for his lies, if he narrates a hadeeth from a famous narrator of hadeeths, and he is the only one to mention it, how is that possible? This famous narrator has many reliable and authentic pupils who report all his hadeeths in an identical way, and each hadeeth is reported by many of them, how come this individual narrated from him a hadeeth that no one else heard? The answer is obvious: it’s just another lie.

Here is another story reported in aicpmi.org the site of Ahbash:

Almazali Almarrakshi deceased on 683 H reports in: “Clarifying Darkness for those which beg the help of the best creature (s) in awakening and sleep”, revised by Hussin Muhamad Ali Assukri, Scientific Books Publishers, Beirut P21 to 23. Abul Qasim Abdurrahman Ibn Makki informed us according to Abul Qasim Khalaf Ibn Abdulmalik according to Abu Muhamad, according to Hatim Ibn Muhamad, Abu Umar Almuqri, Abu Muhamad Ibn Qasim, Abdallah Ibn Muhamad Albasri, Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Alfadhl Alahwazi, according to Abu Shibl Muhamad Ibn Annooman Ibn Shibl Albahili who says: I entered Madina and I arrived at the grave of the Prophet (s). A nomad came on his camel, sat it down and attached it. He entered the noble tomb, gave a good greeting and addressed beautiful prayers. Then he said: “I would sacrifice for you my father and mother, O Messenger of Allah! Allah chose you for His revelation, He descended on you a Book where He gathered the knowledge of first and last people, and He says in His Book and His words are true: “If only when they did wrong to themselves they had come to you and ask Allah’s forgiveness, the Messenger would have prayed for their forgiveness and they would have found Allah accepting repentance and Merciful” (soorat Women). Thus I come to you admitting my sins and asking Your Lord to forgive me for your sake, because that is His promise. Then he turned to the tomb and said in poetry:

Of all those whose bones are buried, you are the best.

Your bones bless the ground and the surroundings.

You are the prophet whose intercession is hoped,

On the Bridge when the foot stumbles,

May my soul be sacrificed for a tomb where you lie,

Containing purity, kindness and generosity.

(And in a version) And your two companions, I will never forget them,

Do receive my salam as long as the Pen will write”.

Then he climbed his camel and I did not doubt - by the will of Allah - that he had left with forgiveness; never such profound words were heard.

Mohammed Ibn Abdallah Alotbi mentioned this story and added in the end: I fell asleep and the prophet (s) came in my dream and said: “Otbi! Catch up the nomad and tell him Allah has forgiven him! »

Here, the situation is reversed. Instead of Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Nooman Ibn Shibl reporting hadeeths, other people are reporting his words (although there is a slip between Muhamad and Muhamad Ibn Muhamad). This man who invented hadeeths, how can we believe the stories he tells on himself? And this story is a reference for the tawassul: to ask Allah by the value of the Prophet (s), and to travel to visit the grave of the Prophet (s) especially to present one’s requests to Allah because they would be accepted in this way, and by extension to travel to visit the graves of the saints hoping the prayers will be accepted there and misfortunes solved. We are not surprised to see this story on the website of Ahbash, a group, if you do not know them, may Allah not get you to know them.

This story causes some reactions to me. His word: “I don’t doubt - in sha Allah - that he left forgiven” leaves me amazed. You hear a person addressing an enthusiastic prayer to Allah after a great action of devotion, you are impressed and you are convinced - in sha Allah - that his prayer is accepted. Are the action and the prayer the essential thing or the effect that they had on you and your intimate conviction that that prayer is accepted? What is worth the guarantee you bring to this act? Did we ever hear sahabas or great pious people emitting this kind of appreciation or giving a personal guarantee? Can one judge an act of piousness by the impression it had on a famous person? Of course the Prophet (s) said in several occasions that Allah forgave such person by his action, but that is part of the revelation.

The only other example I can think of is Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, the night of Badr, saying to the Prophet (s) who had extensively begged Allah to grant the victory: “You begged enough your Lord, your Lord will not let you down”. Indeed, we all believe that the duaa of the Prophet (s) will be accepted, particularly in this situation of Badr where Allah had already promised the victory. When sahabas, may Allah be pleased with them, appreciated an action very much, they would say: I heard rasool Allah (s) saying such and such about this action. But the problem with Muhamad Ibn Muhamad Ibn Nooman is that there is no hadeeth encouraging that action, so it is his own word he is putting forward to give importance to his story and to impose it as genuine piousness whereas this rule does not exist in Islam: to travel to visit the grave of Prophet (s), in order to be forgiven. Is it not him who invented this hadeeth: “Whoever carries out the pilgrimage and does not visit me has left me”? that puts on the same level the pilgrimage, fifth pillar of Islam, with the visit of the tomb of the Prophet (s) that the Prophet has never recommended. To corroborate his hadeeth, he invents a story on the subject.

My other remark is the multiplicity of the versions: in another version, one more verse. In another version, as soon as the nomad left, he fell asleep and the Prophet (s) asks him in dream to catch up the nomad and announce to him that he is forgiven! How easy it is! I saw the Prophet (s) in my dream and he said this and that to me. Anyone who sees the Prophet (s) in dream has really seen him, therefore you must believe me. But the one who lies by inventing hadeeths, can much more easily invent dreams. The multiplicity of the versions means for me the evolution of his story through time: one invents a wonderful story to impress the mass, and after a certain time, he says: “Oh! If I add this it will be even better” and clac! A new version appears.