A POPULAR HADEETH ON MOOSA [AS] BUT WHICH IS IN FACT A FABRICATED HADEETH

A POPULAR HADEETH ON MOOSA [AS] BUT WHICH IS IN FACT A FABRICATED HADEETH:

"Once Moosa [as] asked Allah Ta'ala: 'O Allaah ! you have granted me the honor and privilege of talking to you directly, Have you given this privilege to any other person?' Allaah Ta'ala replied, 'O Moosa during the last period I am going to send an ummat, who will be the Ummat of Mohammad [Sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam] withdry lips, parched tongues, emaciated body with eyes sunken deep into their sockets, with livers dry and stomachs suffering the pangs of hunger- will call out to me (in dua) they will be much much closer to me than you O Moosa! While you speak to me there are 70000 veils between you and me but at the time of iftaar there will not be a single veil between me and the fasting Ummati of Mohammed [sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam]"

This is a FABRICATED hadeeth. It was narrated except in a few books whose authors filled them with fabricated reports, false reports, stories and myths.

In the matn [text] of this hadeeth there is something which indicates that it is munkar [i.e., unsound], which is the words "I will be closer to one of them than you" – referring to Moosa [as]. It is well known in Muslim belief that the Messengers and Prophets are better than all other humans, and Moosa is one of the Messengers of strong will, so how can Allaah be closer to His slaves than to His Prophet Moosa [as], of whom He said (interpretation of the meaning): "And We called him from the right side of the Mount, and made him draw near to Us for a talk with him" [Maryam 19:52]? And Ibn 'Abbaas [Radhiyallahu 'anhum] said: He drew so close that he heard the scratching of the Pen – i.e., writing the Tawrat (Torah). See: Tafsir al-Qur’an il-‘Azim by al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (5/237).

To sum up: The hadeeth mentioned is not in any of the reliable books, so it is not permissible to attribute it the Messenger of Allaah [sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam] or to believe what it says.