Please read the above post ( no 2) before reading this post. -- About the Narration: The scholars of my ummah are like the prophets of Bani Israel. I have recently come across an article which states that this hadith cannot be called as ‘mawdu’. The author writes : 1. Those who have called it as ‘mawdu’ have not explained its reason for being ‘mawdu’. 2. The hadith has been quoted by Imam Razi (Rh) in his tafsir under Sura Yunus, ayah 57 (10:57), which means Imam Razi did not consider this hadith to be ‘mawdu’. http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=4&tSoraNo=10&tAyahNo=57&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 3. Imam Shadhili (Rh) had a dream in which he saw prophet (sal allahu alayhi wa sallam) along with other prophets [alayhimus salam]. Sayyedina Musa (alayhis salam) said to the the the Prophet, Imam al anbiya, the leader of the mankid and the Jinn (sal allahu alayhi wa sallam): “You have said that the scholars of my ummah are like the prophets of Bani Israel”, so (please) showe me one such scholar.The prophet (sal allahu alayhi wa sallam) pointed towards Imam Ghazali (Rh) and said “he”. This has been narrated by Imam al-Khafaji (Rh) in his book Naeem al-Riyadh. From this incidence it is seen that when Musa (alayhis salam) quoted the narration, the prophet (sal allahu alayhi wa sallam) did not object. Hence it cannot be called ‘mawdu” [ End of quote ] -- I have posted this so that the learned and the interested members of this forum can share their views.
There are few variants to this report: in some reports it is mentioned "Better than the prophets of Bani Israel" it is mentioned in the book Fayd al-Qadir Sharh Jami al-Saghir by al-Munawi فائدة: سئل الحافظ العراقي عما اشتهر على الألسنة من حديث علماء أمتي كأنبياء بني إسرائيل فقال: لا أصل له ولا إسناد بهذا اللفظ ويغني عنه العلماء ورثة الأنبياء وهو حديث صحيح. Hafiz al-Iraqi was about this hadith and he said: "no basis for it and no isnad" For more about this Hadith check Kashf al-Khafa 64/2 of Ajluni , al-Fuaid al-Majmooah p. 286 of Shawkani, Suyuti in Durur, Sakhawi in Maqasid who said, "our shaykh meaning Ibn Hajar, said that it has no basis" , The Sufi master, Sayyid Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh also said same (that is it no hadith) as reported by his student Ibn al-Mubarak in kitaab al-Ibriz
:s1: Some "Sunnis" are claiming that the hadith sharif, "The scholars of my ummat are like the prophets of Bani Israel" is fabricated and give, amongst other hadith masters, Imam Suyuti, as a reference for their claim. Is this true? (Apparently, according to the (il)logic of these people, this hadith is the 'basis' of the 'concocted fairytale' about Imam Ghazali's soul being presented to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم on the night of Miraj. Thus methinks this is another attempt to stop the praise of al-Ghazali whom they, protestations notwithstanding, do not really like as their past comments attest.)