The Hadith: 'My earth and My heavens cannot encompass Me, but the heart of My believing servant encompasses Me'

Q 2:What is the degree of authenticity of the following Hadiths: A- "My earth and My heavens cannot encompass Me, but the heart of My believing servant encompasses Me." (Part No. 3; Page No. 274) B- Abu Sa`id said: I performed Hajj with `Umar, and when he began Tawaf (circumambulation of the Ka`bah), he faced Al-Hajar Al-Aswad (the Black Stone in a corner of the Ka`bah) and said, 'I know that you are a stone that can neither harm nor benefit anyone. If I had not seen the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) kissing you I would not have kissed you.' Thereupon, `Aly said, 'No, O Commander of the Believers, it can benefit and harm.' `Umar said, 'How?' `Aly answered, 'With the Book of Allah, as Allah (Exalted be He) states: And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (or from Adam’s loin his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): “Am I not your Lord?” They said: “Yes!" Allah created Adam, passed His hand over his back, made them testify that He is his Lord and he is His servant, took his covenant and wrote it on a paper. This stone had two eyes and a tongue. Allah ordered it to open its mouth, put the paper in it and ordered it to testify for the sincere people on the Day of Judgment.' `Aly added, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying: Al-Hajar Al-Aswad will be brought on the Day of Judgment with a slippery tongue to testify for whomever faced it and was a believer. O Commander of the Believers, now you know that it can benefit and harm.' `Umar said, 'O Abu Al-Hasan, I seek refuge in Allah to live among people you are not one of them.'

A: Shaykh Isma`il ibn Muhammad Al-`Ajluni in vol. 2 of his book Kashf Al-Khafa' wa Muzil Al-Ilbas commented on this Hadith saying:It was mentioned in Al-Ihya' with the wording: "Allah stated, 'Not the heavens nor the earth encompasses me, but the tender heart of my believing servant does.'" Al-`Iraqy said in (Part No. 3; Page No. 275) his comment on this Hadith: "I know of no origin to this Hadith. The author of Al-Durar agreed with him following the criticism of Al-Zarkashy." Then Al-`Iraqy said: "In the Hadith narrated by Abu `Utbah and recorded by Al-Tabarany, he said: The vessels of your Lord are the hearts of His righteous servants, and the most beloved to Him are the hearts that are most tender." Ibn Taymiyyah said: "It is mentioned in the Israelite narrations (reported from the Jews) with no authentic reported Sanad (chain of narrators) traced back to the Prophet (peace be upon him)."The author of Al-Makasid said following the opinion of his Shaykh mentioned in Al-La'li': "It has no authentic Sanad reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him). It means that the heart of the Muslim is full of Iman (faith) and knowledge about Allah. Otherwise, whoever says that Allah dwells in people's hearts, is more emphatically a disbeliever than the Christians who attribute this characteristic to Christ only, and he mentioned the Israelite narrations including what was related by Ahmad in the Chapter on Zuhd on the authority of Wahb ibn Munabbih who said: Allah opened the heavens to Hazqil and he looked at the Throne and said: O Allah, Praise be to You. Allah said: The heavens and earth could not encompass me, but the heart of my tender believing servant did. It was found in the writings of Al-Zarkashy that some scholars said: This is a batil (null and void) Hadith introduced by atheists, and is frequently narrated by `Aly ibn Wafa for his own purposes. He even says: When you feel the desire to dance, circumambulate the house of your Lord."B- Al-Dhahaby said, after mentioning the Hadith in his summary of the Hadiths of (Part No. 3; Page No. 276) Al-Mustadrak, that its Sanad contains Abu Harun Al-`Abdy whose Hadith is rejected and is not valid. Abu Zur`ah and Abu Hatim said: "His Hadith is Da`if (weak)." Al-Nasa'y said: "He is Matruk (a narrator whose Hadith transmission was discarded due to unreliability)." Moreover, Al-Jawzajani said: "He is a liar and his name is `Umarah ibn Guwaydah." Ibn Ma`in said: "He is not trustworthy and is a liar." Ibn `Ulayyah said: "He used to tell lies in Hadiths." `Uthman ibn Abu Shaybah said the same. Likewise, Ibn `Abdul-Bar said: "Hadith scholars agreed on classifying the Hadiths he narrated as Da`if."May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.