In the Courts of the Hadith Qudsi (television programme)

Fi rihab al-hadith al-qudsi ("In the courts of the hadith qudsi") is a filmed television programme of which the Assabile archive keeps thirty episodes, each about half an hour long. Every episode opens with the reading of a hadith, naming the collection that records it and the Companion who reports it. The programme's presenter then explains it in a commentary that brings together verses, the views of the commentators and science films on the cosmos, the body and animals, and segments are inserted in which Muhammad Mutawalli al-Sha'rawi speaks on the same hadith. ^{1 2 3} The first episode begins by defining the hadith qudsi and its place between the Qur'an and the prophetic hadith. ^{4 5}

Some of the hadiths the programme presents in this series are prophetic hadiths that the Prophet ﷺ does not attribute to his Lord, such as the hadith of Adam's creation, the hadith of the stages of the embryo, the hadith of the tooth-stick and the hadith of the rabbi. ^{6 7 8 9} After its opening, episode 16 repeats most of the material of episode 15, and episode 19 repeats segments of episodes 17 and 18; only the first occurrence is used here. ^{10 11} What al-Sha'rawi says on this page is his view, attributed to him; the scientific readings of verses given by the presenter are the programme's view, attributed to it, not a judgement of the museum.

Episode 1, the witness of the limbs. A hadith in which the Prophet laughs at a servant's dispute with his Lord on the Day of Judgement; the presenter says Muslim records it from Anas ibn Malik (may God be pleased with him). ¹² Al-Sha'rawi explains that what the Prophet conveyed from his Lord is of two parts: the Qur'an, by which God challenged the Arabs in the art they excelled in, and another speech that carries no challenge and is not recited in worship, the hadith qudsi. ^{13 14 15} He then says that the limbs are not held to account but only bear witness, and that punishment falls on the conscious self, not on the limb. ¹⁶ The material is under the Day of Resurrection.

Episode 2, the gift of the senses. A hadith in which God lists to a servant on the Day of Judgement what He gave him; the presenter attributes it to al-Tirmidhi from Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him) and Abu Sa'id al-Khudri. ¹⁷ The presenter explains hearing, sight and the hearts (af'ida), holding that the af'ida are not senses but the sum of the faculties of awareness and reason. ¹⁸ Al-Sha'rawi says that whatever a person learns he is tested in, and that the chain of teachers goes back to a first teacher who can only be God. ^{19 20}

Episode 3, rain and the stars. The hadith of al-Hudaybiya on those who woke believing in God and those who credited the rain to a star, from Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani (may God be pleased with him), as the presenter states. ²¹ The presenter distinguishes ghayth from matar in Qur'anic usage, and al-Sha'rawi says that the stars have a function assigned by their Creator and no power of their own. ^{22 23} The material is under al-anwa'.

Episode 4, the challenge to create an atom. A hadith in which God challenges whoever would create as He creates to create an atom or a grain, as the presenter reads it from al-Bukhari from Abu Hurayra. ²⁴ The presenter reviews the history of atomic theory. ²⁵ Al-Sha'rawi says that creating is bringing into being from nothing, that God did not withhold the word from people, attributing it to others and describing Himself as the finest of those who create, but that what a person makes is inert, without life, and does not reproduce. ^{26 27 28}

Episode 5, the whisper "who created God?". The hadith of people asking questions until they ask who created God, from Muslim from Anas, as the presenter states. ²⁹ The material is under whispering.

Episode 6, Adam's creation and the greeting of peace. The hadith of Adam created sixty cubits tall and greeting the angels, from al-Bukhari through Ma'mar from Hammam from Abu Hurayra, as the presenter states. ⁶ The material is under Adam.

Episode 7, the stages of the embryo. Ibn Mas'ud's hadith on the stages and the angel who writes provision, term, deeds and wretchedness or happiness, from al-Bukhari, as the presenter states. ⁷ The material is under the unborn child and divine decree.

Episode 8, the mountains and what is stronger. The hadith of the swaying earth steadied by the mountains and the angels' question about what is stronger, from al-Tirmidhi from Anas, as the presenter states. ³⁰ Al-Sha'rawi argues from the verses on mountains that the earth moves, with the image of a train passenger who sees the telegraph poles run past. ^{31 32} He says the charity of the right hand hidden from the left is stronger than the wind, because its giver has overcome the wish to be seen and has spared the dignity of the one who takes. ³³

Episode 9, the sick and the angels. The hadith of the two angels sent to a sick person, from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from 'Ata' ibn Yasar, as the presenter states. ³⁴ The material is under trial.

Episode 10, the prophet and the ant colony. The hadith of the prophet stung by an ant who had the colony burned, from al-Bukhari from Abu Hurayra, as the presenter states. ³⁵ The material is under anger and Sulayman.

Episode 11, Yunus son of Matta. The hadith forbidding a servant to say he is better than Yunus son of Matta, from al-Bukhari from Ibn Abbas, as the presenter states. ³⁶ The material is under Yunus.

Episode 12, Musa and the righteous servant. The hadith of Musa and the righteous servant at the meeting of the two seas, from al-Bukhari through Sa'id ibn Jubayr from Ibn Abbas from Ubayy ibn Ka'b, as the presenter states. ³⁷ The material is under al-Khidr. Al-Sha'rawi says that Surat al-Kahf holds "caves" of hidden matters: the first is the people of the cave, and another is the owner of the two gardens who thought his wealth came from his own skill, which he calls "the cave of causes". ^{38 39}

Episode 13, al-Kawthar. The hadith of the revelation of Surat al-Kawthar after the Prophet dozed, from al-Nasa'i from Anas ibn Malik, as the presenter states. ^{40 41} The material is under al-Kawthar.

Episode 14, the two breaths of the Fire. The hadith of the Fire's complaint to its Lord and His permitting it two breaths, from al-Bukhari from Abu Hurayra, as the presenter states. ⁴² The material is under Jahannam.

Episodes 15 and 16, the slaughter of death. The hadith of death brought on the Day of Resurrection and slaughtered, from the authors of the Sunan from Abu Hurayra, as the presenter states. ⁴³ Episode 16 opens with Suhayb's hadith on the people of the Garden seeing their Lord, then repeats the material of episode 15. ⁴⁴ The material is under the Day of Resurrection and the vision of God.

Episodes 17, 18 and 19, the covenant. The hadith of the covenant taken from Adam's back at Na'man, from Ahmad through Sa'id ibn Jubayr from Ibn Abbas, as the presenter states, and the hadith challenging whoever would create as God creates to make a gnat or a grain. ^{45 46} The material is under Adam's descendants latent in him. In episode 18 al-Sha'rawi says that the image-maker does not create but imitates God's creation, and that a picture gives the form of a thing without its effects. ⁴⁷ He relates that on the desert road to Alexandria he saw the sand scour the number plates off the cars, as proof that every meeting of two things changes each of them. ^{48 49}

Episode 20, the people of 'Arafat. The hadith of God boasting to the angels of the people of 'Arafat, from Ahmad from Abu Hurayra, as the presenter states. ⁵⁰ The material is under 'Arafat.

Episode 21, the tooth-stick and the descent. The hadith of the tooth-stick at every ablution and the delaying of the night prayer, followed by the hadith of the descent in the last part of the night, from Ahmad, as the presenter states. ⁸ The material is under the miswak.

Episode 22, fasting set apart for God. The hadith in which God sets fasting apart as His alone among a person's deeds, from Ahmad from Abu Hurayra, as the presenter states. ⁵¹ The material is under fasting.

Episode 23, loving the meeting with God. The hadith matching a servant's love of meeting his Lord with God's love of meeting him, from al-Bukhari from Abu Hurayra and in another version from 'Ubada ibn al-Samit (may God be pleased with him), as the presenter states. ⁵² The material is under love for God.

Episode 24, the earth grasped and the heavens folded. The hadith of God grasping the earth on the Day of Resurrection and folding the heavens, from al-Bukhari from Abu Hurayra, as the presenter states. ⁵³ The presenter describes the solar system and the galaxy. ⁵⁴ The material is under the Day of Resurrection.

Episode 25, the womb and kinship. The hadith of the name of kinship (al-rahim) derived from the name al-Rahman, from Ahmad from Abu Hurayra and from al-Tirmidhi from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf, as the presenter states. ⁵⁵ The material is under kinship ties.

Episode 26, the loss of sight. The hadith of one whom God tries with the loss of his sight and who is patient, whom He compensates with the Garden, from al-Bukhari from Anas, as the presenter states. ⁵⁶ The material is under patience.

Episode 27, the address to the son of Adam. The hadith of God's promise to forgive whoever calls on Him and hopes in Him, however many his sins, so long as he associates nothing with Him, from al-Tirmidhi from Anas, as the presenter states. ⁵⁷ The material is under seeking forgiveness and Adam.

Episode 28, those who love one another for God. The hadith of those who love one another for God's majesty and whom He shades on the Day of Resurrection, from Muslim from Abu Hurayra, as the presenter states. ⁵⁸ The material is under love for God.

Episode 29, the rabbi and the fingers. The hadith of the rabbi who said God would hold the heavens and earths on fingers, at which the Prophet laughed and recited the verse of al-Zumar, from Muslim from Ibn Mas'ud, as the presenter states. ⁹ The material is under the vision of God.

Episode 30, the angel and the drop. The hadith of the angel who enters upon the drop after forty or forty-five nights, from Muslim from Abu al-Tufayl from Hudhayfa ibn Asid, as the presenter states. ⁵⁹ The material is under the unborn child and divine decree.

In episodes 4 and 6 both al-Sha'rawi and the programme's presenter reject the view that the human being evolved from another kind, and in many episodes the presenter offers scientific readings of verses and hadiths in the manner of the "scientific miracle" (al-i'jaz al-'ilmi). These are views attributed to those who hold them: