Clarifying the Weakness of the Story of the Cranes
By Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Albani
Summarised from the author’s introduction:
On the 14th July 1952, I received a letter from one of the dear scholars amongst our honourable brothers from Pakistan, where he had been dispatched for an academic purpose. He asked me my opinion regarding the hadith of al-gharānīq, over which the views of two great huffāz (hadith masters) have differed: Ibn Kathīr of Damascus, who rejected it, and Ibn Hajar of Egypt, who considered it strong.
Then, one of the beloved [brothers] met me after the ‘Id al-Adha prayer of this year (1371H) and he too asked me about the hadith of al-gharānīq. I responded to him that it is not authentic, rather it is false and fabricated. He then mentioned to me that one of the youth amongst those whose hearts contain disease had used it as evidence to claim that the Prophet ﷺ (and far is he above such a thing) would speak words that pleased the polytheists in order to attract them to him. According to this false claim, the Prophet ﷺ was not a truthful Prophet, but rather pretended to be one in order to assume leadership over them, as some atheists have foolishly claimed – both past and present.
[Upon completion of this response,] it came to be a unique treatise in its subject, powerful in its content, one that removes the confusion of the believing brother and shatters the doubt of the foolish atheist.
