Is this hadith sahih

Question

عن حذيفة بن أسِيد: سمعت رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - يقول: «إنّ النُّطفة التي تُخلَقُ منها النَّسَمَةُ تطير في المرأة أربعين يومًا وأربعين ليلة، فلا يبقى منها شعرٌ ولا بشرٌ ولا عِرقٌ ولا عظمٌ إلا دخله، حتى إنها لَتَدخُلُ بين الظُّفُر واللحم، فإذا مضى لها أربعون ليلة وأربعون يومًا أهبطه الله إلى الرحم.

This is long hadith: I am just quoting the top part.

Translate: Hudhayfah ibn Asid reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say:

"Indeed, the sperm-drop from which a human being is created flies within the woman for forty days and forty nights. Nothing of it remains from hair, skin, vein, or bone except that it enters into it, even entering between the nail and the flesh. After forty nights and forty days have passed, Allah sends it down to the womb

This is reported by Imam suyuti: link to his book: https://shamela.ws/book/12884/4020

Ibn hajar called one of the narrator liar from the chain mentioned by al-wahidi in his tafsir, and it was graded very weak

This narration from imam suyuti I didn't find anyone else reporting or commenting on it.

Does anyone know if this sahih or what's scholarly opinion on it?

Answer 1

This hadith is almost certainly false, and that can be known through four way (and keep these in mind for future questions like this):

1. The hadith is munkar: It contradicts stronger narrations. Specifically, the narration of Abdullah ibn Masud (RA) in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim specifies that "The creation of each of you is gathered in the belly of your mother for forty nights." This is a clear opposite of what this narration claims, which is that it only comes to the belly on the forty-first night!

   It is well-known in hadith sciences that a hadith that contradicts stronger hadith is rejected out of hand. There is nothing stronger than a hadith both Bukhari and Muslim agree upon.

   This narration also contradicts the Quran which says ⟪Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm lodging. Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot⟫ (23:14), and what the hadith says is the opposite of it being in a firm lodging then turning into a clot.

2. The books of tafsir are filled with weak hadith. If you only find a hadith in a book of tafsir but not in any of the books of hadith, know that it is weak until proven otherwise.

   Imam Ahmad reportedly said: "Tafsir has no sources" referring to how ahadith in books of tafsir are usually unreliable.

3. More generally, if an obscure narration exists in only some extraneous books, know that it is weak until proven otherwise. The fact that it is not corroborated in any of the major collections is a sign there is something seriously wrong with it. That is why it was not included by the hadith scholars. So, whenever you see someone quote a hadith but it is not found in any of the famous collections but only found in one of the more obscure books like Tafasir, or Tabarani, or the Musnad of Bazzar, it is weak until proven otherwise.

   A hadith can become weak because of its gharabah (solitariness), meaning only one chain brought it. This is often the case when a hadith only exists in one later book but not the early collections.

   To underline this, Tirmidhi says after quoting the hadith of Abdullah ibn Masud: "And there are ahadith from Abu Hurairah and Anas on this topic" and he does not mention any hadith from Hudhaifah ibn Aseed. Either he never even heard of it (which is a bad sign) or he thought it was worthless (which is also a bad sign). Even the ahadith from Abu Hurairah and Anas (RA) are not in the best shape, so if he mentions them but not this hadith, it is even worse than them!

4. The hadith contradicts basic medical knowledge. Anyone who knows that can take it as an obvious giveaway the hadith is problematic.

As for the Tafsir of Ibn Mardawayh, it does not exist in a full form for us to check its chain. So, Suyuti's quotation is entirely useless for the hadith. It remains inauthentic until proven otherwise.

I did look at the chain of Wahidi, and it is terrible. Majhul narrators after poor-memory narrators after fabricators. It is not in a state that a chain or two from Ibn Mardawayh would fix anything.

In conclusion, the refusal of the scholars of hadith to bring this hadith in their books is enough evidence that it is baseless, but there are many signs to know the hadith is weak.