A Critical Reassessment of Fabricated Narratives Depicting the Prophet’s Character: A Case Study of the Hadith “Lā Ashbaʿa Allāhu Baṭnahu”

This study examines certain narrations found in Sunni hadith sources that present an image of the Prophet’s conduct and moral character incompatible with the ethical biography reported in the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah. According to these traditions, the Prophet (peace be upon him) allegedly cursed, reproached, or invoked harm upon some individuals without a clear cause, and later sought forgiveness for them. The significance of this research lies in the fact that such narrations not only contradict the definitive teachings of the Qur’an and the infallible character of the Prophet (peace be upon him), but also appear to have been fabricated by particular ideological–historical movements to achieve doctrinal objectives—namely, to neutralize or justify reports in which the Prophet criticized certain individuals and notorious families in Islamic history, such as the Umayyads. Using a descriptive–analytical method and a critical approach, this paper investigates a representative example of such traditions from both the perspectives of chain of transmission (isnād) and content (dalālah). The findings indicate that the hadith “lā ashbaʿa Allāhu baṭnahu” (“May God never fill his stomach”)—purportedly uttered by the Prophet regarding Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān—is transmitted through an apparently sound chain and cited in primary Sunni sources. However, since its content conflicts with widely accepted Sunni beliefs about Muʿāwiyah’s status, Sunni scholars have resorted to unfounded reinterpretations and have overlooked historical evidence to reconcile the discrepancy.