The Quran Has 1,027,000 Letters" — Is This Hadith Authentic?
A narration attributed to Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) and traced to the Prophet ﷺ claims that the Quran consists of one million and twenty-seven thousand letters, and that whoever recites it patiently seeking reward will receive a wife from the houris for every letter. This narration has been examined by the major hadith scholars across six centuries and is ruled fabricated due to a single problematic narrator in its chain.
The Hadith Text
Chain: Muhammad ibn Ubayd ibn Adam ibn Abi Iyas al-Asqalani → his father → his grandfather Adam ibn Abi Iyas → Hafs ibn Maysarah → Zayd ibn Aslam → his father → Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) → Prophet ﷺ
Al-Tabarani noted: “It is not narrated from Umar except with this chain of transmission. It is unique to Hafs ibn Maysarah.”
The Classical Scholars’ Rulings
Al-Dhahabi — Mizan al-I’tidal (748 AH), Part 3, p. 639
“He is the only one who narrated a false report.” Al-Tabarani said: Muhammad ibn Ubayd told us, my father told us, on the authority of my grandfather, on the authority of Hafs ibn Maysarah, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Umar — with a chain traceable to the Prophet ﷺ. Al-Tabarani said in hisMu’jam al-Awsat: “It is not narrated from Umar except with this chain of transmission.”
Al-Haythami — Majma’ al-Zawa’id (807 AH), Part 7, p. 163
Al-Suyuti — Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran (911 AH), Part 1, p. 190
“Al-Tabarani narrated on the authority of Umar ibn al-Khattab, with a chain traceable to the Prophet ﷺ, that the Quran is one thousand thousand letters and twenty-seven thousand letters. Its men are trustworthy — except for the sheikh of al-Tabarani, Muhammad ibn Ubayd ibn Adam, about whom al-Dhahabi spoke because of this hadith. This was also attributed to what was abrogated from the Quran, since what is available now does not reach this number in any way.”
Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi — Kanz al-Ummal (975 AH)
Two entries in Kanz al-Ummal record this narration:
Part 1, p. 517 — Entry 2308:
Part 1, p. 541 — Entry 2426:
The same narration attributed to al-Tabarani, Ibn Mardawayh, and Abu Nasr al-Sajzi in Al-Ibanah on the authority of Umar. Abu Nasr al-Sajzi said: “Its chain of transmission and text are strange, and it contains an addition to what is between the two covers. It can be interpreted as referring to what was copied from the Quran in recitation — that is, what was confirmed between the two covers today.”
The Final Ruling — Al-Da’ifah wal-Mawdu’ah, Part 9, p. 70, Entry 4073
Al-Tabarani narrated in Al-Mu’jam al-Awsat: Muhammad ibn Ubayd told us: My father told us, on the authority of my grandfather, on the authority of Hafs ibn Maysarah, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Umar (RA) — traceable to the Prophet ﷺ. Al-Tabarani said: “It is not narrated from Umar except with this chain of narration.”
This is how it appears in the biography of Muhammad ibn Ubayd ibn Adam ibn Abi Iyas al-Asqalani in Al-Mizan, where al-Dhahabi said: “He is the only one who has transmitted a false report.” Al-Hafiz confirmed this in Al-Lisan. Al-Haythami referred to it in Al-Majma’ (7/163) and said: “I did not find anyone else speaking about it, and the rest of its men are trustworthy.”
The signs of fabrication in this hadith are clear. A narrator like Muhammad ibn Ubayd ibn Adam does not require more condemnation beyond what al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi and then al-Asqalani indicated — his sole narration of such a hadith, and his being the only one to narrate it, is itself the proof.
Summary of the Chain Problem
The entire narration stands or falls on a single narrator: Muhammad ibn Ubayd ibn Adam ibn Abi Iyas al-Asqalani. Every classical scholar who examined this hadith — al-Tabarani himself, al-Dhahabi, al-Haythami, al-Suyuti, Abu Nasr al-Sajzi, and the author of Al-Da’ifah — identified him as the sole transmitter. Al-Dhahabi explicitly said he narrated a false report. The rest of the chain’s narrators are considered trustworthy — the problem is isolated entirely to this one man.
Al-Suyuti further noted that the letter count claimed in the hadith (1,027,000) does not correspond to the Quran as it exists between the two covers in any way — leading some scholars to suggest the narration may refer to letters from recitations that were subsequently abrogated, though this interpretation does not rescue the hadith from the weakness of its sole narrator.
This narration should not be cited or relied upon. It is ruled fabricated by the hadith scholars due to its sole problematic narrator, its isolation from any corroborating chain, and the impossibility of its claimed letter count matching the Quran as compiled between the two covers.