Ḥadīth Query
Question
What is the status of the following narration and should we circulate it?
“Whoever says the following:
الحمد لله الذي تواضع كل شيء لعظمته ، والحمد لله الذي ذل كل شيء لعزته ، والحمد لله الذي خضع كل شيء لملكه ، والحمد لله الذي استسلم كل شيء لقدرته
Allah will record for him 1,000 good deeds, elevate him by one thousand stages and appoint 70,000 angels to seek forgiveness on his behalf until the day of Qiyāmah” (Ṭabarānī, Bayhaqī Fī Asmāʾ Wa al-Ṣifāt, Ibn ʿAsākir, reported from Umm Salamah and Ibn ʿUmar).
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Answer
The narration is munkar (unknown).
This narration has been narrated by Imam Ṭabarānī (d. 360/971) in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (13562), Imam Bayhaqī (d. 458/1066) in al-Asmāʾ Wa al-Ṣifāt (248) and Imam Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571/1176) in Tārīkh Dimashq (5: 201) on the authority of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar (d. 73/693) (may Allah be pleased with him). ʿAllāmah ʿIrāqī (d. 806/1404) has classified this narration as weak.[1] Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852/1449) has gone a step further and classified this narration as munkar (unknown).[2] There are two defects within this narration. Firstly, Ayyūb ibn Nahīk (n.d.) has been classified as Munkar al-Ḥadīth (narrator of unknown narrations) as mentioned by Imam Abū Zurʿah (d. 264/878).[3] Ḥāfiẓ Dhahabī (d. 748/1348) writes, “They have abandoned him”.[4] Secondly, Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk (d. 218/833-4) has been classified as weak.[5]
A similar narration has been narrated by Imām Ṭabarānī (d. 360/971) in al-Duʿāʾ (325) from Umm Salamah (d. 61/681) (may Allah be pleased with her) with the final sentence of the duʿāʾ omitted and the virtue slightly different. ʿAllāmah ʿIrāqī (d. 806/1404) has classified this narration as weak.[6] There are several defects within this narration. Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā ibn Dīnār (d. after 280/893) is a controversial figure. Imām Ibn Ḥibbān (d. 354/965) generally regards him as reliable but adds that he has a habit of narrating some unknown narrations from unknown people.[7] However, Imām Dāraquṭnī (d. 385/995) suggests he fabricates narrations. Ḥāfiẓ Dhahabī (d. 748/1348) concurs with this.[8] Similarly, Abū Umayyah ibn Yaʿlā al-Thaqafī (n.d.) has been classified as weak and repudiated ḥadīth authority, who narrated munkar (unknown) narrations and made substantial errors.[9]
In conclusion, the narration is munkar (unknown) as mentioned by Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852/1449) and should therefore not be regarded as a Prophetic duʿāʾ or circulated without mentioning its status. However, if someone supplicates with these words without believing in the authenticity of this narration and the specific virtue mentioned above, then the person will be rewarded for praising Almighty Allah.
Allah knows best
Yusuf Shabbir
27 Jumādā al-Thāniyah 1437 / 5 April 2016
Approved by: Mufti Shabbir Ahmad Sahib
Footnotes
[1] Al-Mugnī ʿAn Ḥaml al-Asfār (1: 380).
[2] Lisān al-Mīzān (2: 256).
[3] Ibid; al-Jarḥ Wa al-Taʿdīl (2: 259).
[4] Al-Mugnī Fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ (1: 97). Also see Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl (1: 294).
[5] Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid (10: 96; 3: 44); al-Jarḥ Wa al-Taʿdīl (9: 164); al-Majrūḥīn (3: 127); Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (31: 409); Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (8: 399); Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (12: 319).
[6] Al-Mugnī ʿAn Ḥaml al-Asfār (1: 380).
[7] Al-Thiqāt (9: 154).
[8] Suʾālāt al-Ḥākim Li al-Dāraquṭnī (p. 148); al-Mugnī Fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ (2: 851); Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl (1: 325; 3: 166; 3: 550); Lisān al-Mīzān (7: 139).
[9] Al-Jarḥ Wa al-Taʿdīl (2: 203); al-Majrūḥīn (1: 126); al-Kāmil (1: 511); al-Mugnī Fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ (1: 89); Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl (1: 254); Lisān al-Mīzān (2: 186).
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