A Compilation on The Authenticity of Salat-ut-Tasbeeh

Who are the scholars who mentioned that the Hadith of Salat ut Tasbeeh is Saheeh(Authentic) or Hassan(Acceptable,good)?

The Hadith:

– [عن عبدالله بن عباس:] أنَّ رسولَ اللهِ صلَّى اللهُ عليهِ وسلَّمَ قال للعباسِ بنِ عبدِ المطلبِ يا عباسُ يا عمَّاهُ ألا أُعطيَك ألا أمنَحُك ألا أحبُوَك ألا أفعلُ بك عشرَ خصالٍ إذا أنت فعلتَ ذلك غفر اللهُ لك ذنبَك أولَه وآخرَه قديمَه وحديثَه خطأَه وعمدَه صغيرَه وكبيرَه سِرَّهُ وعلانيتَه عشرُ خصالٍ أن تُصلِّيَ أربعَ ركعاتٍ تقرأُ في كلِّ ركعةٍ فاتحةَ الكتابِ وسورةً فإذا فرغتَ من القراءةِ في أولِ ركعةٍ وأنت قائمٌ قلتَ سبحان اللهِ والحمدُ لله ولا إله إلا اللهُ والله أكبرُ خمسَ عشرةَ مرةً ثم تركع فتقولُها وأنت راكعٌ عشرًا ثم ترفعُ رأسَك من الركوعِ فتقولُها عشرًا ثم تهوِي ساجدًا فتقولُها وأنت ساجدٌ عشرًا ثم ترفعُ رأسَك من السُّجودِ فتقولُها عشرًا ثم تسجدُ فتقولها عشرًا ثم ترفعُ رأسَك فتقولُها عشرًا فذلك خمس وسبعون في كلِّ ركعةٍ تفعل ذلك في أربعِ ركَعاتٍ إن استطعتَ أن تُصلِّيَها في كلِّ يومٍ مرةً فافعلْ فإن لم تفعلْ ففي كلِّ جُمعةٍ مرةً فإن لم تفعل ففي كلِّ شهرٍ مرةً فإن لم تفعلْ ففي كلِّ سنةٍ مرةً فإن لم تفعلْ ففي عُمُركَ مرةً

أبو داود (٢٧٥ هـ)، سنن أبي داود ١٢٩٧ • سكت عنه [وقد قال في رسالته لأهل مكة كل ما سكت عنه فهو صالح]

Narrated Abdullah Ibn Abbas:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to al-Abbas ibn AbdulMuttalib: Abbas, my uncle, shall I not give you, shall I not present to you, shall I not donate to you, shall I not produce for you ten things? If you act upon them, Allah will forgive you your sins, first and last, old and new, involuntary and voluntary, small and great, secret and open.

These are the ten things: you should pray four rak’ahs, reciting in each one Fatihat al-Kitab and a surah. When you finish the recitation of the first rak’ah you should say fifteen times while standing: “Glory be to Allah”, “Praise be to Allah”, “There is no god but Allah”, “Allah is most great”. Then you should bow and say it ten times while bowing. Then you should raise your head after bowing and say it ten times. Then you should kneel down in prostration and say it ten times while prostrating yourself. Then you should raise your head after prostration and say it ten times. Then you should prostrate yourself and say it ten times. Then you should raise your head after prostrating and say it ten times in every rak’ah. You should do that in four rak’ahs.

If you can observe it once daily, do so; if not, then once weekly; if not, then once a month; if not, then once a year; if not, then once in your lifetime.

(Abu Dawud,1297, translation from sunnah.com)

●Imam ibn Mulqin Rahimahullah said The Chain is Good.

ابن الملقن (٧٥٠ هـ)، البدر المنير ٤/٢٣٥ • إسناد جيد

●Imam Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani said The Chain meets the condition of Hassan (i.e. acceptable and good narrators).

ابن حجر العسقلاني (٨٥٢ هـ)، الخصال المكفرة ١/٤١ • إسناده من شرط الحسن ، فإن له شواهد تقويه

●Imam Al-Mundhiri Rahimahullah (in summary of what he mentioned) said This has been narrated by various chains and a Jamaat from The Sahaba …and so was *Authenticated* by by the Jamaat.

المنذري (٦٥٦ هـ)، الترغيب والترهيب ١/٣٢١ • روي من طرق كثيرة وعن جماعة من الصحابة وأمثلها حديث عكرمة هذا وقد صححه جماعة

●Imam Ash-Shawkani Rahimahullah said that ‘The Chain has no problems'(i.e. The Hadith is ok).

الشوكاني (١٢٥٥ هـ)، الفوائد المجموعة ٣٧ • من حديث ابن عمرو بإسناد لا بأس به • أخرجه أبو داود (١٢٩٧)، وابن ماجه (١٣٨٧) باختلاف يسير، من حديث ابن عباس. •

●Shaikh Nasiruddeen Al-Albani Rahimahullah said that it is Saheeh.

الألباني (١٤٢٠ هـ)، صحيح أبي داود ١٢٩٧ • صحيح

الألباني (١٤٢٠ هـ)، صحيح الجامع ٧٩٣٧ • صحيح

●Shaikh Muqbil bin Hadi Al-Wadiee Rahimahullah called it Hassan.

الوادعي (١٤٢٢ هـ)، الصحيح المسند ٥٨٢ • حسن •

■Some other Ulama in recent times who said that The Hadith is Saheeh/Hassan in their works.

-Allama Ahmad Shakir Rahimahullah

-Shaikh Zubair Ali Zai Al-Bakastani Rahimahullah in his checking of Sunan Abee Dawud, Saheeh li Ghairihi(Authentic by many supporting chains).

-Shaikh Mubarakpuri Rahimahullah in his Sharh Mishkaat al Masabeeh(Vol.4,pg.374)

-Shaikh Maqsudul Hassan Faizi Hafidhahullah in a video (https://youtu.be/ynEjuZJ7eEk) : My research (Tahqeeq) is that the Hadith reaches a level of Sehat(acceptable strength).

◇These are just some Muhadditheen(Hadith Scholars) who accepted this Hadith of Salat ut Tasbeeh to be authentic, there have been many more Ulama in the past who said so, but I don’t have the reference of their books to mention alongside. However I will add an article here by another Talib ul Ilm which is more insighful on the very topic. Walhamdulillah.

(Author of the note below is Abu AbdurRahman As-Salafi from Canada talken from salafitalk.net)

Asalamu Alaykum wa Ramatullahee wa Barakatuhu

I ask ALLAH Azza wa jall that this benefits the brothers and sisters who are confused about the authenticity of this sunnah. Ameen.

To proceed:

It is narrated on the authority of Ikrimah that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah exalt his mention, said to the Al-Abbas b. Abdul-Muttalib: ‘O Abbas, My uncle! Shall I not give you, inform you, of something that if you are to do it, Allah would forgive all your sins, its past and present, its intentional and unintentional, its minor and major, its private and public? Pray four Rakat, in each read al-fatihah, and another surat…after you finish reciting (in the first rakat) say, while you are standing, SUBHANALLAH, AL-HAMDULILAH, LAILAHAHILLAALLAH, ALLAHU AKBAR 15 times, then make rukoo and say it 10 times, then go down to sujood and say it ten times in your sujood, then raise your head from the sujood and say it ten times, then make sujood and say it ten times, then raise your head and say it ten times…that is 75 in each rakaat, do it in all four rakaat. If you can pray this prayer every day then do it, but if you cannot then do it once a week, if you cannot than once every month, then if you cannot then once a year, if you cannot then once in a lifetime.’ (this is in the meaning of the hadeeth).

This hadeeth is Saheeh (authentic li-ghairihi) and is narrated in Abu Dawood (1297), Ibn Majah (1387) al-Haakim (1-308).

Al-Haafidth ibn Hajar said, ‘And in the narration of At-Tabrani: even if your sins were as the foam of the sea, or as much as the sand, Allah would forgive you…’

Abu Bakr b. Abi Dawood said that he heard his father say, ‘There is nothing in the Tasbeeh prayer more authentic than this hadeeth.’

Imam Muslim said, ‘There is no hadeeth with a better chain of narrators in this matter other than this…’ (i.e. Ibn Abbas narration).

The second hadeeth, which is also authentic (Saheeh li-ghairihi) is narrated on the authority of Abi Rafi’…it to is similar to the above (in its wording).

This narration was narrated by Ibn Majah, at-Tirmidthi, Ad’daar-Qutni, and al-Baihaqi.

Al-Baihaqi said, that Abdullah b. al-Mubarak used to pray the Tasbeeh prayer, this prayer was handed (to us) by the pious predecessors, and from this, the above hadeeth gains extra strength…!

At-Tirmidthi said, ‘this is a ghareeb hadeeth from the narration of Abi Rafi’ he then said, ‘Ibn al-Mubarak used to practice it, and other people of knowledge used to practice it also, and they mentioned its merits.’

Of those who corrected (authenticated) the above hadeeth:-

1. Abu Dawood,

2. Ibn Mundah,

3. Al-Aajari,

4. As-Sum’aani,

5. al-Madini,

6. al-Mundthiri,

7. Abul-Hasan al-Mundthiri,

8. Ibn As-Salaah,

9. Ad-Dailami,

10. Al-Haakim,

11. Al-A’laali,

12. Az-Zurkashi,

13. Al-Muhaamili,

14. Abul-Hasan al-Muqdasi,

15. al-Juwaini,

16. Al-Baghawi,

17. Ar-Ra’fiee’,

18. Al-Haitami,

19. As-Su’youti,

20. Al-Luknawwi,

21. Ibn Aa’bideen,

22. Al-Albani and others…

There is a third hadeeth which too is authentic and is narrated by Ahmed, At-Tirmidthi (who stated this narration as Hasan), an-Nasa’i, ibn Khuzaimah, and Ibn Hibban in their Saheeh collections, and al-Haakim, said that is authentic according to the conditions set by Muslim.

This narration is on the authority of Anas b. Maalik, may Allah be pleased with him, that Umm Sulaim asked the Prophet, may Allah exalt his mention, ‘teach me a few words that I may say them in my prayer. He said, ‘Say Allahu Akbar 10 times, Say Subhanallah ten times, Say Al-Humdulilah ten times, then pray as much as you want…’ (in its meaning).

Al-Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The main hadeeth on which the Tasbeeh prayer is based on is the hadeeth of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, (the first Hadeeth I mentioned).

I have returned back to the original books were Sheik Muhammad Naasir ad-Deen al-Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, authenticated the ahadeeth (pl. Hadeeth) which conern the Tasbeeh prayer…such as Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah, At-Targheeb and at-Tarheeb. To summarize this altogether, there are authentic hadeeth which concern the Tasbeeh prayer and other Hadeeth which are weak.

So from the above, no one can call the one who practices the Tasbeeh prayer a man of bid’ah, nor the prayer itself a bid’ah practice…Subhanallah!

An argument which may be heard from those who deny this prayer is: ‘Now somebody might say to you…’look brother although the hadeeth is Saheeh, none of the Salaf (pious predecessors) practiced it.’

The answer to this is that if the hadeeth is authentic, we should immediately put it into practice regardless of the fact if somebody did it before you or not…the proof of this is as follows: Imam ash-Shafi’ee said in his book ‘Ar-Risalah’: Umar b. Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to rule that the diyah (blood money) for the thumb, was 15 camels; but when he found the letter of Aal-Amr b. Hazm, and in which a hadeeth was mentioned: ‘For every finger there are 10 camels.’ He immediately put this hadeeth into practice…

Imam Ash-Shafi’ee said, ‘They didn’t practice what was in the letter of Aal-Hazm until it was affirmed that it was an authentic letter from the Prophet, may Allah exalt his mention.’

Al-Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, said: ‘From this hadeeth we take two very important things, that we should accept the hadeeth once it is deemed authentic, even if nobody practiced it before you…’

Besides this…it has been authentically reported that some of the Salaf practiced it, such as Ibn al-Mubarak!

Secondly, if you put this hadeeth into practice, which is regarded by some as bid’ah you would be reviving a Sunnah of the Prophet, may Allah exalt his mention, and whoever revives a Sunnah of the Prophet, would receive its reward and the reward of whomever practices it till the Day of Resurrection….Allahu Akbar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way I have used some terms in the email which I will elaborate on here more in depth:

Ghareeb: Lit. Strange. This is one of the types of hadeeth in which in any stage of its narration goes through only one person. for example…Lets say the hadeeth in its first level was taken by two companions, then two or three Ta’biee, then 4 Tabi tabiees…then in the fourth level the hadeeth was only taken from one person…this hadeeth is considered Ghareeb…because its chain (other than the companion) in one level has only person in it….If the chain is authentic it is authentic…and so on.

Saheeh li-Ghairhi, this is a group of hasan hadeeth which combine and gain strength and then are considered saheeh.

Was Salaam

Akhook Fil Islaam

Abu Abdurrahman as Salafee al Kanadi

♤COMPILED by Abu Muaaz Mohammed Manna as on 21st of Ramadan 1439, 6th June 2018♤