Taken from the Works Al-Hafith Al-Aala’I (761H)
Close to a year ago I added an interesting topic about Salatu Tasbih which mainly came from the discussions of Imam Al-Albani. At the beginning of its release , I received numerous concerns about the authenticity of the hadith, while others said Imam Muqbil graded the hadith as weak and when I replied that Imam Al-Albani graded it as authentic along with Ibn Salah, the following response was, “ You aren’t accepting the evidence “. Moreover others, hit Google and were redirected to the Islamqa website. Islamqa has become the quick search and find site for many laymen in the World. I went the link sent to me and found a few arguments about the hadith none which were really convincing other than Isnad is weak, therefore, we need to look at it and find out why its weak and are there any other chains that support it, and have other Imams in the past graded it as being Sahih or Hasan?
The arguments from from Islam Q/A
1.Ibn Quddamah didn’t mention what Al-Khalal mentioned in Ilal about the dialogue between Imam Ahmed and Ali ibn Sa’eed.
2.Imam An-Nawawi’s mention that involves changing the regular format then the same goes for Eid prayer and the Eclipse prayer.
3.Ibn Tayimiyyah’s speech that none of the four Imams spoke about, then we can say knowledge isn’t restricted to these 4 great Imams;therefore what the practiced or mentioned is accepted or reject worship. Furthermore, Imam Ibn Mubarak acted by it an taught it to others.
4.Imam Al-Uthaymeen mentioned the Isnad had some weakness and was shaky, so lets look at it.
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ بِشْرِ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ النَّيْسَابُورِىُّ حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ حَدَّثَنَا الْحَكَمُ بْنُ أَبَانَعَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- قَالَ لِلْعَبَّاسِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْمُطَّلِبِ « يَا عَبَّاسُ يَا عَمَّاهُ أَلاَ أُعْطِيكَ أَلاَ أَمْنَحُكَ أَلاَ أَحْبُوكَ أَلاَ أَفْعَلُ بِكَ عَشْرَ خِصَالٍ …..
Collected by Abu Dawud(1297) and Ibn Majah (1387)
The Isnad for this hadith is :
Ibn Abbass-
Ikramah- Al-Quraysah He is Abu Abdullah Al-Madani – Imam Al-Bukhari narrated on him
Al-Hakim ibn Aban — Yahya ibn Ma’een , Ahmed Al-Ajli graded him as being Thiqah
Musa ibn Abdil Aziz—Yahya ibn Ma’een and An-Nisa’I both said: لا بأس به
Abdur Rahman ibn Bashir ibn Al-Hakam—-Narrator in the 6 six books of hadith.
On the surface here the Isnad appears Sahih . Al-Hafith Al-Alaa’I mentioned all the narrators above and their status.
After mentioning the isnad of this hadith Al-Haftih Al-Alaa’I said Ibn Al-Khuzaymah mentioned it in his Sahih. It’s mentioned there # 1216. However Imam Al-‘’Alaa’e failed to mention that Ibn Khuzaymah pointed to the hadith as being weak by saying, “ If it is Sahih, there is an issue in its isnad.”
There is another chain to this hadith and its narrators are;
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Dawud ibn Sulayman—-
Ja’far ibn Al-Hussain ibn UbaidAllah—-
Bashr ibn Al-Hakam—-
Then
Abu Bakr Ahmed ibn Ishaq—-
Ibrahim ibn Ishaq ibn Yusef—-
Abdur Rahman ibn Bashir ibn Al-Hakam—-
Both of these chains connect to Musa ibn Abdil Aziz
Stopping here one issue with this isnad is Musa ibn Abdil Aziz. When we return to the books to check his status we find that some said he was , Trustworthy, weak and even trustworthy with a weak memory. Imam Al-Albani graded him as being honest,but with a weak memory.(saheehah/5/58)and Al-Hafith ibn Hajr said the same thing in Taqreeb #6988
Al-Hafith Al-Alaa’e mentioned Yahya ibn Ma’een said : La Bas bihi- and this is considered a Ta’dil
Imam Al-Mughlatayee in Ikmal Tahtheebil Kamal mentioned that Ibn Shaheen and Ibn Hibban both mentioned him in their books [ Al-Thiqat:The trustworthy narrators] # 4809
On the other side Al-Hafith ibn Hajr mentioned that Ibn Madeeni said Musa ibn Abdil Aziz was weak, while As-Sulaymani said he was Munkar, nonetheless, in returning to Taqreeb he wrote- Trust worthy with a weak memory.
So returning to a few books of weak narrators his name wasn’t mentioned or any reason as to why he might be considered as weak.
The scholars’ speech about this hadith:
Imam Muslim said this isnad is the best for this topic.
Imam Abu Dawud said: There isn’t any hadith for the prayer of Tasbih more authentic than the one from Ikramah on Ibn Abbass.
Imam Ad-Daraqutni said : It’s the most authentic hadith about the virtue of a prayer.
Continuing on Al-Hafith Al-Alaa’I mentioned another hadith and relied on Al-Hakim’s judgement.
The isnad is:
Abu Ali Al-Hussain ibn Ali
Ahmed ibn Dawud ibn Abdil Ghaffar
Ishaq ibn Kamil
Idriss ibn Yahya
Haywah ibn Shurah
Yazid ibn Abi Habeeb
Naf’I
Ibn Umar.
Al-Hafith Al-Hakim and Al-Alaa’I both missed that Imam Ad-Darqutni considered Ahmed ibn Dawud ibn Abdil Ghaffar as a liar as Imam Ath-Thahabbi mentioned on his comments for Al-Hakim’s Al-Mustaddarak. #1197.
Al-Hafith Al’Alaa’s reply to Ibn Al-Jawzi
Based on the fact that scholars like Imam Muslim and Abu Dawud graded this hadith Sahih it shows a clear contradiction of Imam Ibn Al-Jawzi’s opinion. He mentioned this hadith in his fabricated reports (vol2-pg 146-243).
Ibn Al-Jawzi’ also had a problem with Musa ibn Abdil Aziz as he said he was Unknown. Al-Hafith Al-‘Alaa’I refuted this by saying this wasn’t true; as a numerous amount of trustworthy narrators narrated from him and Ibn Ma’een and An-Nisa’I both graded him as being trustworthy. Moreover there are other isnads for this hadith that weren’t mentioned.
Imam Ahmed’s opinion that changed about the hadith.
Ali Ibn Sa’eed Al-Nisa’I asked Imam Ahmed about Salatu Tasbih and Imam Ahmed said : “I don’t have any authentic reports”
Ali replied: There is a chain from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-Aws
Ahmed replied : all of those chains are reported by way of Amr ibn Malik An-Nakiree
Ali replied: Also there is a narration of Mustamar ibn Ar-Rayyan on ibn Amr
Ahmed replied: Who narrated that to you
Ali said: Muslim ibn Ibrahim
Ahmed replied : Muslim is a trust worthy sheikh and it was evident that he accepted and liked that narration. [ Masa’il Ahmed from his son/pg 89]
Imam Abdullah ibn Mubark view about Salatu Tasbih
In concluding his discussion about this hadith Al-Hafith Al’Alaa’I mentioned that Imam At-Tirmithi mentioned that Ibn Mubarak used to act by this hadith and for that reason supports the other narrations.
Al-Hanabala who considered it a recommended act were:
1: Abul Wafa ibn Aqeel
2: Muwaffiqudeen Ibn Quddamah [ Al-Mughni,2/98]
In conclusion and Allah knows best the issue of the isnad appears to be authentic as Al-Hafith Al’Alaa’broke down and if we take there is weakness in the chain due to Musa ibn Abdil Aziz then there are other reports that strengthen its status to at least Hasan;as Imam At-Tirmthi concluded in his Jami’ # 481. Imam Ibn Al-Wazir in Al-Awsim mentions that there are others chains which add to this hadith’s authenticity and Abdul Ghani authored a book collecting all of its chains and graded as being Sahih himself and Allah knows best.
Taken from
النقد الصريح لما اعترض عليه من أحاديث المصابيح
Page 76-79 , Al-Hafith Al-Alaa’I [761H]
Source : Here
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A Fiqh Study for Salat Al-Tasbih
Taken from the works of Ash-Shaykh Al-Imam Muhammad Al-Albani [1420H]
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Here’s a topic we don’t hear too much about and worth looking at to practice it in our short lived lives on this Planet.
Narrated Abdullah Ibn Abbas:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to al-Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib: 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 public.
These are the ten things: you should pray four rak’ahs, reciting in each one Fatiha 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 a week ; if not, then once a month; if not, then once a year; if not, then at least once in your lifetime. (1)
The scholars differ if Salat Al –Tasbih is a recommended sunnah act to practice. The Hanafi’ and Shaf’I Jurisprudence view this prayer is a Sunnah, and the Malikee’s and Hanbali’s don’t consider it a Sunnah.
Shaykh Al-Albani said: The scholars differ over the status of the hadith some say it’s fabricated, others say its Da’eef, Hasan or Sahih.
Shaykh Al-Albani began by mentioning the reasons why the scholars differ about this prayer. There are three categories of Hadith; Sahih, Hasan, and Da’eef. Sahih and Hasan both are authentic and there is a category which other narrations strengthen the status of these two: Sahih Li Ghayrahi and Hasan Li Ghayrahi.
Shaykh Al-Albani said:This hadith is Authentic by way of two angles;
1: The hadith has been narrated and collected by Abu Dawud in his Sunnan and others. The people of knowledge say that when a hadith doesn’t have a narrator in its isnad known for lying or even accused as a liar, then this kind of hadith can be supported for its strength by way of other chains. There are several other narrations for the Tasbih prayer.
2: Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak used to act by this hadith. He was from among the senior scholars of the Salaf, and if this hadith wasn’t authentic; then there is no way he would have acted by it. (2)
Imam Al-Albani established 2 principles for the Muslim who looks at evidence. The 1st thing he mentioned and proved was just because a hadith is weak in one isnad doesn’t mean it’s unauthentic, as there can be other narrations to support it. Then the 2nd point the Shaykh highlighted was the actions of the Salaf can be followed, in particularly those Imams who were known to be erudites in Jurisprudence.
Ibn Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah considered this hadith to be a forged report since the wording of the hadith was strange.
Imam Al-Albani said: Ibn Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah held the opinion that text of the hadith was strange about the virtue of a prayer only offered once in a lifetime. Moreover, they said the Tasbih prayer doesn’t resemble the other well-known prayers from authentic sources. These two things lead them to say the hadith was fabricated. Anyone who looks at this hadith and the various narrations recorded will not say the hadith is fabricated and I don’t believe that Ibn Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah did that. (3)
Although Ibn Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah are great Imams Shaykh Imam Al-Albani explained how their statement for Salat Al-Tasbih as a forged report isn’t possible, since there were other chains which support each other, and their opinion was built on the matn of the hadith illustrating a seemingly strange description for the prayer.
Imam Al-Albani said: The irregular way this prayer is performed or mentioned isn’t a means to consider the hadith to be unacceptable. We are aware that there are other prayers done during the life time of the Prophet (ﷺ) such as the eclipse prayer which isn’t offered in the fashion the other prayers are.
Did the Prophet (ﷺ) ever offer this prayer?
Imam Al-Albani said: The Prophet (ﷺ) never prayed Salat Al-Tasbih himself; but urged his uncle to pray it.
The description for this prayer:
Imam Al-Albani said: Salat Al-Tasbih is done just like the rest of the other prayers except in every rakah there is 75 Tasbih said totaling 300.
In the first rakah before bowing the slave says:
“سبحان الله , و الحمد الله , و لا إله إلا الله و الله أكبر “
15 times
Then he goes into Ruku and says
سبحان الله , و الحمد الله , و لا إله إلا الله و الله أكبر
10 times
The he raises from Ruku’ say [سمع الله لمن حمده ربنا و لك الحمد ]
Then he says while standing
سبحان الله , و الحمد الله , و لا إله إلا الله و الله أكبر
10 times
Then he goes down the Sajdah and after completing the Tasbih of Sujud he says
سبحان الله , و الحمد الله , و لا إله إلا الله و الله أكبر
10 times
And the sitting between the 2 Sujud’s he says
سبحان الله , و الحمد الله , و لا إله إلا الله و الله أكبر
10 times
Then he goes back down in Sajdah and after completing the Tasbih of Sujud he says
سبحان الله , و الحمد الله , و لا إله إلا الله و الله أكبر
10 times
Then he raises his head for Jalsah Istarah (The brief sitting after completing the 2nd sujud before standing again for the next Raka’h )he says
سبحان الله , و الحمد الله , و لا إله إلا الله و الله أكبر
10 times.
This totals 75. And there are 4 Rak’ah in this prayer.(4)
Concluding here, this prayer was practiced by Imam Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak [181H] and based on the numerous reports collected the scholars past and present have said this hadith is authentic. Ibn As-Salah said this prayer is a Sunnah and not a Bid’ah and can be offered sometimes in a congregation.(5)Therefore, why not offer this prayer once day, or then once weekly and if you can’t do that, then how about once a month; if not, then do it yearly and if you are unable to carry that out, then do it once in your lifetime ,after reading this article and remember the reward from Allah for doing so. Allah knows best
Source : Here
Foot Notes :
(1) Sunnan Abu Dawud[ 1297] Ibn Majah[1387]
(2)[Al-Huda/wa Nur/75/21:47]
(3) [Rihlatun Nur:side B48/09:44]
(4)[ Rihlatu Nur/ side B48/9:44]
(5)[Fatawa ibn As-Salah vol1/pg 235/ question 84
Regarding Salatut Tasbeeh Roman Urdu Article : CLICK HERE
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