Is the hadith of the Prayer of Tasbih authentic or not?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Is the hadith of the Prayer of Tasbih authentic or not?
The Shaykh : The scholars have differed greatly regarding the hadith of the Prayer of Tasbih; some have said it is authentic, while others have said it is fabricated, with various degrees in between. The view that is stronger in my opinion, following some of the renowned memorizers who preceded me and were known for their precision in tracing the narrations of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), such as al-Hafiz Ibn Nasir al-Dimashqi, who was a contemporary of al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi al-Dimashqi, is that he wrote a treatise collecting the various routes of the Prayer of Tasbih. One who studies it and studies the routes of this prayer, or the routes of the hadith of the Prayer of Tasbih, will realize that the hadith is authentic in the aggregate of its routes. However, none of the individual routes contains a hadith that can be called authentic in itself, nor can it be called good in itself. Rather, the authenticity comes from the aggregate of its routes. This is the reason for the great difference of opinion among the scholars. Ibn al-Jawzi, along with Ibn Taymiyyah and others, held that this hadith is fabricated. By this, they did not mean that its chain of narration is fabricated, for some of its chains are in "Sunan Abu Dawud" and elsewhere, and there is no one in them who has been accused of fabrication, nor is there anyone who is a fabricator and liar. Rather, there is no one in its chain who has been accused of lying or fabrication, but only of poor memory.
However, Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah looked at the text of the hadith and found it strange in its context and strange in its description of the virtue of this prayer, even if performed only once in a lifetime. So they said: A prayer like this has no resemblance to the known prayers established by authentic hadiths. Therefore, they leaned toward the view that it is fabricated. Those who elevated the ruling and rose slightly above judging it as fabricated stopped at the apparent routes and chains of narration, if they had collected them and stopped at their aggregate. If they were uncertain about it, they might not have done so. For whoever did so did not rule with fabrication or weakness. They looked at some of the individual elements of these routes and judged the hadith to be weak. As for those who strengthened it and held it to be authentic, they looked at the aggregate of its routes and saw that the hadithological principle established by the scholars of hadith for the principles of hadith science is that a weak hadith is strengthened by the multiplicity of its routes. They looked at this multiplicity of routes and found a portion that is not problematic in terms of its suitability, because the hadith is strengthened by the aggregate of these routes. So they held that the hadith is strong, between being graded as good and being graded as authentic. The difference, in that case, between the one who grades it authentic and the one who grades it good is not a fundamental difference, because both the one who grades it authentic and the one who grades it good hold that the hadith is established, and consequently that it is legislated and that acting upon it is legislated.
This ruling is further supported by the fact that it was reported from 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to perform this prayer. 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak is an imam among the imams of the Muslims, and he is one of the teachers of the Imam of the Sunnah, al-Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him). If the hadith had not been established in his view, he would not have worshipped Allah with this prayer, which has that strangeness in its form and manner. This strangeness led Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah to the ruling of fabrication. And their ruling, as we mentioned, was not based on looking at the chains of this hadith and finding that they all contain fabricators and liars. No. By the aggregate of all that we have mentioned, my soul was reassured that the hadith is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Accordingly, we submit to it. And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah. He should do it once every day. If he cannot, then once every week. If he cannot, then once every month. If he cannot, then once every year. If he cannot, then at least once in a lifetime. This is my opinion regarding the Prayer of Tasbih.
It occurred to me now to add something else to what has preceded by way of clarification. I say: The strangeness present in the manner of this prayer is indeed true in that it has no counterpart in terms of manner. However, after the hadith has been established as I mentioned earlier, the strangeness should not be used to explain away the hadith. We know that there is a prayer that is authentic by the consensus of the scholars of hadith, even though it also contains a deviation from the customary prayers. I mean the eclipse prayer. The sun was eclipsed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and it happened that the day of the eclipse was the day on which Ibrahim, the son of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), passed away. It was the custom of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance that they would say when the sun was eclipsed that it was eclipsed for the death of a great person. So when the solar eclipse coincided with the death of Ibrahim, the son of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they said: The sun was eclipsed for the death of the son of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon them both). So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon to them and said: Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed two rak'ahs, with two bowings in each rak'ah—and here is the point—in each rak'ah two bowings. This form deviated from all the customary prayers, whether obligatory or voluntary, because all these prayers are characterized by maintaining one bowing and two prostrations in the single rak'ah: one bowing and two prostrations in the single rak'ah. As for this prayer, it differed from all the prayers, so he prayed two rak'ahs with two bowings and two prostrations in each rak'ah. Is it correct to say that this hadith is anomalous or denounced because it deviated from the general system of the description of all the prayers? We say: No, as long as the hadith is authentic with that description. This is a worship that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) legislated for His servants for the occasion of the solar eclipse. So we must pray as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray.
Accordingly, we say: This is a corroborating narration, even if only by way of proximity, for the Prayer of Tasbih. That is, even though it deviated from the rest of the customary prayers, the eclipse prayer also deviated in some ... of those customary prayers. And if that were a defect in it, it would not have remained a divine law until the Day of Resurrection.
Yes.
The Shaykh : The scholars have differed greatly regarding the hadith of the Prayer of Tasbih; some have said it is authentic, while others have said it is fabricated, with various degrees in between. The view that is stronger in my opinion, following some of the renowned memorizers who preceded me and were known for their precision in tracing the narrations of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), such as al-Hafiz Ibn Nasir al-Dimashqi, who was a contemporary of al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi al-Dimashqi, is that he wrote a treatise collecting the various routes of the Prayer of Tasbih. One who studies it and studies the routes of this prayer, or the routes of the hadith of the Prayer of Tasbih, will realize that the hadith is authentic in the aggregate of its routes. However, none of the individual routes contains a hadith that can be called authentic in itself, nor can it be called good in itself. Rather, the authenticity comes from the aggregate of its routes. This is the reason for the great difference of opinion among the scholars. Ibn al-Jawzi, along with Ibn Taymiyyah and others, held that this hadith is fabricated. By this, they did not mean that its chain of narration is fabricated, for some of its chains are in "Sunan Abu Dawud" and elsewhere, and there is no one in them who has been accused of fabrication, nor is there anyone who is a fabricator and liar. Rather, there is no one in its chain who has been accused of lying or fabrication, but only of poor memory.
However, Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah looked at the text of the hadith and found it strange in its context and strange in its description of the virtue of this prayer, even if performed only once in a lifetime. So they said: A prayer like this has no resemblance to the known prayers established by authentic hadiths. Therefore, they leaned toward the view that it is fabricated. Those who elevated the ruling and rose slightly above judging it as fabricated stopped at the apparent routes and chains of narration, if they had collected them and stopped at their aggregate. If they were uncertain about it, they might not have done so. For whoever did so did not rule with fabrication or weakness. They looked at some of the individual elements of these routes and judged the hadith to be weak. As for those who strengthened it and held it to be authentic, they looked at the aggregate of its routes and saw that the hadithological principle established by the scholars of hadith for the principles of hadith science is that a weak hadith is strengthened by the multiplicity of its routes. They looked at this multiplicity of routes and found a portion that is not problematic in terms of its suitability, because the hadith is strengthened by the aggregate of these routes. So they held that the hadith is strong, between being graded as good and being graded as authentic. The difference, in that case, between the one who grades it authentic and the one who grades it good is not a fundamental difference, because both the one who grades it authentic and the one who grades it good hold that the hadith is established, and consequently that it is legislated and that acting upon it is legislated.
This ruling is further supported by the fact that it was reported from 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to perform this prayer. 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak is an imam among the imams of the Muslims, and he is one of the teachers of the Imam of the Sunnah, al-Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him). If the hadith had not been established in his view, he would not have worshipped Allah with this prayer, which has that strangeness in its form and manner. This strangeness led Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah to the ruling of fabrication. And their ruling, as we mentioned, was not based on looking at the chains of this hadith and finding that they all contain fabricators and liars. No. By the aggregate of all that we have mentioned, my soul was reassured that the hadith is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Accordingly, we submit to it. And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah. He should do it once every day. If he cannot, then once every week. If he cannot, then once every month. If he cannot, then once every year. If he cannot, then at least once in a lifetime. This is my opinion regarding the Prayer of Tasbih.
It occurred to me now to add something else to what has preceded by way of clarification. I say: The strangeness present in the manner of this prayer is indeed true in that it has no counterpart in terms of manner. However, after the hadith has been established as I mentioned earlier, the strangeness should not be used to explain away the hadith. We know that there is a prayer that is authentic by the consensus of the scholars of hadith, even though it also contains a deviation from the customary prayers. I mean the eclipse prayer. The sun was eclipsed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and it happened that the day of the eclipse was the day on which Ibrahim, the son of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), passed away. It was the custom of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance that they would say when the sun was eclipsed that it was eclipsed for the death of a great person. So when the solar eclipse coincided with the death of Ibrahim, the son of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they said: The sun was eclipsed for the death of the son of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon them both). So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon to them and said:
O people, the sun and the moon are two signs among the signs of Allah. They do not eclipse for the death of anyone or for his life. So when you see that, pray and give charity and call upon Allah.
يا أيها الناس ، إنَّ الشمس والقمر آيتان من آيات الله ، لا تنكسفان لموت أحد ولا لحياته ، فإذا رأيتم ذلك فصلُّوا وتصدَّقوا وادعواAccordingly, we say: This is a corroborating narration, even if only by way of proximity, for the Prayer of Tasbih. That is, even though it deviated from the rest of the customary prayers, the eclipse prayer also deviated in some ... of those customary prayers. And if that were a defect in it, it would not have remained a divine law until the Day of Resurrection.
Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.