Is the hadith of the market supplication authentic?

The questioner : The hadith of the market supplication: "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, there is no god but Allah, whoever says it a thousand times..." ?

The Shaykh : This is established with us through the combination of its chains.

The questioner : ButThe Shaykh : 'Abd al-'Aziz said, "No! What do you think?"

The Shaykh : You andThe Shaykh : 'Abd al-'Aziz.

The questioner : The defect, O Shaykh, is that entering the markets is forbidden?

The Shaykh : And is that necessary?

The questioner : If a person has approximately more merit than the merit of the steps he takes to the mosque.

The Shaykh : This is a discussion, and there is no blame for following the method of the people of opinion rather than the method of the people of hadith, because establishing virtues has no room for opinion at all. Rather, the important thing is that the text is established in that, and then, as Allah the Exalted said: , after that we reverse this logic, and we say that the Muslim mentioning the Lord of the Worlds in the markets is proof that he is among those who remember much. Why? Because the markets are places of heedlessness, so he is not with the heedless but with those who remember. And as came in some hadiths, the one who remembers Allah the Exalted among the heedless is like a green tree in the desert. This is ideal, a green tree in the barren, desolate desert. Likewise, the markets.

The questioner : But we do not see, O Shaykh, that it was obligatory for the one who goes to the markets to take a thousand good deeds, so that all people would...?

The Shaykh : This is also not valid, because the effort, before it is called by this name, if there is a mosque near your house and another mosque far from your house, and both are equal in terms of following the Sunnah, is it permissible to intentionally go to the far mosque seeking reward according to the steps? I know from your speech that you will say yes, and this is wrong, because the Messenger of Allah forbade seeking out mosques. But if a person's house is far from the mosque, that is better than the one whose house is near the mosque. As for making an effort, that is not permissible, because ultimately it will lead to traveling to other mosques, other than the three mosques, and that is forbidden, as I think you know.

The questioner : Some students in Riyadh say this hadith is weak.

The Shaykh : Those who work with hadith, O our brothers, you must know a bitter truth: those who work with hadith today, their eldest are novices, let alone their youngest. Did you understand me?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : Their eldest are novices in the science of hadith, so what do we say about their youngest!

The questioner : I am in the College of Hadith.

The Shaykh : Good, therefore this science, I think you understood, even if after a long time, that it was neglected for many long centuries, correct?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : And it is not like the other sciences that scholars have continued to work on. But now there is an awakening, there is a wakefulness, without doubt. But the one who woke up at this hour is not like the one who was awake hours before; rather, he is awake for the entire duration of time, so they are not equal, for example. And therefore, these great shaykhs today are novices in the science of hadith. And this is a point, unfortunately, that students of knowledge are heedless of, and perhaps their doctors are heedless of it. As soon as one graduates and gets a doctorate in hadith, that's it, the reins of affairs are handed to him. It is not so. And therefore, you must not forget this truth. This is apart from mentioning, for example, that a person lived among the manuscript hadith books that the hands of the great scholars had not touched before, and the one who grew up among some of the printed editions, which are being printed, but of what was printed, few are the majority. I was in the Dar al-Kutub al-Zahiriyyah, opening some of the manuscript books, and listen to this observation which you do not hear: I was opening page after page, and it was as if it was glued, and it would make a cracking sound. What does this mean? From the day it was written and folded, it had not been opened. The point is that working with hadith books is rare and very little, from old times. And I was in the Dar al-Kutub al-Zahiriyyah, which is not unique in Syria only, but in many Arab countries, I did not see a turban in it, no one is working with the science of hadith. But afterwards, and praise be to Allah, there became much good. Are you done?
Abu Layla : May Allah give us and you health. We prepared the sheep and put it in your car.

The Shaykh : My car!
Abu Layla : I meant the car.