What is the authenticity of the hadith, "I did not find anything to reward my mother for..."?

Question:
From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz to the honorable sister: N. 'A. M. S. May Allah increase her in knowledge and faith, and bless her in her time and work. Amen.
Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. As for what follows:
Your noble letter has reached me, may Allah connect you to the rope of guidance and success, and all the questions it contained were known. Here are the answers:
First: You mentioned that you are very distressed by forcing your mother to enter the hospital, and that she suffered greatly in it.
Second: Is the right of the mother greater than the right of the father?
Third: What is the authenticity of the hadith of the Bedouin who said: O Messenger of Allah, ?


Answer:

First: There is no blame on you for that, if Allah wills; because you are striving and you want for her goodness and health and the attainment of the causes of healing. We hope for you in that a great reward and abundant recompense, and that Allah will gather you with her in the abode of honor with the father and the loved ones.

Second: There is no doubt that the right of the mother is greater than the right of the father in many respects. It is authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that a questioner said: O Messenger of Allah, who is the most deserving of my good companionship? He said: He said: Then who? He said: He said: Then who? He said: He said: Then who? He said: , and in another wording, the questioner said: O Messenger of Allah, who is the most deserving of my kindness? He said: He said: Then who? He said: He said: Then who? He said: He said: Then who? He said: .

Third: What is the authenticity of the hadith of the Bedouin who said: O Messenger of Allah, I did not find anything to reward my mother for? He said: ?
The answer is: This hadith has no basis, and it is not authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as far as we know. It is not prescribed for anyone to pray on behalf of another in the most correct of the scholars' opinions, except for the two rak'ahs of tawaf on behalf of one who performed Hajj or 'Umrah for someone else. Likewise, recitation for another, and tasbih and tahlil for another, it is better to leave them off due to the lack of evidence for it.
Rather, a person prays, recites, glorifies, says Allahu Akbar, and remembers Allah with the various types of dhikr for the sake of seeking reward for himself. As for the deceased among the Muslims, the mother and others, what is prescribed is: supplicating for them with forgiveness, mercy, release from the Fire, multiplication of reward, acceptance of deeds, and raising of ranks in Paradise, and the like of these good supplications in prayer and otherwise.
The place of supplication in prayer is: in prostration, and at the end of the tashahhud before the salam, whether the prayer is obligatory or voluntary, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , which Muslim recorded in his Sahih. Muslim also recorded in his Sahih from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught his companions the tashahhud at the end of the prayer, he said: , and in another wording, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , agreed upon as authentic.
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) would repeat the supplication between the two prostrations seeking forgiveness and saying: , and he (peace and blessings be upon him) would say in his prostration: , which Muslim recorded in his Sahih.
It is also prescribed to give charity on behalf of the deceased, the mother and others; because it is established in the authentic hadith that a man said: O Messenger of Allah, my mother died suddenly and did not leave a bequest, and I think that if she had been able to speak, she would have given charity. Will she get a reward if I give charity on her behalf? He said: , and this is a matter agreed upon by the people of knowledge, namely that the deceased benefit from supplication and charity. Likewise, the deceased benefits from Hajj and 'Umrah performed on his behalf, and from fulfilling what is due from him of fasting, and from paying off his debt on his behalf, and from freeing a slave on his behalf, and from praying over him the funeral prayer.
As for visiting graves, it does not have a specific time, neither Friday nor otherwise, but men visit them whenever that is facilitated, on any day, and at any hour of night or day. As for some people specifying the visit for Friday, it has no basis in the pure Shari'ah as far as we know. As for your burdening your brothers with conveying your greetings to the mother, I do not know a basis for it, and the best in my opinion is to leave it off. It is sufficient for you to supplicate for her and give charity on her behalf with what is facilitated, as explained above. There is no harm in performing Hajj and 'Umrah for her, and they are better from you, if Allah wills, with appointing someone else to do so. If you are in Makkah, it is sufficient to enter ihram for 'Umrah from the non-sacred area, like at al-Tan'im and al-Ja'ranah, and there is no need to go to the miqat, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered 'A'ishah to enter ihram for 'Umrah from al-Tan'im, and it is the closest non-sacred area to Makkah.
As for reciting Surat al-Kahf on Friday to draw near to Allah the Exalted and seek His forgiveness, there are hadiths regarding this that contain weakness. Ibn 'Umar and Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with them) , and they were Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), used to be consistent in reciting it on Friday. So whoever does that, there is nothing wrong with it, but the best is not to reward it for another; due to the lack of evidence for rewarding recitation for another, as mentioned above.
As for the prescribed daily recitations of dhikr and supplications reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the best is to perform them at the two ends of the day, after the Fajr prayer and the 'Asr prayer. That is better than reciting the Qur'an; because it is a time-bound worship that is missed if its time is missed. As for reciting the Qur'an, its time is broad. And whoever occupies himself with reciting the Qur'an at the two ends of the day and leaves off the daily recitation, there is nothing wrong with it; because they are all voluntary, and the matter in that is broad.
There is no blame on the menstruating woman and the woman with post-natal bleeding in the most correct of the scholars' opinions in reciting the Qur'an from memory, whether it is in the daily recitation or otherwise. As for the one in a state of major ritual impurity, he does not recite anything from the Qur'an until he takes a bath; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was not prevented from the Qur'an by anything except major ritual impurity. As for touching the mushaf, it is not permissible for the menstruating woman, the woman with post-natal bleeding, and the one in a state of major ritual impurity. It is also not permissible for the one in a state of minor ritual impurity, like passing wind or sleeping, until he performs the ablution prescribed by the Shari'ah, due to hadiths reported in that regard from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
As for rewarding the daily recitation for another, the best is to leave it off due to the lack of evidence for it. Likewise, rewarding the recitation of the Qur'an for another, the best is to leave it off, as explained above; because nothing has come from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or from the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), as far as we know, that indicates rewarding the Qur'an or the dhikr for another. As for supplication and charity, their matter is broad, as the discussion of that has also preceded.
As for the hadith of Abu ibn Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) in which he said: O Messenger of Allah, how much of my prayer should I make for you? ... to the end of it, it is a hadith with weakness in its chain. And assuming its authenticity, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) and others from the people of knowledge mentioned that what is meant by that is: supplication; because supplication is called: prayer. They said: Abu had specified a time for supplication, so he asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): how much should he make of that? ... until he said: I make my whole prayer for you. The meaning is: I make my whole supplication a prayer for you, meaning: in that time which he specified for supplication. And Allah the Exalted knows best.
And as long as the hadith is not authentic in its chain, it should not be strained to interpret it. It is sufficient for us to know that Allah the Exalted prescribed for us the prayer and peace upon His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), as He said (may He be exalted) : [Al-Ahzab: 56].
And many hadiths came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) indicating the prescription of increasing the prayer and peace upon him, (peace and blessings be upon him), and that whoever prays upon him once, Allah prays upon him ten times. So this is all sufficient in explaining the prescription of increasing the prayer and peace upon him in all times of night and day, especially before supplication, and after the adhan, and at the end of the prayer before the salam, and whenever his mention (peace and blessings be upon him) passes.
As for the hadith: , we do not know a basis for it, rather it is from the lies of the liars. As for the manner of the prayer upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): it has come in the authentic hadiths from him (peace and blessings be upon him) explaining it, and the least of that is to say: O Allah, send prayers and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, or: O Allah, send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his companions, or: O Allah, send prayers and peace upon our master Muhammad and his family and his companions, or: May Allah send prayers and peace upon you, O Messenger of Allah, and the like of that. And among that is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) when asked about the manner of the prayer upon him: , and in another wording he said: , and in a wording from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said to them when he informed them of the manner of the prayer: , indicating by that what he taught them in the tashahhud, which is his saying: , and in another wording from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said to them: , and these manners mentioned are the most authentic that came from him (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the manner of the prayer upon him, and they are sufficient for what people have innovated of types of prayer and peace upon him, (peace and blessings be upon him), and they are better than what they have innovated.
As for the hadith: , we do not know of any basis for it; rather, it is from the lies of the liars. As for sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on behalf of others, I do not know of any basis for it from the righteous predecessors, and it is better to leave it.
As for presenting one's deeds to Allah the Exalted on Monday and Thursday, that is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him). This is because when he (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about his fasting on Monday and Thursday, he said: . Fasting on these two days is better than fasting on Friday; indeed, fasting on Friday alone is prohibited unless one fasts on the day before it or the day after it.
As for supplication, it is prescribed in prayer, in both the obligatory and voluntary prayers, just as it is prescribed outside of prayer and at all times. It is recommended for the one making supplication to ask his Lord for all his needs, the needs of this world and the needs of the Hereafter, and this is prescribed in prayer and outside of it. The best is for this to be done in prostration and at the end of the prayer before the closing salam, due to authentic hadiths that have been reported regarding this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It is also prescribed to pay more attention to supplication related to the Hereafter, and likewise, the supplications reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are better than others.
As for the prescribed voluntary prayers accompanying the obligatory ones, they are: four rak'ahs before the midday prayer with two closing salams, and two rak'ahs after it, two rak'ahs after the sunset prayer, two rak'ahs after the night prayer, and two rak'ahs before the dawn prayer. These are twelve rak'ahs in six closing salams, all of which are voluntary. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to maintain them while resident. They are called the rawatib. It is authentic from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: , which Muslim recorded in his Sahih. Al-Tirmidhi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it in his Sunan and added: . And if one prays four rak'ahs after the midday prayer and four before it, that is better, due to what is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her), in which he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Ahmad, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah recorded it. This is all when a person is resident. As for travel, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to leave the voluntary prayer of the midday, the sunset, and the night prayers, and he would maintain the voluntary prayer of the dawn and the witr.
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform the late-night prayer in travel and residence, and he varied his witr. Sometimes he would perform witr with three, sometimes with five, sometimes with seven, sometimes with nine, and sometimes with eleven, which was the most common of his actions (peace and blessings be upon him). Sometimes he would perform witr with thirteen, and it is not recorded from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he did more than that, as far as we know. However, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not prohibit increasing beyond thirteen, and he encouraged the night prayer, saying: . This indicates that there is no harm in increasing beyond thirteen in Ramadan or otherwise. So if one prays twenty rak'ahs or more than that, there is nothing wrong with it.
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to be calm in his prayer and humble in it, and he would recite the Qur'an in a measured manner without hurrying. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sometimes performed witr at the beginning of the night, sometimes in the middle of it, and sometimes at the end of it. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: His witr settled at the end of the night. This is for those for whom it is easy to do so. As for one who fears that he will not be able to get up at the end of the night, it is better to perform witr at the beginning of the night. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) advised Abu Hurayrah and Abu al-Darda to perform witr at the beginning of the night, just as he advised them to perform the Dhuha prayer and to fast three days of every month. It is authentic from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: , which Muslim recorded in his Sahih.
And I ask Allah to grant us and you and all Muslims understanding in the religion and steadfastness upon it, and to rectify our hearts and our deeds, and to cause us all to die upon Islam. Indeed, He is Generous and Noble. And may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his companions. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.