Salat-ut-Tasbeeh

Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) taught Salat-ut-Tasbeeh in the following way:

"...That you perform 4 Rak'ats. In each Rak'at, you read Surah Fatihah and another Surah. After completing the Qiraat in the first Rak'at, you recite (Tasbeeh)  سبحان الله والحمد لله ولا اله الا الله والله اكبر

15 times while standing. After that, you perform Ruku’ and recite this Tasbeeh 10 times in this posture. Then you get up from Ruk'u and recite this Tasbeeh 10 times. Then you perform Sajdah and recite this Tasbeeh 10 times in this posture. You get up from Sajdah and you recite this Tasbeeh 10 times. Then you perform the second Sajdah and recite this Tasbeeh 10 times. Then you get up from Sajdah and recite this Tasbeeh 10 times (in the sitting posture before standing up). This amounts to a total of 75 times in one Rak'at. You do such (in the same way) in the 4 Rak'ats ..." (Abu Dawud)

Position of the Hadith:

In the Sanad of this Hadith, there is a narrator called Mussa Bin Abdul Aziz. Ibn-ul-Jawzi qualified him as a مجهول (unknown) Rawi. That’s why he included this Hadith among the fabricated Hadith. The scholars of Hadith judged this to be an exaggerated attitude on behalf of Ibn-ul-Jawzi because it is not true that the narrator Mussa Bin Abdul Aziz is an unknown narrator. Scholars of Hadith such asمعين  ابن (Ibn Ma'îne), النسائى (An-Niçaaï) and  حبان ابن (Ibn Hibbaan) qualified him as an authentic narrator. Imam Bukhari mentioned this Hadith exactly as it is in his Juz Qiraat Khalfal-Imam. In addition to that, he narrated Hadith from this Rawi in his Adab-ul-Mufrad. This proves that he is not an unknown Rawi according to the scholars of Hadith.

Besides that, there are scholars of Hadith such as Al-Khateeb, Abu Musa Al-Madeeni, Abul Hassan Bin Fadl, Al-Munziri, Ibn-us-Salaah, An-Nawawi, etc. who qualified this Hadith as authentic. According to Al Munziri, this Hadith is qualified as an authentic Hadith by the 'Ulama such as Abu Bakr Al-Ajuri, Sheikh Abu Muhammad Abdur Raheem, Sheikh Al-Hafiz Abul Hassan Al-Muqaddasi. This Hadith was also reported by Hazrat Abdullah Bin ‘Umar (Radiyallahu Anhu). In regards to this Hadith, Al-Haakim says:

"The version reported by Hazrat Abdullah Bin ‘Umar (Radiyallahu Anhu), according to which Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) had taught this Salah to his cousin, is authentic."

Then after mentioning its Sanad, Al-Hakim says:

"It is an authentic Hadith in which there is absolutely no doubt."

Salat-ut-Tasbeeh and Allaamah Bin Hajar (Rahmatullaahi alayh)

In his Ajawibah-ala-Risaalah-al-Qazwini, Allaamah Bin Hajar (Rahmatullaahi alayh) says:

"The truth is that this Hadith (Hadith concerning the Salat-ut-Tasbeeh), is in the degree of a Hadith Hassan because it is reported through several Sanad."

Note: A Hadith Hassan is a Hadith which is fair and which is strong enough to put it into practice.

Salat-ut-Tasbeeh and Sheïkh Nasiruddeen Albaani

Regarding the Hadith of Hazrat Abdullah Bin Abbaas (Radiyallahu Anhu) about the Salat-ut-Tasbeeh, Sheïkh Nasiruddeen Albaani says:

لكن الحديث له شواهد يتقوى بها ولذلك اوردته فى صحيح ابى داؤد" اسناده ضعيف كما اشار اليه المصنف"

"The Sanad of this Hadith is weak just as the author (Ibn Khuzaimah) has pointed out but the Hadith is supported by several Hadith which allows it to be in the rank of a strong Hadith. That’s why I mentioned it in Saheeh Abu Dawud. "

Salat-ut-Tasbeeh and Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal (Rahmatullahi alayh)

In the beginning, Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal (Rahmatullaahi alayh) was not in favour of the Hadiths which have been reported concerning the Salat-ut-Tasbeeh. According to him, all the Hadith on this subject are weak. But according to what Allaamah Jalaaluddeen As-Suyuti (Rahmatullahi alayh) said in his اللآلى المصنوعة"" (Al-la-alil-Masnu'a), once Ali Bin Saïd drew the attention of Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal (Rahmatullahi alayh) towards a Hadith on this subject which is reported from a Sanad according to which ابراهيم بن مسلم (Muslim Bin Ibrahim) reported it from المستمر بن الريان (Al Mustamirr Bin Ar-Rayyaan) from ابوالجوز (Abul-Jawza), thus Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal (Rahmatullahi alayh) seemed to be satisfied. According to Allaamah Bin Hajar (Rahmatullahi alayh), Imam Ahmad (Rahmatullahi alayh) had received this Hadith from a weak Sanad. That is why he would be of the opinion that there is no strong Hadith on this subject. But when he learned of the Hadith that المستمر بن الريان reported, he retracted.

The Hadith of Al-Ansari

This Hadith was reported by Al-Ansari. According to some scholars of Hadith, Al-Ansari refers to Hazrat Jabir Bin Abdullah (Radiyallahu Anhu). According to Allaamah Bin Hajar (Rahmatullahi alayh), it refers to a Sahaabi called Abu Kabshah Al-Ansari (Radiyallahu Anhu). In any case, ambiguity in this name is not a criterion which can affect the position of this Hadith.

Conclusion

Therefore, this Hadith is already in the degree of a Hadith Hassan. And now, considering other Hadith which have been reported on this subject, it will not be too much if we qualify it as a Saheeh and authentic Hadith.

[English version of "Salaat-ut-Tasbeeh" – Al Jamiat – Vol.5 No.3]