Dua After Prayer

Question :

Ibn 'Abbas(رضي الله عنهما) said, as recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari: "Dhikr was recited in a loud voice when people concluded the Obligatory Salah at the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)."

Is it possible to take from this hadith the legitimacy of reciting the Dhikr audibly after the Obligatory Daily Prayers? Can we say that the latter is Sunnah?

Answer by Shaikh al-Albani رحمه الله:

If we look at the collection of hadiths that motivates Dhikr, in all its forms and types, after the prayers on the one hand and we also look at other hadiths that forbid raising the voice with Dhikr to prevent disturbing the surrounding remembering people or the worshipers on the other hand, we draw the following conclusion:

What was mentioned in the first type of hadiths of dhikr and wirds after prayer, which indicates that performing Dhikr audibly was a common practice in the era of the Prophet,صلى الله عليه و سلم, like this hadith of Ibn 'Abbas must be reconciled with what may be in the same context, as well as with the hadiths that forbid raising the voice with Dhikr. Among the most important of these hadiths is: what was narrated by Imam Malik in Al-Muwatta' and Abu Dawud in his Sunnah and others on the authority of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) that he once heard voices in the mosque, so he opened the curtain and said: "O people, do do not make your voices loud one over the other in your recitation (of the Qur'ān)." The non-mentioned (other) narrators added a significant addition indicating the reason for this prohibition; namely, his saying, صلى الله عليه و سلم: "so you harm the believers". Therefore, if this hadith is explicit in the prohibition of loudly speaking (reciting any Dhikr loudly in the mosque among other people) and was justified by a clear and reasonable reason, which is that the performer of audible Dhikr should not disturb the worshipers or those who make Dhikr, then it is necessary to understand the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas and what might be in the same context as if it was for the sake of education and teaching, and should not be considered as Sunnah...as was stated by Imam Al-Shafi’i رحمه الله in his book: “al-Umm”: "The Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم raised his voice with Takbeer for the sake of teaching"...

Audio tape: 11

Fatawah of Jeddah سلسلة فتاوى جدة

1) Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “There is not a servant of Allah who raises his hands after prayer, then says: O Allah, my Lord, Lord of Ibrahim, Lord of Ishaq, Lord of Ya’qub, Lord of Jibril, Lord of Mika’il, Lord of Israfil, I ask You that answer my prayer...except that Allah takes it upon himself not to reject his (raising) of hands empty.” Recorded by Ibn Al-Sunni, Abu Al-Shaikh, al-Dailami, Inb A’sakir and Ibn Najjar and he is Wahi (i.e. one narrator in the chain is weak).

In the chain, there’s Abdul A’ziz Ibn Abdurrahman al-Balisi, Imam Ahmed said: ignore his hadeeths, they are lies, i.e., fabricated.

2) Abdullah ibn Zubayr (Allah be pleased with him) saw a person raising his hands and supplicating before he completed his prayer. When he ended his prayer, he said to him: “The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) never used to raise his hands until after completing his prayer.” (Recorded by Tabrani in his al-Mu’jam, and authenticated by al-Haythami in Majma’ al-Zawaid)

Al-Tabarani narrated it in “Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabeer” (14/266), he said: Suleiman bin Al-Hassan Al-Attar told us, he said: on the authority of Al-Fudayl bin Suleiman told us, he said: on the authority of Muhammad bin Abi Yahya told us… he mentioned the hadeeth.

This is a weak chain of transmission for two reasons:

a- The disconnection between Muhammad bin Abi Yahya and Abdullah bin Al-Zubair, as it is most likely that he had not heard from him, for Muhammad bin Abi Yahya died in the year 144 AH, and the death of Abdullah bin Al-Zubair was in the year 72 AH. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar did not mention in "Al-Tahdheeb" (5/310) that Muhammad bin Abi Yahya had a narration on the authority of Abdullah bin Al-Zubayr or other companions, rather he mentioned that he narrated from their followers.

b- Al-Fudayl bin Suleiman was weakened by many imams, such as Ibn Mu’in, Abd al-Rahman bin Mahdi, al-Nasa’i and others. See their rulings in "Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb" (4/481).

3) Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) raised his hands after making salam, and then whilst facing in the direction of the Qiblah, he said: “O Allah, …. liberate the weak Muslims from the hands of the non-believers.” (Recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim & Imam Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir)

Recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim in “Al-Tafsir” (3/1048) he said: My father told us, from Abu Muammar al-Munqari, from Abd al-Warith, from Ali bin Zaid, from Saeed bin al-Musayyib, from Abu Hurayrah.
Bakr Abu Zayd said: It revolves around the narrator: Ali bin Zaid bin Jada'an, so the hadith is weak, and if it is true, then this happened due to an accidental matter not on a regular basis.

4) Abu Wada’ah (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “The (optional) prayer of the night should be performed in sets of two Rak’ats, meaning you recite the Tashahhud after every two Rak’ah, express devotion and humility in your supplication, raise your hands and say: “O Allah, forgive me”. Whosoever fails to do so, his prayer will be incomplete.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, 2/40 & Sunan Ibn Majah, 1/419).
This hadith has a weak chain of narrators, including Abdullah bin Nafi'. Imam Ali ibn Al-Madini said about the latter: Unknown. Likewise, Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said in "Al-Taqreeb" (3682). This is why Al-Albani classed it as weak in "Dai'f Abi Dawood". See: "Dai'f Abi Dawood" (2/52).