Allamah Muhammad ibn Abdur Rahman Sakhaawi said in

“القول البديع في الصلاة على الحبيب الشفيع صلى الله عليه وسلم”:

[B] “(The following) is reported in a wording (found) with Ibn Bahskuwaal from the hadith of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه as well,

“Whoever performs the Asr prayer on the day of Jumuah, and then says before he stands from his place, ‘[اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدِنِ النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَسَلِّمْ تَسْلِيْمًا] eighty (80) times, his sins of eighty (80) years will be forgiven, and eighty (80) years of worship will be written for him.”

It is similarly narrated from Sahl as will be mentioned.”

Explanation:

This is the famous hadith which many quote, print on banners and hang up in masajid. It is the one which many, ulama and laymen alike, have been practicing upon for a while.

If we ponder over Allamah Sakhawi’s words it seems that he is saying this hadith is narrated with the same chain as the above hadith, with simply a variation in the words.

He says the hadith is collected by Ibn Bashkuwaal and Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه is the transmitting Sahabi.

Sakhaawi then points out that a narration with similar words are ascribed to Sahl ibn Abdullah. This maybe the great ascetic Sahl ibn Abdillah at-Tustari. Sakhawi states he will mention this narration soon, which he does.

The Issue with this Narration:

Ibn Bashkuwaal’s booklet on ‘salaat was salaam’ was not available in Hazrat Shaikh’s time. Therefore, he was unable to refer to it for verification. Rather, he relied upon Hafidh Sakhawi’s quote. And there is no blame on him in this as Hafidh Sakhawi is reliable and a giant in this field. Another point noteworthy, is that Hazrat Shaikh had used the first hadith “Salaat (Salutations/Durood) upon me is a light on the Siraat (Bridge),” as the main foundation and then listed the many narrations to follow as support and elucidation.

Ibn Bashkuwaal’s booklet on ‘salaat was salaam’ was published in 1420/1999 by Darul Kutub Ilmiyah. After reading through the entire booklet which comprises of 126 narrations in 106 pages, excluding the contents and editor’s introduction, we did not locate this famous narration of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه in it. Other scholars have also read the booklet and concluded that this narration is not in this copy of the book.

Yes, the statement of Sahl ibn Abdullah is present in the book. However, he does not ascribe it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Even if he had, then it would still be extremely weak due to the fact that many links would be missing between him and the Messenger ﷺ, as he was born around the year 200 AH. This is if he is the great ascetic. On the other hand, our teacher, Shaikh Talha Bilal Manyar said, “Sahl ibn Abdullah is not a Sahabi. He is a shaikh in the chain of narration and I was unable to recognize him. He could be Sahl ibn Abdillah ibn Buraidah ibnul Haseeb Al-Aslami Al-Marwazi, who is munkarul hadith. [Al-Mughni Vol.1 Pg.115] He could also be Sahl ibn Abdillah Al-Ghazi Al-Asbahani, who is a later narrator from the people of the fifth century Hijri. [Tarikh Dimashq Vol.10 Pg.130]” Regardless of who he is, the hadith would still remain extremely weak.

Sahl’s statement is also slightly different from the famous narration ascribed to Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه. Below is a scan of Sahl’s statement from Ibn Bashkuwaal’s book:

“Our Shaik Abul Qasim said, we narrate from Sahl ibn Abdullah that he said, “Whoever says on the day of Jumuah after the Asr prayer, ‘[اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدِنِ النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَسَلِّمْ] eighty (80) times, his sins of eighty (80) years will be forgiven.”

	Abu Hurairah’s Narration	Sahl’s Statement
1	The word تَسْلِيْمًا is in the Durood.	This word تَسْلِيْمًا is not here
2	Restriction of before he stands	This restriction is not here
3	(80) years of worship will be written	This virtue is not here

N.B. The modern editor and publisher only relied on one manuscript. Therefore, there is a high possibility that it is present in another manuscript. Further to this, the manuscript which was relied on had issues. On the cover of the manuscript the scribe wrote:

“It was found in the original (manuscript) from which this one was copied these exact words: ‘I saw in the original (manuscript), with which I compared this, the following:

“Everything that has ص upon it, then it is my narration from Abu Abdillah ibn Saalih Al-Khatib. And whatever has a س ص on it, then it is what fell off from him. Whatever has ص ح on it, is what was established by him in another (copy).”

I copied this from the words of its scribe Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Rashid.”

From this, it is clear that the original manuscript was incomplete. The scribe filled in missing parts from another copy. This shows that some copies are incomplete. So, there is a possibility that the famous narration of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه was present in Allamah Sakhawi’s copy of Ibn Bashkuwaal’s book.

Ibn Bashkuwaal was also a prolific writer, so there is also the possibility that Sakhawi copied the famous narration from another book of Ibn Bashkuwaal.

Some may say that there is also the possibility that Allamah Sakhawi had a slip of the pen. However, this is far-fetched for the following reasons:

1. Sakhawi indicates to the famous narration of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه a second time when he mentioned the statement of Sahl. He says, “Its meaning was recently mentioned in the hadith of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه.”
2. If the only difference between the statement of Sahl and the famous narration of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه [Hadith B] was the word تَسْلِيْمًا, then the claim of an error may have been stronger. However, the two huge differences, namely of ‘restriction of before he stands’ and ‘rewards of eighty years worship’ clearly points to the existence of this narration.
3. Allamah Sakhawi is a giant in the field of hadith. He, like his teacher Ibn Hajr was very cautious in what he penned. We are saying we have not seen it in our copy of Ibn Bashkuwal but he is saying he has seen it in his copy. The above issues with the manuscript lends credence to his claim.

Nevertheless, as far as we are concern, we have not yet seen the chain for the famous narration of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه [Hadith B]. And Allah knows best.

So can we practice on the hadith of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه [Hadith B] or not? We will discuss this in the conclusion of this article, in sha Allah.