Allamah Muhammad ibn Abdur Rahman Sakhaawi said in

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

[D] “A narration which is elevated to the Messenger ﷺ is found by Daarqutni with the words:

“Whosoever sends salaat upon me on the day of Jumuah eighty (80) times, Allah will forgive eighty (80) years (سنة) of his sins.” It was said, O Messenger of Allah, what is the method of the Salaat upon you? He replied, “You should say (تقول): [اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدِكَ وَنَبِيِّكَ وَرَسُوْلِكَ النَّبِّيِ الْأُمِّيِّ] and count that as one (with your finger).”

Iraqi and before him, Abu Abdillah ibn Nu’maan classified it sound (hasan). However, it needs to be researched. A similar wording from the hadith of Anas رضي الله عنه was previously mentioned.”

Explanation:

It seems that Hafidh Sakhawi’s reference for this narration is Iraqi’s ‘Al-Mughni’ which is a takhreej (referencing and grading) of Imam Ghazali’s ‘Ihyaul Uloom’. This is because after quoting it he says, it needs further research. Imam Ghazali quotes this hadith in the following manner.

“It is desirable to send salutations in abundance upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on this day. Because he said, “Whosoever sends salaat upon me on the day of Jumuah eighty (80) times, Allah will forgive eighty (80) years of his sins.” It was said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is the method of the Salaat upon you?’ He replied, “You should say: [اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدِكَ وَنَبِيِّكَ وَرَسُوْلِكَ النَّبِّيِ الْأُمِّيِّ] and count that as one (with your finger).” [Ihyaaul Uloom Vol.2 Pg.336]

Ghazali, as usual, did not mention the Sahabi who transmitted it nor the muhaddith who collected it. In referencing it, Iraqi says,

“The hadith “Whosoever sends salaat upon me on the day of Jumuah eighty (80) times …” Daruqutni from the narration of Ibnul Musaiyyib, he said, ‘I feel it is transmitted through Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه.’ He (Daarqutni) said, ‘It is a gharib hadith.’ Ibnul Nu’maan said, ‘It is a sound hadith.’” [Al-Mughni with Ihyaaul Uloom Vol.2 Pg.336]

After quoting the hadith, Hafidh Sakhawi said, “However, it needs to be researched. A similar wording from the hadith of Anas رضي الله عنه was previously mentioned.”

What Sakhawi is indicating to is that a hadith, with exactly the same words, is narrated from Anas رضي الله عنه and collected by Al-Khatib Baghdadi and Ibnul Jawzi. The chain of that hadith is extremely weak according to Ibnul Jawzi and Zahabi. Hafidh Sakhawi had already mentioned this narration a few pages (Pg.396-7) before. It is as follows:

[E] “Anas narrates from the Nabi ﷺ that he said, “Whosoever sends salaat upon me on the day of Jumuah eighty (80) times, Allah will forgive eighty (80) years (عاما) of his sins.” It was said, O Messenger of Allah, what is the method of the Salaat upon you? He replied, “Say (قولوا): [اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدِكَ وَنَبِيِّكَ وَرَسُوْلِكَ النَّبِّيِ الْأُمِّيِّ] and count that as one (with your finger).” Collected by Al-Khatib and Ibnul Jawzi mentioned it in ‘Al-Ahadith Waahiyah’.”

Zahabi mentioned it in the biography of Wahab ibn Dawud Al-Mukharrami in ‘Al-Mizaan’. He said, “Wahab: Ismail –and he is Ibn U’laiyyah narrated to us that Abdul Aziz ibn Suhaib narrated to us from Anas رضي الله عنه from the Nabi ﷺ that he said, “Whosoever sends salaat upon me on the day of Jumuah eighty (80) times, eighty years of his sins will be forgiven.” End quote of Hafidh Sakhawi.

Khatib Baghdadi wrote in “Tarikh Baghdaad” [Vol.15 Pg.636-7]:

“Wahab ibn Dawud ibn Sulaiman, Abul Qasim Al-Mukharrimi. He narrated from Ismail ibn U’liayah. Muhammad ibn Jafar Al-Matiri narrated from him. He was blind and he was not reliable.” Thereafter Khatib transmitted the above hadith with his chain.

Ibnul Jawzi collected the narration of Anas رضي الله عنه in his ‘Elalul Mutanaahiyah’ [#796] then he said, “This hadith is not authentic. Abu Bakr Al-Khatib said, “Wahab ibn Dawud is not reliable.” Ibnul Jawzi compiled this book, ‘Elalul Mutanaahiyah’ to quote extremely weak narrations, as he mentioned in his introduction. Therefore, this hadith is extremely weak according to him.

Allamah Zahabi went a step further and classified this narration of Anas رضي الله عنه a fabrication. When speaking about Wahab ibn Dawud ibn Sulaiman Ad-Dharir Al-Mukharrimi in ‘Al-Mughni’, Zahabi quotes Khatib as saying ‘He was not reliable.’ Then Zahabi states, “Thereafter he (Khatib) mentions a hadith of his (Dawud) which was fabricated by him (Dawud).” Khatib had only cited this narration of Anas رضي الله عنه.

The wordings of this narration of Khatib and Ibnul Jawzi is the same as the one Iraqi referenced from ‘Ihyaa’. The differences are in the following table:

	Iraqi’s Reference	Khatib/Ibnul Jawzi
Sahabi	Abu Hurairah	Anas
Muhaddith Author	Darqutni	Khatib/Ibnul Jawzi

The narration that is known to be collected by Darqutni from Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه is the first one quoted above. “Salaat (Salutations/Durood) upon me is a light on the Siraat (Bridge). The one who sends salaat upon me on the day of Jumuah eighty (80) times, his sins of eighty (80) years will be forgiven.” Sakhawi had pointed out that in some chains it is narrated in this manner, Ibnul Musaiyyib said, “I feel it is narrated through Abu Hurairah.” Above Daruqutni had graded this hadith gharib.

Firstly, we will produce both hadiths side by side:

Hadith A		Hadith E
Ibnul Musaiyyib said, I feel it is narrated through Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Salaat (Salutations/Durood) upon me is a light on the Siraat (Bridge). The one who sends salaat upon me on the day of Jumuah eighty (80) times, his sins of eighty (80) years will be forgiven.” Collected by Daarqutni in Al-Afraad and he said, “Gharib.”		Anas رضي الله عنه narrates from the Nabi ﷺ that he said, “Whosoever sends salaat upon me on the day of Jumuah eighty (80) times, Allah will forgive eighty (80) years (عاما) of his sins.” It was said, O Messenger of Allah, what is the method of the Salaat upon you? He replied, “Say (قولوا): [اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدِكَ وَنَبِيِّكَ وَرَسُوْلِكَ النَّبِّيِ الْأُمِّيِّ] and count that as one (with your finger).” Collected by Al-Khatib in At-Tarikh

There are two possibilities when Iraqi was referencing the hadith of Al-Ihyaa, “Whosoever sends salaat upon me on the day of Jumuah eighty (80) times, Allah will forgive eighty (80) years of his sins.” It was said, O Messenger of Allah, what is the method of the Salaat upon you? He replied, “You should say: [اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدِكَ وَنَبِيِّكَ وَرَسُوْلِكَ النَّبِّيِ الْأُمِّيِّ] and count that as one (with your finger).”

1. He did so bil-ma’naa (by meaning). This means, he was actually quoting ‘Hadith A’ in the above table as the reference because they have a similar meaning, even though many words are different.
2. He actually found the words of the hadith in Al-Ihyaa in a book of Daarqutni, through Ibnul Musaiyyib through Abu Hurairah, with a chain strong enough to be graded sound (hasan).

If the former is the case, then we know the chain of this hadith of Daarqutni in Al-Afraad has four weak narrators in it, as pointed out by Ibn Hajr. Therefore, grading it sound (hasan) would not be correct. It would also mean that the words quoted in ‘Al-Ihyaa’ only has the chain listed by Khatib and Ibul Jawzi (Hadith E), which is also extremely weak or fabricated. Therefore, these words cannot be graded sound (hasan) either.

If it is the latter case, then we would have to see its chain to verify if Ibn Nu’maan’s classification of hasan (sound) is correct.

This is why, Allamah Sakhawi said, Iraqi’s referencing and grading needs further research. And Allah knows best.