Is there a prayer called tasbih prayer? Is the hadith mentioning that prayer sound?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Ibn Abbas and Abu Rafi narrates: “The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to Abbas Ibn Abdilmuttalib:

“O Abbas, my uncle! Shall I not give you a gift? Shall I not donate to you? Shall I not benefit you? Shall I not remind you of ten good things? If you act upon them, Allah will forgive you all of your sins: first and last, old and new, involuntary and voluntary, small and big, secret and open. Those ten good things are as follows: ‘Pray four rak’ahs and recite in each rak’ah the chapter of al-Fatiha and an additional chapter. When you have finished reciting in the first rak’ah, say: Subhanallahi wal-hamdu lillahi wa la ilaha illallahu wallahu akbar (Glory is to Allah, praise is to Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Allah is the Most Great) fifteen times before you bow in ruku’. Then bow down and say the same words ten times. Then, raise your head and say the same words ten times. Then, prostrate and say them ten times; then, raise your head and say them ten times. Then, prostrate and say them ten times. Then, raise your head and say them ten times before you stand up. That will be seventy-five times in each rak’ah.

Do the same thing in all four rak’ahs. Perform this prayer every day if you can. If not, perform it once a week. If not, perform it once a month. If not, perform it once a year. If you cannot perform it once a year, perform it once in your life.” [Abu Dawud, Salah 303, (1297, 1299); Tirmidhi, Salah 350, (482); Ibn Majah, Iqamah 190, (1386, 1387).]

The Explanation of the Hadith:

1. This hadith was regarded as fabricated by Ibnul-Jawzi, who was known to be an extremist related to criticizing hadiths and hence whose evaluations were not respected. The scholars did not agree with Ibnul-Jawzi about this hadith and criticized him seriously. Ibn Hajar said, “Ibnul-Jawzi did something bad by mentioning this hadith among fabricated ones.” He said that Bukhari included this hadith in his book called “al-Qiraatu Khalfal-Imam”, that Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzayma and Hakim included it in their books with the attribute of “sahih (sound)” and that many investigative scholars like Bayhaqi called that hadith “sound”.

Tirmidhi said, “Ibnul-Mubarak and many other scholars narrated tasbih prayer and expressed its virtue.” The resources state that the notables of Salaf including Ibnul-Mubarak performed this prayer. Daraqutni, who criticized many hadiths said,

“The soundest narration related to the virtue of the chapters of the Quran is the one related to the chapter of al-Ikhlas. The soundest narration related to the virtue of prayers is the hadith related to tasbih prayer.” Abu Musa al-Madini wrote a booklet to show the soundness of the hadith.

2. Taysir included the version of the hadith in Abu Dawud. The version in Tirmidhi starts as follows:

“O Uncle! Shall I not give you the right of kinship? Shall I not give you a gift? Shall I not benefit you?”

3. There is another description of the prayer narrated by Ibnul-Mubarak. According to this description, the prayer is as follows:  Say, “Subhanallahi walhamdu lillahi wa la ilaha illallahu wallahu akbar” fifteen times before the chapter of al-Fatiha. Then, say audhubillahiminash-shaytanir-rajim, bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim and read the chapter of al-Fatiha and another chapter. After that, say the tasbih mentioned above ten times and bow down for ruku. Say it ten times in ruku and ten times after standing up from ruku. Then, prostrate and say it ten times in prostration. Say it ten times after getting up from prostration and say it ten times again in the second prostration. Thus, you will have said it seventy-five times in each rak’ah. Start each rak’ah by saying it fifteen times and say it ten times after al-Fatiha.

4. Tirmidhi states that this prayer can be performed at night or during the day, that it is better to salute after the second rak’ah if it is performed at night and that one can salute after the second or the fourth rak’ah if he performs it during the day. Acting upon some evaluations, some scholars regard performing it after the sun leaves its peak at noon better.

5. Hanafis and the majority of the scholars adopted performing tasbih prayer based on the narration of Ibn Abbas and Abu Rafi since it is marfu. However, Aliyyul-Qari states the following in Mirqat:

“A person who worships should perform tasbih prayer sometimes based on the hadith of Ibn Abbas and sometimes Ibnul-Mubarak; it should be performed after zawal and before the noon prayer. One should sometimes read the chapters of az-Zilzal, al-Adiyat, al-Fath and al-Ikhlas and sometimes read the chapters of at-Takathur, al-Asr, al-Kafirun and al-Ikhlas. He should supplicate after tashahhud and before salutation and he should pray Allah for his wish.”

Aliyyul-Qari finishes his statement as follows:

“All of those are based on sunnah.”

(see İbrahim Canan, Kütüb-ü Sitte Tercüme ve Şerhi, c. 9, Dördüncü Fasıl, Müteferrik Namazlar)

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