Question
This hadith is mentioned in
under the chapter of the Names of Allah Almighty. Kindly explain its chain of narration.
Text of the Hadith
عَنْ عَائِشَۃَ قَالَتْ سَمِعْتُ رَسُوْلَ اﷲِ صلی الله علیہ وسلم یَقُوْلُ اَللّٰہُمَّ اِنِّیْ أَسْأَلُکَ بِاِسْمِکَ الطَّاہِرِ الطَّیِّبِ الْمُبَارَکِ الْاَحَبِّ اِلَیْکَ الَّذِیْ اِذَا دُعِیْتَ بِہِ اَجَبْتَ وَاِذَا سُئِلْتَ بِہٖ اَعْطَیْتَ وَاِذَا اسْتُرْحِمْتَ بِہٖ رَحِمْتَ وَاِذَا اسْتُفْرِجْتَ بِہٖ فَرَّجْتَ قَالَتْ وَقَالَ ذَاتَ یَوْمٍ یَا عَائِشَۃُ ہَلْ عَلِمْتِ اَنَّ اﷲَ قَدْ دَلَّنِیْ عَلَی الْاِسْمِ الَّذِیْ اِذَا دُعِیَ بِہٖ اَجَابَ قَالَتْ فَقُلْتُ یَا رَسُوْلَ اﷲِ بِاَبِیْ اَنْتَ وَاُمِّیْ فَعَلِّمْنِیْہِ قَالَ اِنَّہٗ لاَ یَنْبَغِیْ لَکِ یَا عَائِشَۃُ قَالَتْ فَتَنحَّیْتُ وَجَلَسْتُ سَاعَۃً ثُمَّ قُمْتُ فَقَبَّلْتُ رَاْسَہٗ ثُمَّ قُلْتُ یَا رَسُوْلَ اﷲِ عَلِّمْنِیْہِ قَالَ اِنَّہٗ لاَ یَنْبَغِیْ لَکِ یَا عَائِشَۃُ اَنْ اُعَلِّمَکِ اِنَّہٗ لاَ یَنْبَغِیْ لَکِ اَنْ تَسْاَلِیْنَ بِہٖ شَیْئًا مِنَ الدُّنْیَا قَالَتْ فَقُمْتُ فَتَوَضَّأتُ ثُمَّ صَلَّیْتُ رَکْعَتَیْنِ ثُمَّ قُلْتُ (اَللّٰہُمَّ اِنِّیْ اَدْعُوْکَ اﷲَ وَاَدْعُوْکَ الرَّحْمٰنَ وَاَدْعُوْکَ الْبَرَّ الرَّحِیْمَ وَاَدْعُوْکَ بِاَسْمَآئِکَ الْحُسْنٰی کُلِّہَا مَا عَلِمْتُ مِنْہَا وَمَا لَمْ اَعْلَمْ اَنْ تَغْفِرَ لِیْ وَتَرْحَمَنِیْ) قَالَتْ فَاسْتَضْحَکَ رَسُوْلُ اﷲِ صلی الله علیہ وسلم ثُمَّ قَالَ اِنَّہٗ لَفِیْ الْاَسْمَآئِ الَّتِیْ دَعَوْتِ بِہَا
Translation
Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates:
I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say:
“O Allah! I ask You by Your pure, pure, blessed, and most beloved name by which if You are called, You respond; if asked through it, You grant; if mercy is sought through it, You show mercy; and if relief from hardship is sought through it, You grant relief.”
One day the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
“O Aisha! Do you know that Allah Almighty has taught me that name by which supplication is accepted?”
I said: “O Messenger of Allah! May my parents be sacrificed for you, please teach me that name.”
The Prophet ﷺ said: “O Aisha! This is not appropriate for you.”
Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates:
Hearing this, I withdrew and sat for a while, then I got up, kissed your blessed head, and said: “O Messenger of Allah! Please tell me that name.”
You said: “O Aisha! It is not appropriate for you that I teach you, nor is it appropriate that you ask for anything in this world by means of that name.”
Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says:
Hearing this, I got up, performed ablution, prayed two rak’ahs, and made this supplication:
“Allahumma! I call You Allah, I call You Ar-Rahman, I call You Al-Barr wa Ar-Raheem, and I call You by all Your good names, those which I know and those which I do not know, that You forgive me and have mercy on me.”
Upon hearing this, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, smiled and said:
“Indeed, the Greatest Name is among these names with which you have supplicated.”
— Muhammad Yaqub Ahmad
Answer
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
Explanation of the chains of narration:
The narration from Sunan Ibn Majah that you mentioned contains a narrator named Abu Shaybah in its chain, who is muhmal. According to the principles of Hadith, a muhmal narrator is considered unknown unless his identity is established through a trustworthy narrator.
Shaykh Al-Albani, may Allah preserve him, also included this narration in his book
.
واللہ اعلم
