❀ Does Reciting Surah Al-Waqi’ah at Night Eliminate Poverty? ❀
✒ Authored by: Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amaanpuri
❖ Question:
Does reciting Surah Al-Waqi’ah at night remove poverty and destitution?
❖ Answer:
This is not established.
✿ Report from Sayyiduna ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud (رضي الله عنه):
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“من قرأ سورة الواقعة فى كل ليلة لم تصبه فاقة أبدا، وكان ابن مسعود يأمر بناته أن يقرأن بها كل ليلة“
“Whoever recites Surah Al-Waqi’ah every night will never be afflicted by poverty. ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud (رضي الله عنه) used to instruct his daughters to recite it every night.”
— (Musnad al-Hārith: 1708, Tafsīr Ibn Mardawayh: 465-466)
However, the chain is weak and inconsistent.
❖ Reasons for Weakness in the Chain:
① The identity and authentication of Shujaʿ or Abū Shujaʿ are unknown.
✿ Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (رحمه الله) said:
“لا أعرفه“ – “I do not know him.”
— (Al-Mukhtasab min ʿIlal al-Khallāl: 1/117)
② It is unclear who Abū Ṭayyibah, Abū Ḍubaybah, or Abū Fāṭimah is.
✿ Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (رحمه الله) said:
“أبو طيبة هذا لا أعرفه“ – “I do not know this Abū Ṭayyibah.”
— (Al-Mukhtasab min ʿIlal al-Khallāl: 1/117)
✿ He also stated:
“هذا حديث منكر“ – “This ḥadīth is munkar (rejected).”
— (Al-Mukhtasab min ʿIlal al-Khallāl: 1/116)
✿ Report from Sayyiduna Anas ibn Mālik (رضي الله عنه):
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“علموا نساء كم سورة الواقعة، فإنها سورة الغنى“
“Teach your women Surah Al-Waqi’ah, for it is the Surah of richness.”
— (Al-Gharāʾib al-Multaqaṭah by Ibn Ḥajar: 5/635)
The chain is severely weak:
① ʿAlī ibn Ḥasan ibn Ḥabīb is unknown and unauthenticated.
② No biographical data exists for Mūsā ibn Farqad Baṣrī.
③ Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullah ibn Ḥamdān has no known biography.
④ There is no evidence that Mūsā ibn Farqad heard from Anas (رضي الله عنه).
✿ Weak Chain in
① Requires authentication of ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan.
② His father’s biography is also unknown.
✿ Weak Chain in Dhail al-La’āli al-Maṣnūʿah by al-Suyūṭī (p. 146):
① ʿAbd al-Quddūs ibn Ḥabīb is matrūk (abandoned) and a fabricator.
② The narration is muʿanʿan from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī.
③ Ibrāhīm ibn Sulaymān Nahmī Kharrāz is matrūk.
④ No biographical record exists for Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿIṣām.
✿ Report from Sayyiduna ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما):
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“من قرأ كل ليلة : ﴿اِذَا وَقَعَتِ الْوَاقِعَةُ﴾ لم يصبه فقر أبدا“
“Whoever recites Surah Al-Waqi’ah every night will never be afflicted by poverty.”
— (Tārīkh Ibn ʿAsākir: 36/444)
This narration is fabricated:
① Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn Yūnus Yamāmī is matrūk and a liar.
② The identity and authentication of ʿAmr ibn Yazīd are unknown.
③ The identity of Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan could not be confirmed.
④ Abū Bakr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbbās ibn Walīd ibn Muḥammad Nafsānī is unauthenticated.
✅ Conclusion:
There is no authentic evidence to establish that reciting Surah Al-Waqi’ah at night guarantees protection from poverty or destitution. The narrations presented in its favor are all either weak, severely weak, or fabricated. Therefore, such a claim cannot be relied upon in Sharīʿah.
