❖ Investigative Study on the Duʿā’:
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ حَسَّنْتَ خَلْقِي فَحَسِّنْ خُلُقِي
“O Allah! As You have beautified my outward form, beautify my character.”
◈ Source of the Question:
Asked by: Abū Qatādah, Basti Balochān, District Sargodha
Referenced from: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, p. 478
① Reported Source of the Duʿā’
This supplication is found in:
- Kitāb: ʿAmal al-Yawm wa al-Laylah
- Author: Ibn al-Sunnī
- Ḥadīth Number: 163
- Verification by: Shaykh Salīm al-Hilālī
- Also referenced in: ʿAjālat al-Rāghib al-Mumtaniʾ, Vol. 1, p. 217
② Status of the Ḥadīth: Severely Weak (سخت ضعیف)
③ Criticism of Narrators (جَرْحُ الرُّوَاة):
The chain includes three major problematic narrators:
➊ Al-Ḥusayn ibn Abī al-Sarī:
◈ Verdict: Matrūk (abandoned narrator)
◈ Extremely weak — not relied upon in ḥadīth transmission.
➋ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq al-Wāsiṭī:
◈ Verdict: Ḍaʿīf (weak)
◈ Multiple imāms of ḥadīth have criticized his memory and reliability.
➌ Nuʿmān ibn Saʿd:
◈ Verdict: Majhūl (unknown)
◈ No credible biographical details or support in ḥadīth sciences.
Reference: Al-Ḥadīth, Issue 20④ Scholarly Conclusion
Based on the chain:
✔ The narration is not authentic.
✔ It is severely weak due to multiple unreliable narrators.
✔ The duʿā’ cannot be accepted as authentically from the Prophet ﷺ.
⑤ Ruling on Usage
Although the wording of the duʿā’ carries a good and meaningful supplication, due to the lack of an authentic chain, it should not be practiced as a Sunnah or considered from the Prophet ﷺ.
➤ However, making similar personal duʿā’ in one’s own words — like asking Allah for good character — is permissible and encouraged, provided it is not believed to be a Sunnah-based act.
✔ Summary:
❖ The duʿā’ اللهم أنت حسنت خلقي فحسن خلقي is reported with a severely weak isnād.
❖ It is not established from the Prophet ﷺ with reliable transmission.
❖ Practicing it as a prophetic Sunnah is not correct.
❖ Personal duʿā’ with similar wording is permissible, but it should not be attributed to the Prophet ﷺ.
ھٰذَا مَا عِندِي، وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
