Question
What is the status of the chain of narration regarding the virtue of saying Āmīn after Sūrat al-Fātiḥah?
The Narration
❀ It is reported from Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
إذا قال الإمام : ﴿غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ﴾، فقال الذين خلفه : آمين، فالتقت من أهل السماء وأهل الأرض آمين، غفر الله للعبد ما تقدم من ذنبه...
“When the Imām says: ﴿غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ﴾, and those behind him say Āmīn, and their Āmīn coincides with that of the dwellers of heaven, Allah forgives the servant’s previous sins… As for the one who does not say Āmīn, his example is like a man who went out with people for jihād, and they drew lots; their names were drawn but his name was not, so he asked why. He was told: Because you did not say Āmīn.”
(Musnad Abī Yaʿlā 6411)
Scholarly Ruling on the Chain
The chain is weak.
① Kaʿb al-Madanī is majhūl al-ḥāl (unknown status).
② Layth ibn Abī Sulaym is considered weak and mukhṭaliṭ by the majority.
❀ Ḥāfiẓ al-Nawawī (رحمه الله, d. 676H) said:
اتفق العلماء على ضعفه، واضطراب حديثه، واختلال ضبطه
“The scholars unanimously agree that Layth ibn Abī Sulaym is weak. His ḥadīth is inconsistent, and his memory was faulty.”
(Tahdhīb al-Asmāʾ wa’l-Lughāt 2/75)
Conclusion:The narration about the virtue of saying Āmīn after Sūrat al-Fātiḥah as recorded in Musnad Abī Yaʿlā is weak in chain due to unreliable narrators, and cannot be used as authentic evidence.
