Narrations
Source: Fatawa ‘Ilmiyyah, Volume 1, Kitab al-Salah, Page 471
Some people are observed placing their right hand on their forehead immediately after completing the fard prayer and reciting a supplication.
Is there any evidence for this practice in the Qur’an or Sunnah? A detailed scholarly response is requested.
(Question by: Asadullah Khair Barah, Ghazi Hazara)
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʾammā baʿd!
Narrated by Salam al-Tawil al-Mada’ini, from Zayd al-ʿAmi, from Muʿawiyah ibn Qurrah, from Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه:
“Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ completed his prayer, he would wipe his forehead with his right hand and say:
❝Ashhadu allā ilāha illallāh, al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm. Allāhumma adhhib ʿannī al-hamma wal-ḥuzn❞”
(‘Amal al-Yawm wa al-Laylah by Ibn al-Sunni, al-Ṭabarānī in al-Awsaṭ 3/243; Kitāb al-Duʿā’ 2/1092, ḥadīth 659; al-Amālī by Ibn Samʿūn, ḥadīth 121; Natā’ij al-Afkār 2/301; Ḥilyat al-Awliyā’ 6/301–302)
① Salam al-Tawil al-Mada’ini:
② Zayd al-ʿAmi:
③ Ṭabarānī’s Second Chain:
Possibly narrated through:
“al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khaḍar al-ʿAṭṭār → ʿUthmān ibn Farqad → Zayd al-ʿAmi...”
(Kashf al-Astār 4/22, ḥadīth 3100)
✔ Al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khaḍar al-ʿAṭṭār is an unknown narrator,
✔ There is a possibility he omitted Salam al-Tawil from the chain.
Conclusion: This isnād is unacceptable due to unknown narrators.
Narrated by Kathir ibn Sulaym, from Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه:
“Whenever the Prophet ﷺ completed his prayer, he would wipe his forehead with his right hand and say three times:
❝Bi-smi-llāh alladhī lā ilāha ghayruh, Allāhumma adhhib ʿannī al-hamma wal-ḥuzn❞”
(_al-Kāmil by Ibn ʿAdī 7/199; al-Awsaṭ by al-Ṭabarānī 4/126, ḥadīth 3202; Kitāb al-Duʿā’ 2/1095, ḥadīth 658; al-Amālī by al-Shajari 1/249; Tārīkh Baghdād 12/480; Natā’ij al-Afkār 2/301–302)
A matrūk narrator's hadith is not acceptable, even for supporting evidence.
(Ikhtiṣār ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth by Ibn Kathir, p. 38)
Some individuals (e.g. Muhammad Irshad Qasmi, Deobandi) have referenced this hadith using the label “with a weak chain” but have not included the Arabic critique on the narrators.
This method of withholding crucial scholarly evaluation misleads the public, especially when weak or rejected hadiths are promoted.
There is no evidence from the Qur’an, Sunnah, the Companions, or the Tābiʿīn that the Prophet ﷺ or his companions would place their hands on their forehead and recite such a supplication after prayer.
✔ Therefore, this practice must be completely avoided.
ـــ ❖ ـــ
وَمَا عَلَيْنَا إِلَّا الْبَلَاغ
(19 Ṣafar 1426 AH)
(al-Ḥadīth)
ھٰذَا مَا عِندِي وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
Source: Fatawa ‘Ilmiyyah, Volume 1, Kitab al-Salah, Page 471
❖ Inquiry:
Some people are observed placing their right hand on their forehead immediately after completing the fard prayer and reciting a supplication.
Is there any evidence for this practice in the Qur’an or Sunnah? A detailed scholarly response is requested.
(Question by: Asadullah Khair Barah, Ghazi Hazara)
✿ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʾammā baʿd!
✦ First Report:
Narrated by Salam al-Tawil al-Mada’ini, from Zayd al-ʿAmi, from Muʿawiyah ibn Qurrah, from Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه:
“Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ completed his prayer, he would wipe his forehead with his right hand and say:
❝Ashhadu allā ilāha illallāh, al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm. Allāhumma adhhib ʿannī al-hamma wal-ḥuzn❞”
(‘Amal al-Yawm wa al-Laylah by Ibn al-Sunni, al-Ṭabarānī in al-Awsaṭ 3/243; Kitāb al-Duʿā’ 2/1092, ḥadīth 659; al-Amālī by Ibn Samʿūn, ḥadīth 121; Natā’ij al-Afkār 2/301; Ḥilyat al-Awliyā’ 6/301–302)
✿ Analysis of the Chain of Narrators
① Salam al-Tawil al-Mada’ini:
- Severely weak narrator.
- Imam al-Bukhari: “They abandoned him.”
(Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafā’, Tuḥfat al-Aqwiyā’, p. 51, T. 155) - Imam al-Ḥākim: “He narrated fabricated ahadith.”
(al-Madkhal ilā al-Ṣaḥīḥ, p. 144, T. 73) - Imam al-Haythami: “There is consensus on his weakness.”
(Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 1/212) - Ibn Ḥajar: “This hadith is extremely weak due to him.”
(Natā’ij al-Afkār 2/301)
② Zayd al-ʿAmi:
- Declared weak in Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (No. 2131)
- Majority of Hadith critics label him as weak
- Haythami: “The rest of the narrators in one of Ṭabarānī’s chains are trustworthy, though one is disputed.”
③ Ṭabarānī’s Second Chain:
Possibly narrated through:
“al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khaḍar al-ʿAṭṭār → ʿUthmān ibn Farqad → Zayd al-ʿAmi...”
(Kashf al-Astār 4/22, ḥadīth 3100)
✔ Al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khaḍar al-ʿAṭṭār is an unknown narrator,
✔ There is a possibility he omitted Salam al-Tawil from the chain.
Conclusion: This isnād is unacceptable due to unknown narrators.✦ Second Report:
Narrated by Kathir ibn Sulaym, from Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه:
“Whenever the Prophet ﷺ completed his prayer, he would wipe his forehead with his right hand and say three times:
❝Bi-smi-llāh alladhī lā ilāha ghayruh, Allāhumma adhhib ʿannī al-hamma wal-ḥuzn❞”
(_al-Kāmil by Ibn ʿAdī 7/199; al-Awsaṭ by al-Ṭabarānī 4/126, ḥadīth 3202; Kitāb al-Duʿā’ 2/1095, ḥadīth 658; al-Amālī by al-Shajari 1/249; Tārīkh Baghdād 12/480; Natā’ij al-Afkār 2/301–302)
✿ Judgment on Kathir ibn Sulaym
- Imam al-Bukhari: Munkar al-ḥadīth
(Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafā’, Tuḥfat al-Aqwiyā’, p. 316) - Imam al-Nasāʾī: Matrūk al-ḥadīth
(al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wal-Matrūkīn, No. 506)
A matrūk narrator's hadith is not acceptable, even for supporting evidence.(Ikhtiṣār ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth by Ibn Kathir, p. 38)
✿ Summary of Findings
- Both narrations are extremely weak in all their chains.
- Shaykh al-Albani: Classified them as Daʿīf Jiddan (Very Weak)
(Silsilah al-Ḍaʿīfah 2/114, ḥadīth 660) - Imam al-Suyuti: Also declared the narration as weak
(al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr, No. 6741)
✿ Important Warning
Some individuals (e.g. Muhammad Irshad Qasmi, Deobandi) have referenced this hadith using the label “with a weak chain” but have not included the Arabic critique on the narrators.
This method of withholding crucial scholarly evaluation misleads the public, especially when weak or rejected hadiths are promoted.
Conclusion:
There is no evidence from the Qur’an, Sunnah, the Companions, or the Tābiʿīn that the Prophet ﷺ or his companions would place their hands on their forehead and recite such a supplication after prayer.
✔ Therefore, this practice must be completely avoided.
ـــ ❖ ـــ
وَمَا عَلَيْنَا إِلَّا الْبَلَاغ
(19 Ṣafar 1426 AH) (al-Ḥadīth)ھٰذَا مَا عِندِي وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
