Virtues of Subhan Allah wa Bi Hamdihi: A Weak Hadith Reviewed

Weak Hadith: A Critical Review of the Virtues of "Subḥānallāh wa bi ḥamdihī"


Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 3 – Usūl, Takhrīj al-Riwāyāt wa Aḥkāmuhā, Page 177
Hadith No. 5 – Virtues of Dhikr, Chapter 3, Section 2 – Faḍā’il al-Aʿmāl

❖ The Hadith Text​

عَنْ أَبِي أُمَامَةَ رَضِيَ الله عَنْهُ، أَنّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ:
مَنْ هَالَهُ اللَّيْلُ أَنْ يُكَابِدَهُ، وَبَخِلَ بِالْمَالِ أَنْ يُنْفِقَهُ، وَجَبُنَ عَنِ الْعَدُوِّ أَنْ يُقَاتِلَهُ، فَلْيُكْثِرْ أَنْ يَقُولَ: سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ، فَإِنَّهَا أَحَبُّ إِلَى اللَّهِ مِنْ جَبَلِ ذَهَبٍ وَفِضَّةٍ يُنْفَقَانِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ


Translation:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever is afraid of enduring the night (i.e., lacks strength for night worship), or is stingy with his wealth and refrains from spending it, or is too timid to fight the enemy — let him say frequently: ‘Subḥānallāh wa bi ḥamdihī’ — for it is more beloved to Allah than a mountain of gold and silver spent in His path."


Narrated by al-Firyābī and al-Ṭabarānī (his wording). Described as gharīb and there is no harm in its isnād, in shāʾ Allāh.
(Reported by: Gul Raḥmān, Takht Bhai, District Mardan)

❖ Detailed Analysis of Chains and Sources​

① Narration of al-Firyābī​

• The actual text is unavailable, but the chain is found in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by Ṭabarānī (8/263, ḥadīth 7877).

Chain Defects:

• ◈ ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀtikah – Considered weak by the majority of scholars.
  (See: Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 10/210)
• ◈ ʿAlī ibn Yazīd al-Ṣubaḥānī – Also a weak narrator.
  (See: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb 4817)

Conclusion: This narration is weak due to these two narrators.

② Another Chain in Ṭabarānī​

(al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr 8/228, ḥadīth 7795)


Chain:
"Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ḥamzah al-Dimashqī → his father → his grandfather → Ḥaddād al-ʿUdhri and Ibn Jābir → al-ʿAbbās ibn Maymūn → al-Qāsim → Abū Umāmah"


Defects:

• ◈ Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ḥamzah – Severely criticized when narrating from his father.
  (See: Lisān al-Mīzān 1/650; Al-Thiqāt of Ibn Ḥibbān 9/74)
  Declared as “weak, known for strange and objectionable narrations” in Tarājim Shuyūkh al-Ṭabarānī (p. 180, no. 214)
• ◈ Ḥaddād al-ʿUdhri – No known authentication.
• ◈ ʿAbbās ibn Maymūn – Also lacks authentication.

Conclusion: This chain is rejected due to three flaws.

③ A Third Chain in Ṭabarānī​

(al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr 8/230, ḥadīth 7800)


Problematic Narrator:

• ◈ Sulaymān Aḥmad al-Wāsiṭī – Criticized by the majority.

Statements of Scholars:

• ✿ Al-Haythamī: “ʿAbdān declared him reliable, but the majority criticized him.”
  (Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 10/94)
• ✿ Imām al-Bukhārī: “He is questionable.”
  (Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr 4/3)
• ✿ Ibn ʿAdī: Either stole ḥadīths or confused them.
  (Al-Kāmil 3/1140, alternate edition 4/297)

Conclusion: This isnād is also weak and rejected.

❖ Supporting Evidences and Other Narrations​

(a) Narration of Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه)​

(Al-Targhīb wal-Tarhīb by al-Aṣbahānī)


Weaknesses in Chain:

• ◈ Yūsuf ibn al-ʿAnbas al-Yamānī – Unknown narrator.
• ◈ ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār & Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr – Both are mudallis, and they narrate using "ʿan".
• ◈ ʿIkrimah’s narration from Yaḥyā is doubtful.

Conclusion: Weak due to four defects.

(b) Narration of Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه)​

(Musnad al-Bazzār, Musnad ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd 641, etc.)


Chain: Isrā’īl → Abū Yaḥyā → Mujāhid → Ibn ʿAbbās

• ◈ Abū Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭāt – Declared weak by the majority.
  (Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 10/74)

(c) Narration of ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (رضي الله عنه)​

(Muʿjam al-Ismāʿīlī 3,2/27, ḥadīth 342; Al-Ṣaḥīḥah by al-Albānī 6/482, ḥadīth 2714)


Defects:

• ◈ Sufyān al-Thawrī – Though reliable, he was mudallis and narrated via "ʿan", making the chain weak.
• ◈ Shuʿab al-Īmān by al-Bayhaqī (607; alternate 599): Contains Mehran ibn Hārūn al-Rāzī, an unknown narrator.

(d) Narration in Musnad Aḥmad (1/387, ḥadīth 367)​

This version contains a different text.

• ◈ Ṣabāḥ ibn Muḥammad – A weak narrator.
  (See: Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, Hadith 4994)

Final Research Conclusion​

✖ This hadith is weak through all of its chains.
✖ There is no chain that raises the marfūʿ narration to the level of ḥasan or ṣaḥīḥ.

❖ Qaʿidah ʿAẓīmah (Established and Authentic Athar)​

An authentic statement from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (رضي الله عنه):​

"…Whoever fears spending wealth, dreads battle, or finds night worship burdensome — let him frequently say: Lā ilāha illallāh, Allāhu akbar, Alḥamdulillāh, Subḥānallāh."


Al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by Ṭabarānī (9/229, ḥadīth 8990)

• ◈ Chain is ḥasan li-dhātihī due to Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah.
• ◈ Supported by Zuhayr ibn Muʿāwiyah (Al-Zuhd of Abū Dāwūd 157) and Mālik ibn Mughūl (Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ 4/165).
• ◈ Imām al-Dāraquṭnī declared this mauqūf narration authentic.
  (Al-ʿIlal 5/271, Question 872)

Though mauqūf, the meaning strongly aligns with marfūʿ wisdom.