Is Āyat al-Kursī Equal to a Quarter of the Qurʾān? Ḥadīth Authentication
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 283
In al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān by Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (Urdu edition, Vol. 2, p. 481, Mir Muhammad, Karachi), it is mentioned that in Musnad Aḥmad, Anas (RA) narrated that Āyat al-Kursī is equal to one-fourth of the Qurʾān in reward. Is this narration authentic? Please locate it in Musnad Aḥmad and provide the chain analysis to determine whether this virtue is established in Sharīʿah.
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
The narration mentioned in al-Suyūṭī’s Arabic al-Itqān (Vol. 2, p. 195) is found in:
All of these are through the chain: Salmāh ibn Wardān → Anas (RA).
This same chain is found in Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Kitāb Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān, Bāb: Mā Jāʾa fī Idhā Zulzilath, ḥadīth no. 2895, in a longer version, but without mention of Āyat al-Kursī — either omitted accidentally or absent in that narration. Allāh knows best.
Although Imām al-Tirmidhī graded the chain “ḥasan,” according to the principles of ḥadīth science it is weak due to the narrator Salmāh ibn Wardān.
✿ Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī: "Līn al-ḥadīth" — weak in ḥadīth. (al-Mughnī fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ, 1/433)
✿ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar: "Ḍaʿīf" — weak. (Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, ed. al-Atharī, p. 131)
✿ Ḥāfiẓ Nūr al-Dīn al-Haythamī, after citing the narration:
"Narrated by Aḥmad, and Salmāh is weak." (Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 7/147)
◈ The narration declaring Āyat al-Kursī to be “equal to one-fourth of the Qurʾān” is weak due to Salmāh ibn Wardān, who is not reliable according to the majority of ḥadīth scholars.
◈ There is no authentic proof in Sharīʿah to establish this specific virtue.
ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 283
Question:
In al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān by Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (Urdu edition, Vol. 2, p. 481, Mir Muhammad, Karachi), it is mentioned that in Musnad Aḥmad, Anas (RA) narrated that Āyat al-Kursī is equal to one-fourth of the Qurʾān in reward. Is this narration authentic? Please locate it in Musnad Aḥmad and provide the chain analysis to determine whether this virtue is established in Sharīʿah.
Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
Source of the Ḥadīth
The narration mentioned in al-Suyūṭī’s Arabic al-Itqān (Vol. 2, p. 195) is found in:
- Musnad Aḥmad (p. 221)
- al-Thawāb by Abū al-Shaykh al-Aṣbahānī
- al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr by al-Suyūṭī (ḥadīth no. 21)
- Kanz al-ʿUmmāl (ḥadīth no. 2536)
- al-Firdaws by al-Daylamī (Fayḍ al-Qadīr 1/80–81)
All of these are through the chain: Salmāh ibn Wardān → Anas (RA).
This same chain is found in Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Kitāb Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān, Bāb: Mā Jāʾa fī Idhā Zulzilath, ḥadīth no. 2895, in a longer version, but without mention of Āyat al-Kursī — either omitted accidentally or absent in that narration. Allāh knows best.
Chain Analysis
Although Imām al-Tirmidhī graded the chain “ḥasan,” according to the principles of ḥadīth science it is weak due to the narrator Salmāh ibn Wardān.
Statements of the Scholars on Salmāh ibn Wardān
✿ Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī: "Līn al-ḥadīth" — weak in ḥadīth. (al-Mughnī fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ, 1/433)
✿ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar: "Ḍaʿīf" — weak. (Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, ed. al-Atharī, p. 131)
✿ Ḥāfiẓ Nūr al-Dīn al-Haythamī, after citing the narration:
"Narrated by Aḥmad, and Salmāh is weak." (Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 7/147)
Detailed Criticism
- Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī and al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī: Most of Salmāh’s narrations from Anas (RA) are munkar (denounced).
- Ibn ʿAdī in al-Kāmil and Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī in Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl (2/193) listed this narration among his munkar reports.
- Even al-Suyūṭī, who is generally lenient in ḥadīth grading, counted this narration as weak.
Conclusion
◈ The narration declaring Āyat al-Kursī to be “equal to one-fourth of the Qurʾān” is weak due to Salmāh ibn Wardān, who is not reliable according to the majority of ḥadīth scholars.
◈ There is no authentic proof in Sharīʿah to establish this specific virtue.
ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
