the promise.”¹

Some scholars have claimed that the addition, “Indeed, You do not break the promise,” is anomalous, for the majority of transmitters relate the supplication without it. Consequently, the version preserved only by a single narrator would be judged anomalous because it differs from what the reliable transmitters report—even though that narrator himself may be trustworthy.

Yet one may reply that no real contradiction exists, for this extra phrase does not clash with the wording that precedes it: it neither denies it nor restricts it. Rather, it merely lends the supplication a tone characteristic of the believers’ prayers, as Allah says about them: “Our Lord, grant us what You promised us through Your messengers, and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed, You never break Your promise” (Q 3:194). In the same way one says, “and raise him to the praiseworthy station You have promised him—indeed, You do not break the promise,” echoing the divine words: “and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed, You never break Your promise.”

Therefore, we must examine carefully whether an addition constitutes a contradiction or not; we should not rush to brand it contradictory. Declaring something contradictory means reconciliation is impossible, whereas if the two wordings can be harmonized, no contradiction exists.

Another issue: Is anomaly (shudhūdh) restricted to variations within a single ḥadīth—where a group transmits it one way while a lone narrator reports it differently—or is that not required?

We maintain that such a restriction is unnecessary. Anomaly may arise within one ḥadīth or between two separate ḥadīths; this is what the scholars’ practice indicates.

An illustration is the report transmitted by the compilers of the Sunan from Abū Hurayrah d. ___ AH in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “When the middle of Shaʿbān arrives, do not fast.”² Some scholars authenticated this ḥadīth and held that voluntary fasting is disliked once