Section
The supplications transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ throughout the prayer are worded in the singular, such as: “My Lord, forgive me, have mercy on me, and guide me” (1), as are the other supplications transmitted from him during prayer (2). These include his words in the opening supplication: “O Allah, cleanse me of my sins with snow and cold water (3). O Allah, distance me from my sins…”—to the end of the hadith (4).
Imam Ahmad and the compilers of the Sunan collections (5) narrated from Thawbān that the Prophet ﷺ said: “No servant should lead people in prayer and single himself out in supplication; if he does so, he has betrayed them.” After citing the hadith, “O Allah, distance me from my sins…” in his Sahīh (6), Ibn Khuzayma said: This provides evidence for rejecting the fabricated hadith, “No servant should lead people in prayer and single himself out in supplication without including them; if he does so, he has betrayed them.”
I heard Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya say: In my view, this hadith concerns the supplication that the imam offers
(1) Reported by Ahmad (2895), Abū Dāwūd (850), al-Tirmidhī (284, 285), and Ibn Mājah (898), from Ibn ‘Abbās. The hadith is weak because of the weakness of Kāmil Abū al-‘Alā’. It has been cited earlier.
(2) The words “from him during prayer” are omitted in Q and N.
(3) J reads: “and water and hail.” The wording retained from the other manuscripts is that of al-Dārimī (1280).
(4) Reported by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). It has been cited earlier.
(5) Reported by Imam Ahmad (22415), Abū Dāwūd (90), al-Tirmidhī (357), and Ibn Mājah (923), from Thawbān, the Prophet’s freedman (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). There is disagreement concerning its chain of transmission, as noted by al-Tirmidhī and al-Dāraqutnī in al-‘Ilal (1568). For details, see al-Albānī’s Da‘īf Abī Dāwūd—al-Umm (1:32–35), whose extensive discussion is excellent and informative.
(6) In the chapter heading for hadith (1630), which reads: “Chapter on the concession allowing the imam to supplicate exclusively for himself, without including those praying behind him, contrary to the unestablished report narrated from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)…”