by some hadith masters (1), who declared Muhammad trustworthy and said: “He is too eminent for any of his hadiths to be fabricated. Al-Bukhārī, the foremost compiler of authentic hadiths, relied on him as an authority, and Yahyā ibn Ma‘īn, the most stringent critic of narrators, declared him trustworthy.”
Al-Tabarānī also related it in his Mu‘jam (2), on the authority of ‘Abd Allāh ibn Hasan ibn Hasan (3), from his father, from his grandfather, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Whoever recites Āyat al-Kursī after an obligatory prayer will remain under Allah’s protection until the next prayer.”
This hadith has also been transmitted on the authority of Abū Umāmah, ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar (4), al-Mughīrah ibn Shu‘bah, Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh, and Anas ibn Mālik (5).
Yet in all of them
(1) He may mean the hadith master Diyā’ al-Dīn al-Maqdisī. Ibn Hajar states in Natā’ij al-Afkār (2:295): “The hadith master al-Diyā’ challenged Ibn al-Jawzī on this point and included the report in al-Ahādīth al-Mukhtārah among those not found in the two Sahīhs.” I note: This hadith does not appear in the published edition.
(2) (8:114); also in al-Du‘ā’ (674). Its chain includes Kathīr ibn Yahyā Sāhib al-Basrī. Al-Dhahabī states in al-Mīzān (3:410): “A Shiite. ‘Abbās al-‘Anbarī forbade people to take reports from him. Al-Azdī said: He transmits manākīr (objectionable reports).” Al-Jawraqānī also transmitted it in al-Abātīl (682), through al-Hārith ibn ‘Umayr, from Ja‘far ibn Muhammad, from his father, from his grandfather, from ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, with the same wording. He then stated: “This hadith is spurious; al-Hārith ibn ‘Umayr alone transmitted it from Ja‘far ibn Muhammad.” See al-Mīzān (1:440). Al-Bayhaqī transmitted it through another route in Shu‘ab al-Īmān (2174), stating that its chain is weak.
(3) “Ibn Hasan” is omitted in jīm.
(4) This is the reading in all the manuscripts and printed editions. In qāf, it is vocalized with u on the ‘ayn and a on the mīm; in jīm, with u on the ‘ayn. Someone altered it in ‘ayn to “‘Amr.”
(5) I have not found the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar; perhaps the correct reading is “Ibn ‘Amr.” Al-Suyūtī mentioned that Sharaf al-Dīn al-Dimyātī cited his report in a treatise he compiled to strengthen this hadith. The author may likewise have drawn upon that treatise.
As for the hadith of al-Mughīrah, Abū Nu‘aym transmitted it in al-Hilyah (3:221), stating: “It is gharīb (singular) as a report of al-Mughīrah and Muhammad (ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Shu‘bah); Hāshim (ibn Hāshim) alone transmitted it through ‘Umar (ibn Ibrāhīm) from him.”
As for the hadith of Jābir, Ibn ‘Adī transmitted it in al-Kāmil, in the entry for Ismā‘īl ibn Yahyā ibn ‘Ubayd Allāh al-Taymī (2:109–110). Of this and another hadith, he stated: “These two hadiths attributed to Ibn Jurayj, with their respective chains, are spurious. No one transmits them from Ibn Jurayj except Ismā‘īl.” He also stated: “He transmits spurious reports from trustworthy narrators.” See Ibn al-Jawzī’s al-Mawdū‘āt (1:396). After the first route, Ibn al-Jawzī transmitted it through another route, stating: “This route contains unidentified narrators, one of whom stole the report from the first route.”
As for the hadith of Anas, see al-Da‘īfah (6175, 5135, 3901).