Al-Hākim also said in al-Mustadrak (1): Al-Asamm narrated to us: al-Saghānī (2) narrated to us: Ibn Abī Maryam narrated to us: Bakr ibn Mudar narrated to us: (3) ‘Amr ibn al-Hārith narrated to us, from Bukayr (4) ibn al-Ashajj, from al-Dahhāk ibn ‘Abd Allāh, from Anas, who said:
“While travelling, I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, perform eight rak‘ahs of the voluntary midmorning prayer. When he finished, he said: ‘I have offered a prayer of hope and fear. I asked my Lord for three things; He granted me two and withheld one. I asked Him not to destroy my community through famine, and He granted that. I asked Him not to let an enemy prevail over them, and He granted that. I asked Him not to divide them into opposing factions, but He declined my request.’”
Al-Hākim said: “Authentic.” I say: The identity and standing of this al-Dahhāk ibn ‘Abd Allāh require investigation: who is he, and what is his standing? (5).
Al-Hākim also said in his book Fadl al-Duhā (The Merit of the Midmorning Prayer) (6): Abū Bakr the jurist narrated to us: Bishr ibn Mūsā (7) informed us: Muhammad ibn al-Sabbāh (8) al-Dūlābī narrated to us: Khālid ibn ‘Abd Allāh narrated to us, from (9) al-Husayn, from Hilāl ibn Yasāf, from Zādhān, from ‘Ā’ishah:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, performed the midmorning prayer, then said: “O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, and accept my repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepter of Repentance, the All-Forgiving (10).” He repeated this one hundred times (11).
(1) (1/314). Also recorded by Ahmad (12486), al-Nasā’ī in al-Kubrā (489), and Ibn Khuzaymah (1228), all through chains from ‘Amr ibn al-Hārith with the same report. For the transmission routes and corroborating reports, see the annotations by the editors of al-Musnad.
(2) All manuscripts except Q, M, and Mb read “al-San‘ānī,” a scribal error.
(3) K and ‘A have “anba’anā” (he informed us) instead of “thanā” (an abbreviation for “he narrated to us”) in this chain and other chains below.
(4) Q, M, Mb, and N read “Bakr.” This also appears in the Maymaniyyah edition, contrary to the Indian edition, and was subsequently reproduced in the other editions.
(5) Al-Bukhārī states in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (4/334): “He narrated from Anas, and Bukayr ibn al-Ashajj narrated from him. If he is not Ibn Khālid, I do not know him, for ‘Īsā ibn Mughīrah ibn al-Dahhāk ibn ‘Abd Allāh is a descendant of Khālid ibn Hizām.” Ibn Hibbān included him in al-Thiqāt (4/388), and al-Dāraqutnī states in Su’ālāt al-Barqānī (235): “A Medinan, reliable; his reports may be relied upon as evidence.” Al-Mizzī did not include him in Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, although he meets its inclusion criteria. He did, however, mention him in Tuhfat al-Ashrāf (1/242), saying: “S, in the section on prayer … he transmitted it (i.e., this hadith) from Anas ibn Mālik in this form in Ibn al-Ahmar’s recension [al-Kubrā (489)]. Abū al-Qāsim (Ibn ‘Asākir) did not mention it.”
(6) Mentioned by Salāh al-Dīn ibn Kaykaldī al-‘Alā’ī in al-Farā’id al-Masmū‘ah (1/191), and by the hadith master Ibn Hajar in al-Mu‘jam al-Mufahras (p. 62).
(7) Q, M, Mb, and N read “Yahyā,” as do the printed editions. This is an error.
(8) Mb reads “Sālih,” as does the Maymaniyyah edition, from which the reading passed into the other editions. This is an error.
(9) All manuscripts read “ibn” (son of), as do the printed editions. This is a scribal error; the correction is based on the sources.
(10) J reads “al-Tawwāb al-Rahīm” (the Accepter of Repentance, the Most Merciful), which is another version of the report.
(11) Also recorded by al-Bukhārī in al-Adab al-Mufrad (619), al-Nasā’ī in al-Kubrā (9855), and al-Bayhaqī in al-Da‘awāt al-Kabīr (2/151), through chains from Muhammad ibn Sabbāh al-Dūlābī with the same report. Al-Nasā’ī also recorded it through other chains (9851–9854), from Husayn, from Hilāl, from Zādhān, from a man of the Ansār (in one chain: one of the Prophet’s Companions, peace and blessings be upon him). He preferred this version to Khālid ibn ‘Abd Allāh’s report, which attributed the hadith to ‘Ā’ishah, and mentioned that Husayn ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān had become confused in his narration. See al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (3/7–8). Al-Dāraqutnī expressed a similar preference in al-‘Ilal (3670). His version contains no mention whatsoever of the midmorning prayer; rather, it simply places the supplication after prayer, without specifying which prayer. It likewise appears without such specification in Ibn Abī Shaybah’s Musnad (943) and Musannaf (29876, 36222), and in Ahmad (23150). Al-Albānī graded the hadith authentic in Sahīh al-Adab al-Mufrad.