I add: This same al-Walīd is the subject of another report that al-Ṭabarānī records in al-Muʿjam al-Ṣaghīr, where he names his grandfather Masraḥ—just as Muḥammad did. He also narrates from Mukhlad ibn Yazīd, and his nephew Aḥmad ibn Khālid ibn Masraḥ al-Ḥarrānī transmits from him.

Concerning the present ḥadith, after citing it al-Ṭabarānī remarked:
“No one transmitted it from Ibn Abī Dhīb except Mūsā ibn Aʿyan.”

The ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr contested this, saying:
“Such is his statement, yet Ibn Mardawayh likewise related it: ʽMuḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Duḥaym reported to us; Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim reported to us; ʿUbaydullāh ibn Mūsā reported to us; Mūsā ibn ʿUbaydah from Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAṭāʾ,’ and he then cited the report with a similar chain.”

Benefit: Because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was the greatest of all creation in servitude to his Lord, the most knowledgeable of Him, the most fearful of Him, and the most devoted in love for Him, his station is the one nearest to Allah and the highest rank in Paradise. The Prophet ﷺ commanded his nation to ask that rank for him so that, through this supplication, they might attain nearness to Allah and an increase in faith. Moreover, Allah—glorified be He—decreed that it be granted to him by certain means, among them the prayer of his nation for him in gratitude for the faith and guidance they received at his hand. Blessings and peace be upon him. This is how Ibn al-Qayyim put it in Hādī al-Arwāḥ.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also taught us the precise supplication for al-Wasīlah; therefore one should neither depart from it nor add to it or omit anything. He said ﷺ: “Whoever says, when he hears the call to prayer, ‘O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the established prayer, grant Muhammad al-Wasīlah and al-Faḍīlah, and raise him