“It was narrated by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Kabīr with a ḥasan chain, and by Ibn Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ, in the wording: ‘Whoever walks in the darkness of night to the mosques, Allah will grant him light on the Day of Resurrection.’”
Al-Haythamī added, “Al-Ṭabarānī recorded it in al-Kabīr and the transmitters in his chain are trustworthy.”
This report has numerous corroborating narrations that convey the same meaning and, taken together, raise it to the level of ṣaḥīḥ. Among them are:
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The narration from Abū Hurayrah, which al-Ṭabarānī related in al-Awsat with a ḥasan chain, as al-Mundhirī states; al-Haythamī concurs.
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The narration from Buraydah, which Abū Dāwūd recorded through Ismāʿīl Abū Sulaymān al-Kahhāl, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aws, from him. Al-Mundhirī comments: “Its transmitters are trustworthy.”
I say: Not so. No one besides Ibn Ḥibbān declared ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aws reliable, and Ibn Ḥibbān’s endorsement in a case like this carries no weight, as I have pointed out repeatedly—the last occasion being just before the discussion on building mosques over the graves of idolaters. Hence Ibn al-Qaṭṭān said of him, “He is of unknown status; we know of no narration from him except this ḥadīth through this route.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ says in al-Taqrīb, “His ḥadīth is weak.”
Furthermore, al-Mundhirī and others attributed the ḥadīth to al-Tirmidhī, yet I did not find it in his Sunan, even though