5 – No sound evidence shows that any Companion prayed twenty rak‘ahs

An examination of the reports attributed to them and a demonstration of their weakness

There are further narrations—other than the one from ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him)—that attribute the performance of twenty rak‘ahs to certain Companions. None of these reports, however, withstands rigorous scholarly scrutiny, although many people have been misled by them. It is therefore necessary to expose their weakness so that the believer may be fully informed. I say:

1 – Narrations from ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him). There are two transmission-paths:

The first: through Abū al-Hasnāʾ, stating that ʿAlī ordered a man to lead the people in Ramadan with twenty rak‘ahs. It was related by Ibn Abī Shaybah and al-Bayhaqī, who commented: “This isnād is weak.”

I say: its defect lies in this Abū al-Hasnāʾ; al-Dhahabī says, “He is unknown,” and al-Ḥāfiẓ says, “Unidentified.”

I add: I suspect there is yet another flaw—namely, a muʿḍal break between Abū al-Hasnāʾ and ʿAlī. Al-Ḥāfiẓ, in his entry on Abū al-Hasnāʾ in al-Tahdhīb, writes:

“He narrated from al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtaybah, from Ḥanash, from ʿAlī, regarding the sacrifice.”

Thus two narrators stand between him and ʿAlī—and Allah knows best.

⦗76⦘