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There are hadiths whose authenticity people have disputed, such as his saying:

“There is no prayer without ablution, and no ablution for one who does not mention Allah’s name over it.”

The first statement is equivalent to his saying:

“There is no prayer without purification.”

This is agreed upon among Muslims, for purification is obligatory for prayer. Prayer is thus negated because something obligatory for it is absent. As for mentioning the name of Allah Most High when performing ablution, there is a well-known disagreement over whether it is obligatory. Most scholars do not consider it obligatory. This is the position of Mālik, Abū Hanīfah and al-Shāfi‘ī, and one of the two positions reported from Ahmad, adopted by al-Khiraqī, Abū Muhammad and others.

The second position is that it is obligatory. This is the view of a group of scholars and the other position reported from Ahmad, adopted by Abū Bakr ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā and his followers.

Another example is his saying:

“There is no prayer for one who lives near the mosque except in the mosque.”

Al-Dāraqutnī narrated it. Some consider its attribution to the Prophet weak and say that it is a statement of ‘Alī, may Allah be pleased with him. Others, such as ‘Abd al-Haqq, affirm its attribution to the Prophet.

Likewise, his saying:

“There is no fast for one who has not formed the intention to fast during the night.”

The compilers of the Sunan narrated it. It has been said that its attribution to the Prophet is not authentic, and that it is authentically established only as a statement of Ibn ‘Umar or Hafsah. Thus, no one may affirm that a particular wording comes from the Messenger while maintaining that it was intended to deny perfection