It was narrated by Abu Dawud (3194) and Ahmad (3/151) with a good chain of transmission. Thus, with this corroborating report, the hadith is authentic, Allah willing.

1724 — “I performed a prayer of hope and fear, and I asked Allah, Exalted is He, for three things on behalf of my ummah. He granted me two and withheld one. I asked Him not to give an enemy from outside them power over them, and He granted it to me. I asked Him not to destroy them by drowning, and He granted it to me. And I asked Him not to make their violence be among themselves, but He withheld it from me.”

It was narrated by Ibn Majah (3951), Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih (no. 1218), and Ahmad (5/240), through the route of Raja’ al-Ansari, from Abdullah ibn Shaddad ibn al-Had, from Mu‘adh ibn Jabal, who said: “One day, the Messenger of Allah performed a prayer and prolonged it. When he finished, we said, ‘Messenger of Allah, you made the prayer lengthy today.’ He said…” Then he related the above.

Al-Busiri said in Zawa’id Ibn Majah (264/1): “This is an authentic chain of transmission; its narrators are trustworthy. Imam Ahmad narrated it in his Musnad, as did Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah in his Musnad.”

I say: Its narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the two Shaykhs, apart from Raja’ al-Ansari, who is unknown. Al-Dhahabi said: “No one besides al-A‘mash narrated from him.” So how could his chain be deemed authentic? Yet the hadith has another route and corroborating reports through which it is strengthened. Ahmad narrated it (5/243 and 247) through two routes from Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from Mu‘adh, with similar wording, except that he said: