130 – “O Allah, make the provision of the family of Muhammad qūt (bare subsistence).”

It was recorded by al-Bukhari (4/222), Muslim (3/103; 8/217), and Ahmad (2/232) through a number of chains from Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl, from his father, from ʿAmmārah ibn al-Qaʿqāʿ, from Abū Zurʿah, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said—then he mentioned the supplication.

The wording cited above is Muslim’s; Ahmad reports the same wording except that he says “my household” instead of “Muhammad.”

Al-Bukhari’s version reads: “O Allah, provide the family of Muhammad with qūt.”

The preference for the first wording is reinforced by the fact that al-Aʿmash narrated it from ʿAmmārah ibn al-Qaʿqāʿ in exactly that form. Muslim, al-Tirmidhi (2/57 – Būlāq), Ibn Mājah (4139), and al-Bayhaqi (7/46) all relate it via Wakīʿ, who said: “Al-Aʿmash narrated it to us” with that same wording. Al-Tirmidhi remarked, “A ḥadith that is ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.”

Muslim also recorded it through Abū Usāmah, who said, “I heard al-Aʿmash narrate it,” but he substituted “kafāfan” (modest sufficiency) for “qūtan.”

Al-Qāsim al-Sarqasṭī likewise transmitted it in Ghareeb al-Ḥadith (vol. 2, p. 5/2) from Ḥammād ibn Usāmah, who said: “Al-Aʿmash narrated it to us,” but with the wording: “my provision and the provision of the family of Muhammad as kafāfan.”

Thus the text varies in what is reported from al-Aʿmash. In my view, the first version preserved by Muslim is the stronger, because it accords with what several other transmitters relate from al-Aʿmash. Allah knows best.

(Note)

Al-Suyūṭī cited the ḥadith in al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr with Muslim’s wording plus the additional phrase “in this world,” attributing it to Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Mājah. He likewise entered it in al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr (1/309) under the names of those three, as well as Ahmad, Abū Yaʿlā, and al-Bayhaqi. That extra clause is not found in any of their collections, unless perhaps in that of Abū Yaʿlā—something I consider highly unlikely. Even were it authentically present there, it would still be an anomalous addition, conflicting with the reports of the reliable, precise preservers. Allah knows best.