1994 — “None but one who repeatedly turns to Allah faithfully observes the Duha prayer; it is the prayer of those who repeatedly turn to Allah.”

Ibn Khuzaymah narrated it in his Sahih (1224), as did al-Hakim (1/314), through Ismaʿil ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Zurārah al-Raqqi, who said: Khalid ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; Muhammad ibn ʿAmr narrated to me, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said this. Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to Muslim’s criteria!” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him.

I say: This is one of their errors, for Muslim only narrated from Muhammad ibn ʿAmr in corroborative reports. Moreover, Muslim did not narrate from Ibn Zurārah at all. He was truthful, though al-Azdi criticized him without proof, as stated in al-Taqrib. Thus, the chain is good. Ibn Khuzaymah, however, identified a flaw in it when he said afterward: “No one corroborated this shaykh, Ismaʿil ibn ʿAbd Allah, in relating this report with a connected chain. Al-Darāwardi narrated it from Muhammad ibn ʿAmr, from Abu Salamah, as a mursal report; and Hammad ibn Salamah narrated it from Muhammad ibn ʿAmr, from Abu Salamah, as a statement of Abu Salamah himself.”

I say: Ibn Zurārah was not alone in relating it with a connected chain, for he was corroborated, firstly, by Muhammad ibn Dinar, who narrated to us from Muhammad ibn ʿAmr, likewise. Ibn ʿAdi narrated it (fol. 301/1) and said: “Muhammad ibn Dinar al-Ṭāḥi is good in hadith, though he is alone in narrating most of his reports.” Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib: “Truthful, but poor in retention.”

Secondly, ʿAsim ibn Bakkar al-Laythi narrated it from Muhammad ibn ʿAmr, likewise.