(6 – continued) The Prophet ﷺ once came in while I was praying and needed something, but I lengthened the prayer. He said, “O Aishah, hold fast to the jumal al-dua wa jawamiʿihi (the essential, all-encompassing formulas of supplication).” When I finished I asked, “Messenger of Allah, what are those essential, all-encompassing formulas?” He replied, “Say: …,” and he gave their wording. Al-Bukhari records the report in al-Adab al-Mufrad, pp. 92–93. Hammad ibn Salamah also follows Shuʿbah in narrating it, though he omits the mention of the prayer; Ibn Majah (2/433–434) and Ahmad (6/134) transmit his version through ʿAffan. Al-Zawaid comments: “There is some discussion about its isnad. I have not found anyone who assessed Umm Kulthum, while a number of scholars listed her among the Companions—yet that is doubtful, for she was born long after Abu Bakr’s death. The rest of the transmitters are reliable.” I reply: several trustworthy narrators—including Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Ansari—relayed traditions from this same Umm Kulthum, and Muslim cites her in his Sahih. For that reason Ibn Hajar rules in Taqrib that she is “reliable.” Accordingly, the hadith is sound, exactly as al-Hakim and al-Dhahabi affirmed; I have detailed its chains in al-Sahihah, no. 1542. Abu Dawud (1/233) and Ahmad (6/189) also report—through Abu Nufal—from Aishah that “the Messenger of Allah ﷺ preferred the comprehensive supplications and left aside whatever was beyond that.” Its chain is sahih according to Muslim’s criteria.