Question

In Sharh Ma’anil Aasathar Hadith

فَإِذَا فَإِذَا صَالِحُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ الأَنْصَارِيُّ قَدْ حَدَّثَنَا، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا هُشَيْمٌ، قَالَ: أَنْبَأَنَا ابْنُ أَبِي لَيْلَى، عَنْ عَطَاءٍ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ بْنِ عُمَيْرٍ، قَالَ: «صَلَّيْتُ خَلْفَ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ صَلاةَ الْغَدَاةِ، فَقَنَتَ فِيهَا بَعْدَ الرُّكُوعِ، وَقَالَ فِي قُنُوتِهِ: اللّٰهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْتَعِينُكَ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُكَ، وَنُثْنِي عَلَيْكَ الْخَيْرَ كُلَّهُ، وَنَشْكُرُكَ وَلا نَكْفُرُكَ، وَنَخْلَعُ وَنَتْرُكُ مَنْ يَفْجُرُكَ اللّٰهُمَّ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَلَكَ نُصَلِّي، وَنَسْجُدُ وَإِلَيْكَ نَسْعَى، وَنَحْفِدُ نَرْجُو رَحْمَتَكَ وَنَخْشَى عَذَابَكَ، إِنَّ عَذَابَكَ بِالْكُفَّارِ مُلْحِقٌ»

Are the words نشكرك and کله ثابت or not? Because in some editions it is not present, as stated by Mawlana Yusuf Kandhelvi in امانی الاحبار.

Why is this difference between editions present?

 

Answer

These words do appear in reliable editions. Hence, there is no need for confusion on this matter.

It is a common appearance in all the books of Hadith that some copies [of the manuscript] may have certain extras. These extras are usually accepted as long as the copy/manuscript is reliable.

There could be several causes for such variation in the manuscripts; one of them would be that different students heard the kitab from the author at different times, and on each occasion, the author chose a different variant of the narration to quote in his lesson.

In the case at hand, the version that has these two extra words seems to be more preferred, since Imam Tahawi (rahimahullah) follows this narration up with another version in which he clearly highlights the omission of these words. If these words were not in the first version [the one quoted in question], Imam Tahwai (rahimahullah) would not have made this kind of a reference in the next narration…

Furthermore, these words do appear in Musnad Ibn Abi Shaybah as well, as quoted by ‘Ali Muttaqi Al-Hindi (rahimahullah) in Kanzul ‘Ummal, Hadith: 21969.

See more here.

Closing advice to the honourable layman

Issues like these [and all other scholarly debates] should not be discussed at all by unqualified individuals. Leave these discussions to the scholars.

At times, sincere, innocent individuals get caught up in these discussions, and out of concern for their madhab, they pursue the matter. This is uncalled for, and at times creates further confusion in the mind of the innocent concerned individual.

May Allah Ta’ala inspire us to focus on matters that pertain to us specifically.

 

And Allah Ta’ala Knows best,

Answered by: Mawlana Muhammad Abasoomar

Checked by: Mawlana Haroon Abasoomar