Virtue of Saying Subhan Allah Wa’l-hamdu Lillah

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

In the saheeh hadeeth (authentic narration) about the virtues
of tasbeeh (glorifying Allah), it says that this is a phrase for which a
palm tree is planted in Paradise.

It was narrated from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him)
that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Whoever says Subhan Allah il ‘azeem wa bi hamdihi (Glory and
praise be to Allah, the Almighty), a palm tree will be planted for him in
Paradise.”

Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (3464) who said: This is a hasan
saheeh ghareeb hadeeth, which we know only from the hadeeth of Abu’l-Zubayr
from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him). And al-Mundhiri said (2/347):
Its isnad (chain of transmission) is jayyid (good). It was classed as hasan
(sound) by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar in Nataij al-Afkar (1/104). It was classed as
saheeh (authentic) by al-Albani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah (hadeeth no.
64).

Secondly:

As for the hadeeths which depict the palm tree that is
planted for saying Subhan Allah, and describe its leaves and branches in
detail, none of them are saheeh. Three marfoo’ hadeeths (reports attributed
to the Prophet) were narrated concerning this – according to what we have
read – and all of them are severely weak or false. Here follows a more
detailed discussion about them.

The first hadeeth was narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be
pleased with him), who said: A man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) and complained to him of poverty or debt.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to
him:

“What about the prayer of the angels and the tasbeeh of all
creation by means of which Allah sends down provision from heaven?”

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I said: What
is that, O Messenger of Allah?

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) sat up straight, as he had been reclining, and said:

“O Ibn ‘Umar, from the break of dawn until Fajr (early
morning) prayer say: Subhan Allah wa bi hamdihi, subhan Allah al-‘Azeem wa
astaghfir Allah (Glory and praise be to Allah, glory be to Allah, the
Almighty, and I ask Allah for forgiveness), one hundred times, and worldly
pleasure and comfort will surely come to you, and for every word that you
say, Allah will create an angel who will glorify Him, and you will have his
reward until the Day of Resurrection.”

This hadeeth was narrated by three isnads, all of which are
false and fabricated.

1.

It was narrated via Ishaq ibn Ibraheem al-Tabari from
‘Abd-Allah ibn al-Waleed al-‘Adani from Malik ibn Anas from Nafi’ from Ibn
‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).

It was also narrated by Ibn Hibban in al-Majrooheen (1/138)
with this isnad, and via Ibn al-Jawzi in al-Mawdoo’at (3/164). It was
narrated by Ibn ‘Adiyy in al-Kamil fi’l-Du’afa’ (1/343) and al-Daylami in
Musnad al-Firdaws (3731). It was quoted by al-Hafiz in Lisan al-Mizan via
the isnad of al-Daraqutni in al-Ruwat ‘an Malik. Perhaps al-Daraqutni was
narrating it here from Ibn Hibban , as is also the case with the isnad of
Ibn al-Jazwi. In al-Khasais al-Kubra (2/262), al-Suyooti attributed it to
al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi in Ruwat Malik. In Takhreej Ihya ‘Uloom al-Deen
(1/299), al-‘Iraqi attributed it to al-Mustaghfiri in al-Da’wat.

I say: this isnad is munkar jiddan (strongly denounced),
because of Ishaq ibn Ibraheem al-Tabari, of whom Ibn Hibban said: He is
munkar al-hadeeth jiddan (i.e., his narrations are very weak); he narrated
fabricated things from trustworthy narrators, and it is not permissible to
write down his hadeeth except by way of demonstrating how strange his
narrations are. End quote.

2.

It was narrated by Ibn al-Jawzi in al-Mawdoo’at (3/164) from
some unknown (majhool) narrators, where he said: It was narrated by another
isnad, Allah knows best what it is: Isma’eel ibn Abi Salih al-Muadhdhin told
us, ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Ali ibn Ishaq al-Faqeeh told us, Abu Hassan Muhammad ibn
Ahmad al-Muzakki told us, Abu’l-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Jabir
al-‘Attar narrated to us, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ibraheem al-Harawi
narrated to us, Abu Raja Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdawayh narrated to us,
‘Ali ibn Jahm narrated to us, ‘Abd-Allah ibn Waleed narrated to us, from
Malik ibn Anas, from Nafi’, from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him):
that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
and said: O Messenger of Allah, I work hard and I hardly earn anything. The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him: What about
the tasbeeh of the angels? They asked: What is it? He said: “If you say
tasbeeh one hundred times before you pray Fajr, (saying) Subhan Allah wa bi
hamdihi, subhan Allah il-‘Azeem, Allah will send your provision (rizq) to
you thereby even if you do not want it.” End quote.

3.

Al-Suyooti said in al-La’ali al-Masnoo’ah fi’l-Ahadeeth
al-Mawdoo’ah (1/462):

It has another isnad. Al-Hakim said in his Tareekh: Muhammad
ibn Ahmad al-Nasarabadhi narrated to us: Al-‘Abbas ibn Hamzah narrated to
us: Ahmad ibn Khalid al-Shaybani narrated to us: ‘Abd-Allah ibn Naafi’
al-Madani narrated to us, from Malik, and he mentioned it in the same words
as were narrated in the first isnad. Ahmad ibn Khalid: it seems that he is
al-Juwaybari, one of the greatest charlatans. And Allah knows best. End
quote.

Hence the muhadditheen (scholar specializing in the sciences
of hadeeth) are unanimously agreed that this hadeeth is da’eef (weak).

Ibn Hibban said concerning it in al-Majrooheen (1/138): It
has no basis at all, and I do not doubt that it is a fabrication attributed
to Malik. End quote.

In his book al-Kamil fi’l-Du’afa, Ibn ‘Adiyy said: It is
falsely attributed to Malik.

Ibn al-Jawzi said in al-Mawdoo’at (3/164):

This hadeeth is not soundly narrated from the Messenger of
Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). End quote.

Al-‘Iraqi said in Takhreej Ihya ‘Uloom al-Deen li’l-Ghazali
(1/299):

It was narrated by al-Mustaghfiri in al-Da’wat from the
hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: It is
ghareeb from the hadeeth of Malik, and I do not know of any basis for it in
the hadeeth of Malik. End quote.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in Lisan al-Meezan (3/434), in his
biography of ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Yahmadi, or it was said
al-Tameemi:

He is an unknown Shaykh. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ghalib, who
is known as Ghulam Khaleel but he is worthless, narrated from him.
Al-Daraqutni narrated in al-Ruwat ‘an Malik from Dawood ibn Habeeb, from
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ghalib, from him, from Malik, from Nafi’, from Ibn
‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: A man said: O Messenger of
Allah … and he mentioned the same hadeeth.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: It was narrated by al-Khateeb via
Abu’l-Fath al-Azdi, from ‘Abd-Allah ibn Ghalib, from Ghulam Khaleel, from
‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Tameemi.

And he narrated a similar report via Abu Hammah Muhammad ibn
Yoosuf, from Yazeed ibn Abi Hakeem, from Ishaq ibn Ibraheem al-Tabari, from
Malik, and he said: It is not saheeh from Malik, and I do not think that
Ishaq met Maalik.

And it was narrated by a group with isnads which are all
weak. End quote.

The ruling on it has been mentioned in the answer to question
no.
110949

The second hadeeth:

Al-Suyooti narrated in al-Hawi lil-Fatawi (2/40) a hadeeth
with a similar meaning:

“Whoever says Subhan Allah wa bi hamdihi, Allah will create
for him an angel with two eyes and two wings and two lips and a tongue, who
will fly with the angels and seek forgiveness for the one who says it until
the Day of Resurrection.”

It was narrated by the author of al-Seerah al-Halabiyyah
(1/246) and also in Nuzhat al-Jalis (p. 287).

We could not find the isnad of this hadeeth.

The third hadeeth:

It was narrated that Anas (may Allah be pleased with him)
said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
said:

“Whoever says Subhan Allah wa bi hamdihi, Allah will plant
for him one thousand palm trees in Paradise, with trunks of gold and
branches of pearl, with fruits like the breasts of virgins and sweeter than
honey and softer than butter. Every time he takes something from it, it will
be restored as it was.”

This was narrated by Ibn ‘Adiyy in al-Kamil fi’l-Du’afa’
(2/150). He said: Hudhayfah narrated to us, Abu Umayyah narrated to us,
Ja’far ibn Jasr ibn Farqad al-Qasaab narrated to us, from his father, from
Thabit, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him).

I say: With regard to this Ja’far ibn Jasr, Ibn ‘Adiyy said
of him in al-Kamil (2/150), after quoting this hadeeth of his among the
munkar (weak and odd) reports:

Ja’far ibn Jasr narrated munkar ahadeeth other than that
which I have mentioned, and I did not see any comment concerning him from
those who speak of men’s biographies, and I do not know how they could have
overlooked him, because most of what he narrated is munkar. I mentioned him
when I criticized the isnads and texts (mutoon) that he narrated. Perhaps
that is because he is like his father, because his father was discussed by
those who came before us and spoke of weak narrators (al-du’afa’), as I have
not seen Ja’far narrate from anyone but his father. End quote.

Al-‘Aqeeli said in al-Du’afa’ al-Kabeer (1/187):

His memory is very bad, and he narrated munkar reports. End
quote.

Ibn al-Jawzi said in al-‘Ilal al-Mutanahiyah (2/833):

This hadeeth is not saheeh. End quote.

He was classed as da’eef by Ibn al-Qayyim in al-Manar
al-Muneef (p. 43) and by al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi in Meezan al-I’tidal (1/404).
In the comments of Shahr ibn Hawshab, the famous narrator, it says:

“Whoever says Subhan Allah wa bi hamdihi, Allah will create
an angel for these words of his, who will go to the fourth heaven and wash
in a river called the River of Life, then he will emerge from it and shake
his wings, from which there will fall something like drops of rain, and from
each drop Allah will create an angel which will glorify Him and sanctify
Him, and that will continue until the first Trumpet blast.”

This was narrated by Abu’l-Shaykh al-Asbahani in al-‘Azamah
(1/492) who said: al-Fadl ibn al-‘Abbas ibn Mahran narrated to us, Yahya ibn
‘Abd-Allah ibn Bukayr narrated to us, Muslim ibn Khalid narrated to us, from
Ibn Abi Husayn, from Shahr ibn Hawshab.

To sum up, there is no saheeh hadeeth which says that if a
Muslim glorifies his Lord, Allah will create an angel who will pray for
forgiveness for him until the Day of Resurrection.

And Allah knows best.