Question:
as-Salamu Alaykum
What is the status of the Hadith “There is an angel at my head that conveys to me the prayers my ummah send upon me except on Fridays, I hear with my own ears and I answer with my own tongue.” Is it as a user on Sunniforum claims “fabricated or non-existent?”
Answer:
`Alaykum as-Salam,
Even if the wording is not a hadith, nevertheless its meaning is supported by two narrations that refer to the direct hearing of the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) specifically on the day of Jumu`a, no matter from where the Salat on him is pronounced:
The first narration is from Abu al-Darda’, from the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace):
أكثروا الصلاة علي يوم الجمعة فإنه يوم مشهود تشهده الملائكة, ليس من عبد يصلي علي إلا بلغني صوته حيث كان قلنا: وبعد وفاتك ؟ قال: وبعد وفاتي, إن الله حرم على الأرض أن تأكل أجساد الأنبياء
“Make abundant salat on me on the day of Jumu`a for it is a day that is witnessed, the angels witness it. There is no slave that invokes blessing on me except his voice reaches me wherever he is.” They said: “Even after your death?” He said: “Even after my death. Truly Allah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of Prophets.”
Ibn al-Qayyim in Jala’ al-Afham (toward the end of the first section, Hadith Abi al-Darda’) and al-Salihi in his Sira entitled Subul al-Huda wal-Rashad said al-Tabarani narrates it through trustworthy narrators but with one missing link.
The second narration is from Anas, from the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace):
من صلى علي مائة مرة في يوم الجمعة، أو ليلة الجمعة قضى الله له مائة حاجة سبعين من حوائج الآخرة وثلاثين من حوائج الدنيا، ثم وكل الله بذلك ملكا يدخله علي في قبري كما يدخل عليكم الهدايا، إن علمي بعد موتي كعلمي في الحياة
“Whoever invokes blessings on me 100 times on the day of Jumu`a or its night, Allah shall fulfill for them 100 needs, 70 of the needs of the hereafter and 30 of the needs of this world. Allah has put an angel in charge of him/it and he brings him/it to me in my grave just as gifts are brought to you. Truly my knowledge after death is as my knowledge in life.”
Qawwam al-Sunna al-Taymi al-Asfahani narrates it with his chain in al-Targhib wal-Tarhib (1:525 §956 and 2:320-321 §1674) while al-Suyuti in his Khasa’is al-Jumu`a sources it to al-Bayhaqi in his Shu`ab al-Iman.
The meaning of the report under scrutiny is further supported by the gist of other hadiths which I discussed in the previous answer I had given to the question here.
And Allah knows best.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
