Question posed to Shaykh Mohammed Daniel:
Is there duʿā’ to be said on the day of the Islamic New Year? Some of my friends said that it isn’t correct, but a bidʿah. Can you help me please as I would like to put it to practice if it is in fact correct?
His Answer:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Esteemed questioner,
May Allāh bless you for the spirit you have shown in trying to revive the blessed traditions of this Dīn in a time when many scholars have resorted to encouraging us to adopt non-Muslim traditions in order to follow the ‘status quo’ and please others.
The Apostle of Allāh ﷺ spoke about these days and the immense reward in store for people such as yourself when he said:
‘Ahead of you are the days which will require patience. Patience will be like holding onto a burning ember of coal. The doer (of righteous deeds) during them will have the reward of fifty of those who do the like of what you do.”
The companions asked: “O Messenger of Allah! The reward of fifty men among us, or them?” He said: “No! Rather the reward of fifty men among you. They are the ones who revive my tradition (sunnah) and teach it to the people.” [Sunan Abū Dāwūd, Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, Sunan Ibn Mājah, Musnad al-Bazzār]
In reference to the ḥadīth that you sent; the wording of which is:
حدثنا محمد بن علي الصائغ، قال: حدثنا مهدي بن جعفر الرملي، قال: حدثنا رشدين بن سعد، عن أبي عقيل زهرة بن معبد، عن جده عبد الله بن هشام، قال: كان أصحاب النبي -صلى الله عليه وسلم- يتعلمون هذا الدعاء إذا دخلت السنة أو الشهر: اللهم أدخله علينا بالأمن والإيمان، والسلامة والإسلام، ورضوان من الرحمن، وجوار من الشيطان. [1]رواه الطبراني في الأوسط: 6241
The above narration is relatively weak due to the narrators in the chain. Rishdīn ibn Saʿd is weak and according to some ḥadīth experts Mahdī ibn Jaʿfar is classed as weak. Based on this, the narration cannot be used to establish that the ṣaḥābah practiced this tradition.
Having said that, the bidʿāh police should not have been so hasty in judgment because there exists a tradition in a lesser known ḥadīth work which comes to us with an authentic chain of narration, which is a chain that Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله used in his famous ṣaḥīḥ work.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله states the following supplication in al-Iṣābah fī Asmā’ al-Ṣaḥābah under the biographical account of ʿAbdullāh ibn Hishām رضي الله عنه:
قال ابن حجر رحمه الله تعالى في كتابه الإصابة في ترجمة عبد الله بن هشام رضي الله عنه (2/378): وأخرج له أبو القاسم والبغوي من طريق أصبغ عن ابن وهب بسند الحديث الذي أخرجه له البخاري في الشركة حديثا آخر رواه عن الصحابة ولفظه: كان أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يتعلمون الدعاء كما يتعلمون القرآن إذا دخل الشهر أو السنة: اللهم أدخله علينا بالأمن والإيمان والسلامة والإسلام وجوار من الشيطان ورضوان من الرحمن وهذا موقوف على شرط الصحيح. ا.هـ
“The companions of the Apostle of Allāh ﷺ would learn supplications (duʿā’) as they would learn the Qur’ān. If a new month or year came upon them, they would supplicate:
Allāhumma adkhilhu ʿalaynā bil amni wal īmān wassalāmati wal islām wa jiwārin minash shayṭān wa riḍwānin minar Raḥmān.
‘O Allāh make it a time of security and imān; with peace and Islām and grant us protection from Shayṭān and the pleasure of al-Raḥmān.
Please feel free to follow the tradition of the ṣaḥābah and practice this supplication.
And Allāh knows best.
May Allāh bless you and all readers with a prosperous and wholesome year.
Shaykh Mohammed Daniel al-Muhājir al-Dimashqī;
Founder of Cordoba Academy.
www.cordobaacademy.com
الحاشية
