Dought and clear - The du’aa’ which saved the Sahaabi from the thief, in which are the words “Yaa Wadood,yaa Dhaa’l-‘arsh il’majeed (O Most Loving,O Owner of the majestic Throne)”.

I would like to find out the status of these ahaadeeth, because I
received this message via e-mail and I do not know how sound it is:
Read it three times and Allaah will answer, in sha Allaah.
"O Most Loving, O Most Loving, O Owner of the majestic Throne, O
Initiator, O Returner, O You Who do whatever You will, I ask You by
theLight of Your Countenance which fills the pillars of Your Throne,
and I ask You by Your Power by which You control all of Your creation,
and I ask You by Your mercy which encompasses all things, there is no
god but You, O Helper help me" – three times.
Praise be to Allaah.
The du'aa' mentioned was narrated in a hadeeth which tells a story
that is well known and widely circulated in chat rooms and forums, and
perhaps it is appropriate to quote it so that we may explain about it.
It was narrated that Anasibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: There was one of the companions of the Prophet(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), one of the Ansaar, who was known by
the kunyah of Abu Mu'allaq. He was a merchant who did trade with his
own wealth andon behalf of others, and he used to travel all over, and
he was a piousascetic. He went out on one occasion and was met by an
armed thief who said to him: Give me what you have, for I will kill
you. He said: You do not need my blood, all you want is the wealth. He
said: As for the wealth, it is mine; all I want is your blood. He
said: If you insist, then let me pray four rak'ahs. He said: Pray as
much as you want. So he did wudoo', then he prayed four rak'ahs, and
amongthe words that he said indu'aa' in the last prostration were: "O
Most Loving, O Most Loving, O Owner of the majestic Throne, O
Initiator, O Returner, O You Who do whatever You will, I ask You by
theLight of Your Countenance which fills the pillars of Your Throne,
and I ask You by Your Power by which You control all of Your creation,
and I ask You by Your mercy which encompasses all things, there is no
god but You, O Helper help me" – three times.
He said this du'aa' three times, then he saw a horseman who was
holding a spear betweenthe ears of his horse, and when the thief saw
him, he turned to him and stabbed him and killed him, then he turned
to him and said: Get up. He said: Who are you, may my father and
mother be sacrificed for you? Allaah has helped me by you today. He
said: I am an angel from the fourth heaven. Whenyou said your du'aa'
the first time, I heard the gates of heaven tremble,then when you said
yourdu'aa' the second time I heard a noise from the people of heaven,
then when you said your du'aa' the third time it was said to me: The
du'aa' of one who is in distress, and I asked Allaah to let me kill
him.
Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: So you should know
thatwhoever does wudoo' and prays four rak'ahs and recites this
du'aa', will receive an answer, whether he is in distress or not.
Narrated by Ibn Abi'l-Dunya inMajaabi al-Da'wah(64)
andal-Hawaatif(24). It was also narrated via this isnaad by
al-Laalkaa'i inSharh Usool al-I'tiqaad(5/166), in a chapter
entitledSiyaaq ma ruwiya min karaamaat AbiMu'allaq(Reports of the
miracles of Abu Mu'allaq). And it was narrated by Abu Moosa al-Madeeni
– as stated byal-Haafiz Ibn Hajar inal-Isaabah(7/379) in his biography
of Abu Mu'allaq al-Ansaari, and he quoted it in full in his
bookal-Wazaa'if. It was narrated from him by hisstudent Ibn al-Atheer
inAsad al-Ghaabah(6/295).All of them narrated it via al-Kalbi from
Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him).
But the report of al-Kalbiwas unclear and the reports from him varied.
On one occasion he narrated it from al-Hasan from Anas – as in the
report of Ibn Abi'l-Dunya.
On another occasion he narrated it from al-Hasan from Ubayy ibn Ka'b –
as mentioned by Ibn Hajar inal-Isaabah, concerning the isnaad ofAbu
Moosa al-Madeeni.
On another occasion he narrated it from Abu Saalih from Anas – as in
the report of Ibn al-Atheer from Abu Moosa al-Madeeni.
Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
This isnaad is problematic, and the problem stems either from the
unknown al-Kalbi or from someone further back inthe isnaad than him.
Al-Hasan – i.e., al-Basri – was mudallis and he used the word 'an
[meaning "from"], so theisnaad is weak.
It is strange that Abu Mu'allaq is mentioned asbeing one of the
Sahaabah, but they did not mention anything toprove that he was such,
apart from this fabricated text with this weak isnaad. Hence – and
Allaah knows best – it was not narrated by Ibn 'Abd al-Barr
inal-Isti'aab. Al-Dhahabi said inal-Tajreed(2/204): He has an amazing
hadeeth, but itsisnaad includes al-Kalbi, who is not thiqah
(trustworthy). It is narrated in Mujaaboo al-Da'wah, and you can see
when you read it that he said concerning al-Kalbi: He is not thiqah
(trustworthy). This indicates that no attention was paid to what he
said in the isnaad, "he is not the author of the Tafseer", because
al-Kalbi who is the author of the Tafseeris known not to be
trustworthy. It says inal-Mughni: They rejectedhim, and he was
regarded as a liar by Sulaymaan al-Taymi, Zaa'idah, and Ibn Ma'een. He
was also rejected by Ibn Qattaan and 'Abd al-Rahmaan.
It is also strange that thisstory was quoted by Ibn al-Qayyim at the
beginning of his bookal-Jawaab al-Kaafi li mansa'ala 'an al-Dawa'
al-Shaafifrom this reportof Ibn Abi'l-Dunya, attributing it to
al-Hasanwithout commenting on its isnaad!
Al-Silsilah al-Da'eefah(5737)
I say:
Al-Kalbi has a corroborating report from Maalik ibn Dinar. Al-Qushayri
narrated a similar story inal-Risaalah al-Qushayriyyah(2/85, 86,
chapter on Du'aa') and said:
Abu'l-Husayn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Bashraan in Baghdad told us: Abu
'Amr 'Uthmaan ibn Ahmad, who was known as Ibn al-Sammaak, told us:
Muhammad ibn 'Abd Rabbihi al-Hadrami told us: Bishr ibn 'Abd al-Malik
told us: Moosa ibn al-Hajjaaj told us: Maalik ibn Dinar said: al-Hasan
told us, from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) … and
he quoted the hadeeth.
But this corroborating report is not valid, because there are two
problems with this isnaad:
-1-
Muhammad ibn 'Abd Rabbihi al-Hadrami – I could find no biography for him.
-2-
Bishr ibn 'Abd al-Malik, who narrated it from Moosa ibn al-Hajjaaj: I
do not know him either. There were three men with this name whose
biographies I found:
(i)Bishr ibn 'Abd al-Malikal-Khuzaa'i, their freed slave from Mosul,
who narrated from Ghassaan ibn al-Rabee' and Muhammad ibn Sulayman
Laween and a number of others. Al-Tabaraani narrated from him.
(ii)Bishr ibn 'Abd al-Malik Abu Yazeed al-Kufi who settled in Basra.
He narrated from 'Awn ibn Moosa and 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Abd al-Rahmaan
ibn Ibraaheem al-Ansaari. Abu Haatim wrote from him in Basra and Abu
Zur'ah narrated from him. He was asked abouthim and said he was a
Shaykh.
Al-Jarh wa'l-Ta'deelby Ibn Abi Haatim (2/362).
(iii)Bishr ibn 'Abd al-Malik al-'Utbi, who narrated from Yahya ibn
Sa'eed al-Ansaari. Abu Sa'eed al-Ashajj narratedfrom him.
Al-Thiqaatby Ibn Hibbaan (6/97).
As you can see, it seems that none of them are the one mentioned in the hadeeth.
But al-Haafiz Ibn Makoola mentioned inal-Ikmaal(5/101) a report
narrated from Moosa ibn al-Hajjaaj under the name of Bishraan ibn 'Abd
al-Malik, and he said:
As for Bishraan, he is Bishraan ibn 'Abd al-Malik, and I think he was
Mawsili (from Mosul). He narrated hadeeth from Moosa ibn al-Hajjaaj
ibn 'Imraan al-Samarqandi in Baysaan from Maalik ibn Dinar.
End quote.
Perhaps this is the one who is referred to, and his name was shortened
in the book of al-Qushayri to Bishr.
As for Ibn al-Sammaak, he is thiqah (trustworthy). His biography is
inSiyarA'laam al-Nubala'by al-Dhahabi (17/312).
The same is true of Maalik ibn Dinar (d. 127 AH). His biography is
inTahdheeb al-Tahdheeb(10/15).
To sum up:
The story and the du'aa' are not saheeh (sound) in any way whatsoever,
although there is nothing wrong with the phrases used in the du'aa';
rather the words are sound and good, as testified by the texts of the
Qur'aan and Sunnah.But that does not mean that the one who says this
du'aa' will necessarily be saved, or that we should believe that
Allaah will help the one who says it. Such matters depend on the
soundness of the isnaad going back to the Prophet(peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him). As the isnaadin this case is not saheeh, we
should not believe that. But if anyone wants to memorize these words
and recite them in du'aa', without regarding them as something that is
prescribed in Islam, there is nothing wrong with that in sha Allaah.
And Allaah knows best.