Question
Is the following incident authentic?
‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (radiyallahu ‘anhu) said:
I entered the Tawaf one night, and found a man holding onto the cover of the Ka’bah, saying:
يَا مَنْ لَا يمنعه سَمْعٌ من سَمْعٍ يَا مَنْ لَا تَغْلَطُهُ الْمَسَائِلُ يَا مَنْ لَا يبرمه إِلْحَاح الْمُلِحِّينَ أَذِقْنِي بَرْدَ عَفْوِكَ وَحَلاوَةَ رَحْمَتِكَ
‘Ali (radiyallahu ‘anhu) says, ‘I said to him, Repeat to me what you said. He said, ‘Did you hear that’? I said, ‘Yes’.
He said, ‘I take an oath in that Being in whose control lies the life of Khidr -and he himself was Khidr- none supplicates using these words after Salah except that Allah will forgive him even if his sins are equivalent to the foam of the ocean, the leaves of the trees and the number of the stars.’
Answer
This narration has been recorded with two extremely weak chains. In fact, certain Muhaddithun have declared the Hadith a fabrication. Hafiz Ibn Kathir (rahimahullah) has also expressed reservation with regards to the authenticity of this narration.
(Kitabul Hawatif of Imam Abu Bakr ibn Abid Dunya, Hadith: 62, Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 5 pg. 190, Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 16 pg. 425/426. Refer: Mizanul I’tidal, vol. 2 pg. 266 -number: 3593-, and vol. 2 pg. 446 -number: 4359-, Al Bidayah Wan Nihayah, vol. 2 pg. 140/141 and Tanzihush Shari’ah, vol. 1 pg. 235)
The wording of this du’a is fine and can be recited as a general supplication without attributing it to Khidr (‘alayhis salam) and without anticipating the reward mentioned therein.
And Allah Ta’ala Knows best.
Answered by: Moulana Suhail Motala
Approved by: Moulana Muhammad Abasoomar
Checked by: Moulana Haroon Abasoomar