Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
In the section “opening Supplications,” Albanee says: “[Prophet Muhammad {sawas} in fact ordered ‘the man who prayed badly’ to [give supplication], saying to him: No person’s prayer is complete unless he says takbeer, praises Allaah the Mighty and Sublime and extols Him, recites of the Qur’aan what is easy for him …179 [from Bukhari and Mulsim]” I am almost certain that he has misused this hadith, but I don’t have anything beyond my opinion to verify this suspicion. How strong is the tradition of reciting du’ah in salaat.?
It is a confirmed sunna to recite the opening supplications, and to recite a dua before the final salams.
>I am also curious about the du’ah that is commonly used by the Hanafi Muslims whom I know (Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika wa tabaraka smuka…). I am wondering how strong the tradition is behind reciting this du’ah in particular.<
It is a confirmed sunna to recite the opening supplications (du`a al- istiftah). [Tanwir, Nur al-Idah]
This explicit wording is mentioned in many hadiths, transmitted in the major hadith works.
A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) related that, “The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) used to say Subhanaka Allahumma wa bi hamdika wa tabaraka `smuka wa ta`ala jadduka wa la ilaha ghayruka when he started his prayer.” (Reported by Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Maja, and Abu Sa`id related a similar hadith, recorded by Nasa’i and Tirmidhi)
Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudama, the great Hanbali scholar, mentioned in his al-Mughni that the practice of the early Muslims (salaf) was on this, and Umar (Allah be pleased with him) used to open his prayer with it, when leading the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace).
And Allah alone gives success.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani.