Fatwa ID: 04156

Answered by: Shaykh Umer Khan

Question

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Two years ago,  someone told me that Ibn Abbas or Ibn Masud رضي الله عنهم had sworn that if you recite the ayah:

‎وما قدروا الله حق قدره والارض جميعا قبضته يوم القيامة والسموات مطويات بيمينه سبحانه وتعالى عما يشركون

before journeying or travelling,  you won't endure any loss. The person also said regarding whichever companion that said this that he will give his deeds to the one who endures a loss.

I have been reading it before I drive every time and Allah subhanuwata'ala has saved me from any crashes. However,  I realized I don't want to be doing bidat, so is there any narration like this?

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

There are narrations attributed to Ibn ʻAbbās raḍīAllāhuʻanhu and al-Ḥusayn raḍīAllāhuʻanhu about reading this verse (Qur'ān, 39:67) when riding a boat in order to prevent oneself from being drowned. However, these narrations are extremely weak and should not be acted upon.

1.   Such narration is reported by Imām AbūYaʻlā in his Musnad, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn raḍīAllāhu ʻanhu (ḥadīth 6781). Imām al-Haythamī stated in his Majmaʻu al-Zawā'id (10/132) that one of the narrators in the Hadīth, Ḥubārah bin Mughlis, is weak. Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal said that, he is a liar and that he fabricates Aḥādīth. Imām Yaḥyā bin Maʻīn called him a fabricator. Imām Dāraquṭnī said that his narrations are rejected.

2.   Such narration is reported by Imām al-Ṭabarānī, on the authority of Ibn ʻAbbās raḍīAllāhu ʻanhu in his al-Muʻjamu al-Kabīr (ḥadīth 11479, 11/192) and by al-Ḥākim in his Mustadrak (4/75). Imām al-Haythamī stated in his Majmaʻu al-Zawā'id (10/132)that one of the narrators in the Hadīth, Nahshal bin Saʻīd, is a rejected narrator. Ibn Isḥāq said that he is a liar. Abū Ḥātim said that he is rejected. Ibn al-Jawzī said that he has fabricated Aḥādīth from Ibn ʻAbbās.

We learn from the Sunnah (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, ḥadīth 1342; SunanAbīDāwūd, ḥadīth 2599; Jāmiʻ al-Tirmidhī, ḥadīth 3447) that the best duʻā (supplication) to read when embarking on a ride for a journey is the one that Allāh taught us (Qur'ān, 43:13-14):

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ. وَإِنَّا إِلَىٰ رَبِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ

"Glory be to the One Who has subjected this for us, for we could have never done so [on our own]. And indeed we, to our Lord, will [surely] return."

Only Allah knows best

Written by Shaykh Umer Khan

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham