Narrator: Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri (r.a.)
Numbering: Sunnah.com
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ الْغُدَانِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنَا غَسَّانُ بْنُ عَوْفٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا الْجُرَيْرِيُّ، عَنْ أَبِي نَضْرَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ قَالَ: دَخَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ الْمَسْجِدَ، فَإِذَا هُوَ بِرَجُلٍ مِنَ الْأَنْصَارِ يُقَالُ لَهُ أَبُو أُمَامَةَ، فَقَالَ: «يَا أَبَا أُمَامَةَ، مَا لِي أَرَاكَ جَالِسًا فِي الْمَسْجِدِ فِي غَيْرِ وَقْتِ الصَّلَاةِ؟» قَالَ: هُمُومٌ لَزِمَتْنِي وَدُيُونٌ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ. قَالَ: «أَفَلَا أُعَلِّمُكَ كَلَامًا إِذَا أَنْتَ قُلْتَهُ أَذْهَبَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ هَمَّكَ وَقَضَى عَنْكَ دَيْنَكَ؟» قَالَ: قُلْتُ: بَلَى يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ. قَالَ: «قُلْ إِذَا أَصْبَحْتَ وَإِذَا أَمْسَيْتَ: اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْجُبْنِ وَالْبُخْلِ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ غَلَبَةِ الدَّيْنِ وَقَهْرِ الرِّجَالِ». قَالَ: فَفَعَلْتُ ذَلِكَ، فَأَذْهَبَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ هَمِّي وَقَضَى عَنِّي دَيْنِي.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) entered the mosque one day and came upon a man of the Ansar called Abu Umamah. He said: “Abu Umamah, why do I see you sitting in the mosque outside the time of prayer?” He said: “Worries that cling to me, and debts, O Messenger of Allah.” He said: “Shall I not teach you words which, if you say them, Allah will remove your worry and settle your debt?” He said: I replied: “Of course, O Messenger of Allah.” He said: “Say, morning and evening: O Allah, I seek refuge in You from worry and grief; I seek refuge in You from incapacity and laziness; I seek refuge in You from cowardice and miserliness; and I seek refuge in You from being overcome by debt and overpowered by men.” He said: I did that, and Allah removed my worry and settled my debt.
Grade
Da‘if Sunan Abi Dawud — al-Umm
He placed this report in his collection of weak reports from Sunan Abi Dawud.
Cited without stating a grade
Sheikh Redwan Muhammad Redwan
Himpunan Risalah, footnote no. 108
He attributes it to Abu Dawud.
Acting on a weak report in fada’il al-a‘mal
Imam al-Nawawi writes in al-Adhkar: “The scholars among the hadith specialists, the jurists and others have said: it is permitted and encouraged to act, in matters of merit and of encouragement and warning, upon a weak hadith — so long as it is not fabricated (mawdu‘).” As for rulings such as the lawful and unlawful, sale, marriage and divorce, these may rest only on a sahih or hasan report.
The conditions Ibn ‘Allan states in al-Futuhat al-Rabbaniyya (1/84): (1) the report is neither fabricated nor severely weak; (2) it falls under an established general principle; and (3) when acting on it one does not hold it to be established from the Prophet (peace be upon him), but acts out of precaution.
Al-Adhkar, al-Nawawi — section on acting upon a weak hadith
Notes
A soundly-transmitted report carries nearly the same wording without the Abu Umamah narrative — for instance Sunan Abi Dawud 1541 from Anas ibn Malik (r.a.), recording that the Prophet said it often. The weakness here attaches to the chain of this narrative, not to the supplication itself.