Narrator: Abdullah ibn Umar (r.a.)
Numbering: Sunnah.com
حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ الْمُنْذِرِ الْحِزَامِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا صَدَقَةُ بْنُ بَشِيرٍ مَوْلَى الْعُمَرِيِّينَ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ قُدَامَةَ بْنَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْجُمَحِيَّ يُحَدِّثُ... فَحَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عُمَرَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ حَدَّثَهُمْ: «أَنَّ عَبْدًا مِنْ عِبَادِ اللَّهِ قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ كَمَا يَنْبَغِي لِجَلَالِ وَجْهِكَ وَلِعَظِيمِ سُلْطَانِكَ، فَعَضَّلَتْ بِالْمَلَكَيْنِ فَلَمْ يَدْرِيَا كَيْفَ يَكْتُبَانِهَا، فَصَعِدَا إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَقَالَا: يَا رَبَّنَا إِنَّ عَبْدَكَ قَدْ قَالَ مَقَالَةً لَا نَدْرِي كَيْفَ نَكْتُبُهَا. قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ — وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا قَالَ عَبْدُهُ —: مَاذَا قَالَ عَبْدِي؟ قَالَا: يَا رَبِّ إِنَّهُ قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ كَمَا يَنْبَغِي لِجَلَالِ وَجْهِكَ وَعَظِيمِ سُلْطَانِكَ. فَقَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَهُمَا: اكْتُبَاهَا كَمَا قَالَ عَبْدِي حَتَّى يَلْقَانِي فَأَجْزِيَهُ بِهَا».
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) related: “A servant of Allah said: ‘O my Lord, to You belongs all praise as befits the glory of Your countenance and the greatness of Your sovereignty.’ It confounded the two angels, who did not know how to record it. They ascended to heaven and said: Our Lord, Your servant has said something we do not know how to record. Allah said — and He knows best what His servant said —: What did My servant say? They replied: He said thus. So Allah said to them: Record it as My servant said, until he meets Me and I reward him for it.”
Grade
Chain contains an unknown narrator
Muhammad Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi
Ta‘liq on Sunan Ibn Majah 3801 (quoting al-Zawa’id)
He writes: Qudama ibn Ibrahim is listed by Ibn Hibban in al-Thiqat; Sadaqa ibn Bashir — “I have seen no one criticise him nor authenticate him”; and the remaining narrators of the chain are trustworthy.
Al-Albani’s ruling on Sunan Ibn Majah
Cited: its narrators are trustworthy
Sheikh Redwan Muhammad Redwan
Himpunan Risalah, footnote no. 102
He attributes it to Imam Ahmad and Ibn Majah.
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 note on “its narrators are trustworthy”: Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi’s comment is in fact more guarded — one narrator (Sadaqa ibn Bashir) is unknown, neither criticised nor authenticated. Only the remainder of the chain is trustworthy.