روي أنه قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: إذا سمعتم المؤذن
فقولوا مثل ما يقول المؤذن ثم صلوا علي. فإنه من صلى علي صلاة صلى الله عليه بها
عشرا. ثم سلوا الله لي الوسيلة، فإنها منزلة في الجنة لا تنبغي إلا لعبد من عباد
الله. وأرجو أن أكون أنا هو. فمن سأل لي الوسيلة جلت له الشفاعة يوم القيامة.
It is narrated that the Prophet (sws)
said: When you hear the caller to prayers, repeat the words as said by the
caller. Then pray for blessings upon me.[1]
For, indeed, whoever prays for blessings upon me once, God, in return, blesses
him with the likes of ten such blessings.[2]
After this, ask God to grant me the wasīlah, for it is a place in Paradise which
no one except one of God’s servants shall get.[3]
I desire that I am the one who gets it. Whoever asks wasīlah for me, shall be
allowed my petition [in his favour] on the Day of Resurrection[4].
Notes on the Text of the Narrative
This narrative or a part of it with some
variations has been reported in Muslim (no. 384), Abū Dā’ūd (no. 523), Tirmidhī
(nos. 3612 and 3614), Nisāī (no. 678), Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Nos. 6568, 7588 and
8755), Ibn Hibbān (Nos. 1690,
1691 and 1692), Nisāī’s Sunan Al-Kubrā (nos. 1642 and 9873), Bayhaqī (no. 1789),
Ibn Khuzaymah (No. 418), Abū Ya‘lā (No. 414) and Ibn Abī Shaybah (no. 29590 and
31784). The preferred text is the one reported in Muslim (no. 384).
In some narratives, as in Ahmad ibn
Hanbal (No. 6568), the words إذا سمعتم المؤذن
(when you hear the caller to prayers) have alternatively been reported as
إذا سمعتم مؤذنا (when you hear a
caller to prayers) while in Bayhaqī (No. 1789), these words have been reported
as إذا سمعتم المؤذن يؤذن
(when you hear the caller to prayer calling).
In some narratives, as in Ibn
Hibbān (no. 1691), the words
فقولوا مثل ما يقول المؤذن (repeat
the words as said by the caller) have been reported as
فقولوا كما يقول (repeat as he
says).
The word
المؤذن (the caller to prayers) in the phrase
مثل ما يقول المؤذن (as said by the
caller) have been reported in Tirmidhī (no. 3614).
In some narratives, as in Ibn
Hibbān (no. 1691), the words
فإنه من صلى علي صلاة (because
whoever prays for blessings upon me once) have been reported as
فإنه ليس أحد يصلي علي صلاة (because
there is no one who prays for blessings upon me once).
In some narratives, as in Tirmidhī (no.
3614), the words من صلى علي صلاة
(whoever prays for blessings upon me once) have been rendered
as من صلى صلاة (whoever
prays once).
In some narratives, as in Ibn
Hibbān (no. 1691), the words
وسلوا الله لي الوسيلة (and ask God
to grant me the wasīlah) have been reported as وسلوا
لي الوسيلة (ask for wasīlah for me).
In some narratives, as in Tirmidhī (no.
3612), when the Prophet (sws) directed the people to ask the Almighty for
wasīlah for him, people asked the Prophet (sws) what this wasīlah was. Thus, in
such narratives, before the Prophet (sws) explained what wasīlah was, the words
قالوا يا رسول الله وما الوسيلة؟
(They said: O Prophet of God, what is wasīlah?) have been added.
In some narratives, as in Tirmidhī (no.
3612), the words فإنها منزلة في الجنة لا تنبغي إلا
لعبد من عباد الله (for it is a place in Paradise which
no one except one of God’s servants shall get) have been rendered as
أعلى درجة في الجنة لا ينالهنا إلا رجل واحد
(the highest grade in Paradise that no one shall get except one man); in some
narratives, as in Ibn Hibbān
(no. 1690), these words have been reported as فإنها
مرتبة في الجنة لا تنبغي إلا لعبد من عباد الله (for it
is a level in Paradise, which no one except one of God’s servants shall get);
while in some narratives, as in Ibn Khuzaymah (no. 418), the word
منزلة (place) have been replaced
with درجة (grade).
In some narratives, as in Ibn
Hibbān (no. 1692), the words
فمن سأل لي الوسيلة (whoever asks
for wasīlah for me) have been reported as فمن سأل الله
لي الوسيلة (whoever asks God to grant me wasīlah).
In some narratives, as in Bayhaqī (no.
1789), the words وأرجو أن أكون أنا هو
(I desire that I am the one who gets it) have been reported as
وأرجو أن أكونه (I desire that I am
him).
In some narratives, as in Abū Dā’ūd (no.
523), the words حلت له الشفاعة
(shall be allowed my petition) have been reported as
حلت عليه الشفاعة (on him shall my petition be
allowed).
The words يوم
القيامة (on the Day of Resurrection) have been
reported in Ibn Hibbān (no.
1691).
In some narratives, as in Ahmad ibn
Hanbal (no. 8755), the Prophet (sws) is reported to have said:
صلوا علي، فإنها زكاة لكم واسألوا الله لي الوسيلة. فإنها ذرجة
في أعلى الجنة لا ينالها إلا رجل وأرجو أن أكون أنا هو.
Pray for blessings upon me, for it
shall be a source of cleansing for you. And ask God to grant me wasīlah, for it
is a grade in the highest ranks of Paradise, which no one, except one man, shall
be granted. I am desirous that I am that man.
In some narratives, as in Abū Ya‘lā (no.
6414), the words صلوا علي فإنها زكاة لكم
(pray for blessings upon me, for it shall be source of cleansing for you) have
been replaced with اكثروا الصلاة علي فإن صلاتكم علي
زكاة لكم (pray more and more for blessings upon me for
indeed your prayers for blessings upon me shall be a source of cleansing for
you); while in some narratives, as in Ibn Abī Shaybah (no. 31784), these words
have been replaced by صلوا علي فإن صلاة علي زكاة لكم
(pray for blessings upon me, for indeed praying for blessings upon me shall be a
source of cleansing for you).
In some narratives, as in Abū Ya‘lā (no.
6414), the words إلا رجل
(except one man) have been reported as إلا رجل واحد من
الناس (except one man from amongst all people).
In an alternative narrative, as reported
in Ibn Abī Shaybah (no. 29590), the Prophet (sws) is reported to have said:
سل الله لي الوسيلة لا يسألها لي مؤمن في الدنيا إلا كنت له
شهيدا أو شفيعا يوم القيامة.
Ask God to grant me wasīlah. I shall
be a witness – or a petitioner – for every believer in the world, who asks that
it be granted to me.
(This write-up is
prepared by the Hadīth Cell of Jāved Ahmad Ghāmidī which includes Moiz Amjad,
Izhār Ahmad, Muhammad Aslam Najmi and Kaukab Shehzad)
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