Ahaadeeth about the virtue of reading Soorah Al-Kahf
Fatwa No: 290464

Question

Assalaamualaikum wa Ragmatullahi wa Barakaatuh,Please authenticate the following for me regarding Surah Kahf (18):'And as narrated by Sayyidna Abu Sa'id, the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, “Whoever recites Surah al-Kahf in full on the day of Jumu'ah will have light for him until the next Jumu'ah.” [Hakim and Baihaqi in al-Da'awat - from Mazhari]'and,'To Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas someone said, 'I resolve in my heart to wake up in the later part of night and make Salah but sleep overtakes me.' Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas said to him, 'recite the last verses of Surah al-Kahf - from: (qul law kánal bagru midádal…) (109) to the end of the Surah (110) - before you sleep. Then, the time you intend to wake up will be the time when Alláh Ta'ala will wake you up.' [Tha'alibi]Jazakallahu khayr.Thank you.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

With regard to the Hadeeth that Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri related from the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, about reading Soorah Al-Kahf [Quran 18] on Friday, Al-Albaani classified it as Saheeh (sound) in Irwaa’ Al-Ghaleel, Saheeh Al-Jaami‘ and Saheeh At-Targheeb wat-Tarheeb. Please, refer to Fatwa 27666.

As regards the statement of Ibn ‘Abbaas it is attributed to him and not a Hadeeth from the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and we have not come across its chain of narrators in the Hadeeth literature.

Al-Qurtubi mentioned it at the end of his Tafseer of Soorah Al-Kahf, and he said following it: “Ath-Tha‘labi mentioned these virtues.” [End of quote]

However, we have not come across it in Ath-Tha‘labi's Tafseer, Al-Kashf wal-Bayaan; he may have mentioned it in some of his other books.

Scholars have criticized Ath-Tha‘labi's transmission of Hadeeth and statements of the Companions; for example, Ibn Taymiyyah said: “The scholars of Hadeeth have unanimously agreed that Ath-Tha‘labi reports a number of fabricated Ahaadeeth, and they said: he is like one who collects wood by night…. Ath-Tha‘labi is a good and religious man but he has no experience about what is authentic among the Hadeeth, and he does not distinguish between the Sunnah and Bid‘ah (innovation) in many propositions.” [End of quote]

Allaah Knows best.

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