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Fatwa CenterHadeeth: 'I seek refuge in Allaah from your (the night's) evil'
Question
As-salam alaykum Is the following hadeeth authentic: Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr: When the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) was travelling and night came on, he said: O earth, my Lord and your Lord is Allah; I seek refuge in Allah from your evil, the evil of what you contain, the evil of what has been created in you, and the evil of what creeps upon you; I seek refuge in Allah from lions, from large black snakes, from other snakes, from scorpions, from the evil of jinn which inhabit a settlement, and from a parent and his offspring. (Sunan Abu Dawood, Hadith 2603)
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.
This Hadeeth was reported by Abu Daawood and its wording is as follows: “When the Messenger of Allaah was travelling and night came on, he would say: O earth, my Lord and your Lord is Allaah; I seek refuge in Allaah from your evil, the evil of what you contain, the evil of what has been created in you, and the evil of what creeps upon you; I seek refuge in Allaah from lions, from large black snakes, from other snakes, from scorpions, from the evil of jinn which inhabit a settlement, and from a parent and his offspring.”
An-Nasaa’i as well reported it in Al-Kubra and indicated its weakness as he said: “Az-Zubayr Ibn al-Waleed is from the Levant; I don’t know of any Hadeeth from him other than this one.”
Also, Al-Albaani and Shu‘ayb Al-Arna’oot considered it as weak in their revision of the Sunan of Abu Daawood.
However, some scholars considered it as Saheeh (sound); the Haafith Al-‘Iraaqi said in his revision of Ihyaa’ ‘Uloom Ad-Deen: “Al-Haakim reported it with another chain of narrators from Abul-Mugheerah and said: its chain of narrators is Saheeh.” [End of quote]
Ibn Khuzaymah also reported it in his Saheeh, and Shaykh Ahmad Shaakir classified its chain of narrators as Saheeh in his editorial work on the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad.
The reason for their difference of opinion is as follows: Az-Zubayr Ibn Al-Waleed was not considered to be reliable except by Ibn Hibbaan and Al-‘Ijli. Hence, the Hadeeth was classified as Saheeh by those who sufficed with the opinion of Ibn Hibbaan and Al-‘Ijli, like the prominent scholar Ahmad Shaakir 
but the other scholars considered it as weak.
Allaah knows best.
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