What is the status of the Hadeeth where the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that our Lord bestows gifts and blessings during certain times, encouraging us to try to gain them? Which narrator, other than At-Tabaraani, has narrated this Hadeeth?

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.

At-Tabaraani ) narrated this Hadeeth in Al-Mu‘jam Al-Kabeer on the authority of Muhammad ibn Maslamah who directly attributed it to the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. This Hadeeth was judged as Dha‘eef (weak) by As-Suyooti and Shaykh Al-Albaani .

It was also narrated by other scholars such as:

•          Al-Ghazaali mentioned it in his book Al-’Ihyaa’

•          Al-‘Iraaqi mentioned it and said that At-Tirmithi and Al-Hakeem narrated this Hadeeth in An-Nawaadir and At-Tabaraani in Al-’Awsat on the authority of Muhammad ibn Maslamah

•          Ibn ‘Abd-Al-Barr narrated it in At-Tamheed on the authority of Anas

•          Ibn Abi Ad-Dunyaa narrated it in his book Al-Farah on the authority of Abu Hurayrah .

With regards to the meaning of this Hadeeth, it encourages every Muslim to seize divine opportunities in the blessed times.

Despite the fact that this Hadeeth is Dha‘eef, its meaning is correct because there is a great deal of evidence in Sharee‘ah (Islamic legislation) to encourage us to pursue all that is good and to seize the blessed opportunities offered to us. For example, we are encouraged to use certain opportunities and situations to supplicate Allaah the Almighty, for example: 

•          The Day of ‘Arafah

•          The Night of Al-Qadr

•          The last third of the night

•          There is an hour on Fridays where a Muslim will be granted whatever he asks for

•          While traveling

•          While prostrating

In this case there is no need to rely on a Dha'eef Hadeeth since there are enough Saheeh Hadeeths (authentic narrations) that encourage us in this regard.

And Allaah Knows best.