Praise be to Allah.
This hadith was narrated by al-Bukhari in al-Tarikh al-Kabir (4/328-329); al-Tabarani in al-Du‘a’ (p. 313); Ibn Abi’l-Dunya in al-Faraj ba‘da al-Shiddah (p. 56); and others. All of them narrated it via ‘Abd al-Wahid ibn Ziyad al-‘Abdi: Majma‘ ibn Yahya told us: Abu’l-‘Ayuf Sa‘b or Su‘ayb al-‘Anzi told me, from Asma’ bint ‘Umays, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “Whoever is stricken with distress, worry, sickness or hardship and says, ‘Allahu rabbiy la sharika lah (Allah is my Lord, He has no partner,’ will be relieved of that.”
This is an isnad of which the men are thiqat (trustworthy), except Abu’l-‘Ayuf Sa‘b or Su‘ayb al-‘Anzi. Al-Bukhari mentioned him in al-Tarikh al-Kabir (4/328-329) and Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned him in al-Jarh wa’l-Ta‘dil (4/450), but they did not say anything about him by way of criticism or praise. He was also mentioned by Ibn Hibban in al-Thiqat (4/385).
Because of this Abu’l-‘Ayuf, the isnad does not reach the level of being sahih.
But there is a report which strengthens it, that was narrated by Imam Ahmad in al-Musnad (45/15-16), and by Abu Dawud (1525) and others from ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Umar, from Hilal, from ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, from Ibn Ja‘far, from Asma’ bint ‘Umays, who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to me: “Shall I not teach you some words that you can say at times of distress: ‘Allahu Allahu Rabbiy la ushriku bihi shay’an (Allah, Allah is my Lord; I do not associate anything with Him).’”
The hadith with both isnads is sahih.
The commentators on al-Musnad said:
A hasan hadith. Hilal is Abu Ta‘mah, the freed slave of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz. A number of narrators narrated from him, and he was classed as thiqah (trustworthy) by Ibn ‘Ammar al-Mawsili and by al-Dhahabi in al-Kashif. … But there was some mild criticism of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, but al-Bukhari narrated one hadith from him for which there is another hadith that corroborates it. There was a difference of opinion concerning him, as we shall see below. The rest of the narrators are trustworthy, the narrators of the two shaykhs [al-Bukhari and Muslim]. End quote.
Shaykh al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Umar is thiqah (trustworthy), one of the narrators of the two shaykhs [al-Bukhari and Muslim]. There was a difference of opinion concerning the isnad of this hadith for several reasons, which were mentioned by al-Hafiz al-Mizzi, and he stated that the known hadith is what we have narrated.
Based on that, we may say that it is a hasan or sahih hadith, because all of its narrators are also trustworthy and are the narrators of the two shaykhs [al-Bukhari and Muslim], apart from this Hilal, who is known by the kunyah Abu Ta‘mah, by which he is more well known. He was classed as trustworthy by Ibn ‘Ammar al-Mawsili, and several narrators narrated from him. Al-Hafiz, however, said that he is maqbul (acceptable)."(Al-Silsilah al-Sahihah 6/593).
And Allah knows best.
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