Abdul-Wahhab said that Abu Umama Himsi, the companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Ablution wipes away the sins that came before it, and the prayer that follows becomes a voluntary act of merit."He was asked, "Did you hear this from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ yourself?"He replied, "Yes, not once, nor twice, nor three times, nor four, nor five."
. وقال عبد الوهاب: أبو أمامة الحمصي صاحب رسول الله ﷺ، أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: الوضوء يكفر ما قبله، ثم تصير الصلاة نافلة. فقيل له: أسمعته من رسول الله ﷺ؟ قال: نعم، غير مرة، ولا مرتين، ولا ثلاث، ولا أربع، ولا خمس.
Ahmad narrated it (22162). He said, Muhammad bin Bishr told us, Saeed bin Abu Aruba told us, from Qatada, from Shahr bin Hawshab and Abdul-Wahhab, from Hisham, and Azhar bin Qasim, Hisham told us, from Qatada, from Shahr bin Hawshab, from Abu Umama. Abu Dawud Tayalisi also narrated it (451/2, no. 1225) and Tabarani in al-Kabir (7570), both through Saeed bin Abu Aruba with the same chain.Its isnad is hasan because of Shahr bin Hawshab, for Ibn Hibban and Ibn Adi criticized him. Ibn Main said, "He is reliable." Abu Zura said, "There is no harm in him." Ajli said, "A Syrian follower, trustworthy."However, he was not the only one to narrate it, for he was corroborated. Abu Dawud Tayalisi narrated it (1231), and the wording given here is his, and Ahmad (254/5) and Tabarani (8071) all narrated it through Abu Ghalib, from Abu Umama, who said, "When a Muslim performs wudu and does it well, his sins depart from his hearing, his sight, his hands, and his feet. If he then sits, he sits forgiven, and if he prays, he gains an extra merit." He was asked, "Or a voluntary prayer?" He said, "The voluntary prayer was only for the Prophet ﷺ."There is disagreement about whether this is a raised or a stopped narration, and the correct view is that it is raised. Abu Ghalib is truthful.Musaddad and Muhammad bin Yahya bin Abu Umar narrated it through Shamir bin Atiya, from Abu Umama, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "When a Muslim man performs wudu, his sins depart from his hearing, his sight, his hands, and his feet, and if he then sits, he sits forgiven."It appears that Shahr bin Hawshab has dropped out after Shamir bin Atiya, for Shamir bin Atiya never met Abu Umama.Ahmad bin Mani narrated it through Abu Muslim, who said, I went in to see Abu Umama while he was picking lice off himself in the masjid and burying the lice in the gravel, and I said, "O Abu Umama, a man told me on your authority that you said, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'Whoever performs wudu and does it thoroughly, washing his hands and his face, wiping his head and his ears, then stands for an obligatory prayer, Allah forgives him on that day whatever his feet walked toward it, whatever his hands grasped, whatever his ears listened to, whatever his eyes looked upon, and whatever evil his heart contemplated.'" He said, "By Allah, I heard it from the Prophet of Allah ﷺ more times than I can count, just like this," pointing to his feet, his hands, his ears, and his eyes. And the correct view is that these words are part of the raised narration.The hadith has other paths of transmission which Busiri mentioned in Ithaf Khayra (1/396–397), and Abu Ubayd in Tahur (20, 21, 22, 23).