Looking after the camels was our shared duty, and when my turn came, I brought them back in the evening. I found the Messenger of Allah ﷺ standing and addressing the people. I caught these words from him, "There is no Muslim who performs ablution well, then stands and prays two units of prayer with his heart and face fully turned toward them, except that Paradise becomes guaranteed for him."I said, "How excellent this is!"Then someone in front of me said, "What came before it is even better."I looked, and there was Umar. He said, "I saw you arrive just now."He continued, "There is no one who performs ablution and does it thoroughly, then says, 'I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger,' except that the eight gates of Paradise are opened for him, and he may enter through whichever he wishes."In another narration, he said, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger."
كانت علينا رعاية الابل، فجاءت نوبتي، فروحتها بعشي، فأدركت رسول الله ﷺ قائما يحدث الناس، فأدركت من قوله: ما من مسلم يتوضأ فيحسن وضوءه، ثم يقوم فيصلي ركعتين مقبل عليهما بقلبه ووجهه إلا وجبت له الجنة. قال: فقلت: ما أجود هذه! فإذا قائل بين يدي يقول: التي قبلها أجود، فنظرت فإذا عمر! قال: أني قد رأيتك جئت آنفا، قال: ما من أحد يتوضأ فيبلغ أو فيسبغ الوضوء ثم يقول: أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا عبده ورسوله، إلا فتحت له أبواب الجنة الثمانية يدخل من أيها شاء. وفي رواية قال: أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Purification (234), from Muhammad bin Hatim bin Maymun, from Ibn Mahdi, from Muawiya bin Salih, from Rabia bin Yazid, from Abu Idris Khawlani, from Uqba bin Amir, and he related it. Tirmidhi added, "O Allah, make me among those who repent and make me among those who purify themselves." He narrated it through another route from Zayd bin Hubab with his chain, pairing Abu Uthman with Abu Idris Khawlani, both from Umar bin Khattab. He said, "Zayd bin Hubab has been contradicted in this hadith of Umar." He said, "Abdullah bin Salih and others narrated from Muawiya bin Salih, from Rabia bin Yazid, from Abu Idris, from Uqba bin Amir, from Umar, and from Rabia, from Abu Uthman, from Jubayr bin Nufayr, from Uthman." He said, "This is a hadith whose chain contains confusion, and nothing substantial is established from the Prophet ﷺ on this subject. Muhammad (meaning Bukhari) said, Abu Idris did not hear anything from Umar." End of quotation.I say, the matter is not as Tirmidhi stated, for its chain is sound, and a sahih narration is not undermined by a daif, confused one. As for Bukhari's statement that Abu Idris Khawlani did not hear from Umar, this goes back to his doctrine regarding the establishment of an actual meeting, otherwise the majority hold that establishing contemporaneity suffices to establish connection. Abu Idris met Muaz bin Jabal and heard from him, and Muaz died in the year 18 AH, while Umar died in the year 23 AH.Then Abu Uthman corroborated him, but the scholars differed as to who this Abu Uthman is. Abu Bakr bin Manjuwayh said, "It appears he is Saeed bin Hani Khawlani Misri," and Abu Ali Ghassani said likewise, while Ibn Hibban said, "It appears he is Hurayz bin Uthman Rahbi." Whichever he is, he is one of two possibilities, both reliable narrators, so this has no bearing on the soundness of the chain.On this subject there is also what was narrated from Anas bin Malik as a raised hadith, with the wording, "Whoever performs wudu and does it well, then says three times, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, eight gates of Paradise will be opened for him, and he may enter through whichever he wishes." This is daif. Ibn Majah narrated it (469) from Musa bin Abdul-Rahman, who said, Husayn bin Ali and Zayd bin Hubab narrated to us, and Muhammad bin Yahya narrated to us, who said, Abu Naeem narrated to us, they said, Amr bin Abdullah bin Wahb Abu Sulayman Nakhai narrated to us, who said, Zayd Ammi narrated to me, from Anas bin Malik, and he related it. Its chain is daif because of Zayd Ammi, who is Zayd bin Hawari Abu Hawari.Through this same route it was also narrated by Imam Ahmad (13792), Ibn Abu Shayba (4/1), and Ibn Sunni in Amal al-Yawm wal-Layla (33), and in Matalib Aliyah (119) "Abu Hawari" was corrupted into "Abu Jawza."On this subject there is also what was narrated from Abu Saeed Khudri, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said, "Whoever performs wudu and says, Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You, I bear witness that there is no god but You, I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance, it will be written on a scroll, then sealed with a seal that will not be broken until the Day of Resurrection." Nasai narrated it in Kubra (9829) from Yahya bin Muhammad bin Sakan, who said, Yahya bin Kathir Abu Ghassan narrated to us, who said, Shuba narrated to us, who said, Abu Hashim narrated to us, from Abu Majliz, from Qays bin Abbad, from Abu Saeed, and he related it. Yahya bin Muhammad was deemed reliable by Nasai, who once said, "There is no harm in him." Abu Hashim is Rumani, whose name is Yahya bin Dinar, though other names have also been given. Abu Majliz's name is Lahiq bin Humayd.However, Abu Abdul-Rahman Nasai found fault with it on the grounds that it should be stopped at the companion. He said following the hadith, "This is a mistake, and the correct view is that it is a stopped report. Muhammad bin Jafar contradicted him by making it a stopped report." He then narrated it through the route of Muhammad bin Jafar (that is, Ghundar), who said, Shuba narrated to us, with the same chain, from Abu Saeed, as his own statement. Nasai said, "Sufyan Thawri narrated it likewise," meaning as a corroborator of Shuba. He then narrated it with his chain going back to Thawri, from Abu Hashim, with the same chain, from Abu Saeed, as his own statement.On this subject there are other hadiths narrated from Abu Musa Ashari, Uthman bin Affan, Thawban, and others, but all of them contain some issue. This is why Hafiz bin Qayyim said in his Zad (1/195), "Every hadith concerning the remembrances said during wudu is a fabricated lie. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said nothing about it, nor did he teach it to his nation, and nothing is established from him except saying the tasmiyah at its beginning, and his saying at its end, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, O Allah, make me among those who repent and make me among those who purify themselves." End of quotation.