Dua Nudba, authentic?

Synopsis: This article examines the authenticity (or lack of) of Dua Nudba, by analysing its sources of origin. However, this article does not cover Dr Ali Shariati's suspicion regarding this dua being of kaysanite origins, as I believe his reasoning is not strong enough. Advanced readers may refer to Ayatullah Kadhim's Tusturi's response to this here.

"The birth of Imam Mahdi (as)" by Ayatullah Bashir Hussain al Najafi, Page 88 (original Arabic page posted at the bottom of the post)

Question 7: What does Dua Nudba mean to you, your eminence? Is its recitation like any other act of worship, or is it a way of life that the person should live by with the Imam (as)?

Answer 7: It is possible to look at Dua Nudba from many angles, some of which may seem negative initially, but nevertheless are important as per academic standards. So therefore, when we look at it in terms of sanad (chain of narration), we find that multiple experts in the field of Isnad and ahadith have refused to confirm this dua as being authentic, however; they have not forbidden its recitation as long as it is recited just as a dua (i.e. without attributing it to the Imams).

موقع سماحة العلامة الشيخ حسين المؤيد

Ayatullah Hussain al Moiyad (ex Shia scholar)'s website

سؤال:هل إن سند دعاء الندبة معتبر؟وإذا كان كذلك فالى أي إمام ينسب مع ذكر المصادر إن سمحتم؟

Question: Is the sanad of Dua Nudba reliable? If so, then could you please let us know to Imam (as) is it attributable, along with the sources?

الجواب:دعاء الندبة أورده السيد علي ابن طاووس في كتابه مصباح الزائر قال: ذكر بعض أصحابنا قال قال محمد بن علي بن أبي قرة: نقلت من كتاب محمد بن الحسين بن سفيان البزوفري رضي الله عنه دعاء الندبة.
وهذا سند مشكل غير نقي إذ يلاحظ عليه -:
أولاً: - إن الفاصل الزمني بين السيد إبن طاووس ومحمد بن علي بن أبي قرة فاصل كبير، فان السيد ابن طاووس توفي سنة 664هـ، بينما محمد بن علي بن أبي قرة هو من مشايخ النجاشي المتوفى سنة 450هـ، وعليه لابد أن تكون هناك أكثر من واسطة وهي مجهولة.
ثانياً: - إن سند محمد بن الحسين بن سفيان البزوفري إلى الدعاء غير مذكور فهوَ سند مجهول أيضاً. ومن هنا لا يصح ما ذكره المجلسي في زاد المعاد من أن دعاء الندبة مروي بسند معتبر عن الإمام الصادق عليه السلام ، إذ لم يذكر لهذا الدعاء سند متصل معتبر.هذا وقد أورد الشيخ محمد بن جعفر بن المشهدي في مزاره الكبير دعاء الندبة وذكر في سنده نحو ما ذكره السيد ابن طاووس والإشكال هو الإشكال. هذا مضافاً إلى أن هذا الدعاء لم يذكر في كتب الأدعية المتقدمة على ابن طاووس كمصباح المتهجد للشيخ الطوسي وهذا ما يضع علامة استفهام، لأن هذا الدعاء اعتبر من أعمال يوم الجمعة ويوم الفطر ويوم الأضحى ويوم الغدير ومضامينه مهمة في زمان الغيبة حسب ثقافة الشيعة الإمامية فان كان له سند معتبر واضح، أو كان دعاء معروفاً فما هو الوجه في إهماله في كتب الدعاء المعتبرة، بل إن السيد إبن طاووس نفسه لم يذكره في سائر كتبه المعدة لبيان الأعمال والأدعية

Answer: Syed Ali b. Tawus recorded Dua Nudba in his book 'Misbahuz Zair'. He wrote: "Some of our companions mentioned: Muhammad b. Ali b. abi Qurah said: I quoted from Muhammad b.al Hussain b. Sufyan al Buzofri (ra) Dua Nudba." Now this sanad is problematic and unsound, as it contains the following issues:

1. There is a large time lapse between Syed Ibn Tawus and Muhammad b. Ali b. abi Qurah, for Syed Ibn Tawus passed away in 664 AH, while Muhammad b. Ali b. abi Qurah is from the teachers of Shaikh al Najashi who passed away in 450 AH. Therefore, there must have been multiple intermediary narrators, but they are not known (majhool).

2. The sanad of Muhammad b.al Hussain b. Sufyan al Buzofri (to the Imam) for this dua is not mentioned, therefore this sanad is majhool as well. Therefore, what Allama Majlisi wrote in his book "Zaadul Ma'ad", regarding Dua Nudba having been narrated by a mu'tbar (reliable) sanad from Imam al Sadiq (as) is incorrect, as no complete and reliable sanad has been mentioned for this dua. Further to this, Shaikh Muhammad b. Ja'far b. al Mashhadi also recorded Dua al Nudba in his book 'Mazar', and mentioned the same sanad as that of Syed Ibn Tawus, therefore the same problems remain. Moreover, this dua is not mentioned in any of the books of supplications prior to Syed Ibn Tawus such as Shaikh Tusi's Misbahul Mujtahid. This raises a question mark, as this dua is considered to be among the recommended acts for Friday, Eid al Fitr, Eid al Adha, and Eid al Ghadeer; and its contents are quite important for the period of occultation, as per the Shia Imami culture. So if it had a reliable a sanad, or was well known, then what is the reason for its exclusion from reliable books of supplication. In fact, even Syed Ibn Tawus himself did not mention this dua in his other books centered around recommended acts and supplications (1).

(1) Translator's note: This particular argument is incorrect, as Syed Ibn Tawus also reported it in Iqbalul Amal (Vol 1 Page 495, in the section abut the supplications to be recited after Eid al Fitr prayer). The rest of the arguments are valid.

موقع مؤسسة العلامة المرجع السيد محمّد حسين فضل الله

Ayatullah Fadlullah's website

س: نحن نحضر دعاء الندبة بشكل أسبوعي، لكن سمعنا أن فيه بعض الألفاظ الداخلة بالغلو ... ، وسمعنا أنه غير صحيح مطلقا ، ولايمكن أن يصدر عن معصوم. هل هذا صحيح؟ :

Question: We attend dua Nudba on a weekly basis, but we heard that it has some words which contain ghulu....., and we heard that it is completely wrong, and it is not possible to have been narrated by any Imam (as). Is this correct?

ج: هذا الدعاء غير ثابت سنداً عن المعصومين (ع).

Answer: On the basis of sanad, this dua is not established to be from the Imams (as).

الموقع الرسمي للشيخ حيدر حب الله

Shaikh Haider Hubbullah's website

ما مدى صحّة الأدعية الموجودة اليوم؟ وكيف نتعامل معها؟

What is the basis for the authenticity of the supplications recited these days? And how should we treat them?

السؤال: ورد عدد كبير من الأدعية المنسوبة إلى الأئمة عليهم السلام في الإقبال ومفاتيح الجنان وغيرهما من الكتب, فهل هذه الأدعية ثابتة ومعتبرة؟ وهل ثبت التوقيت الخاصّ بها كدعاء كميل لليلة الجمعة والعهد والندبة و.. كما أننا نجد أنّ المستوى في الأدعية متفاوت من حيث الخطاب، فهل يطالب الإنسان العادي المبتلى بالمعاصي مثلاً بكمال الانقطاع إلى الله، كما ورد في المناجاة الشعبانية إذا قرأها. أرجو من سماحتكم التوجيه في كيفية التعامل مع الأدعية، والإجابة على ما سألت، ولكم الشكر الجزيل.

Question: Lots of Duas attributed to the Imas (as) are written in books like 'Iqbal' (by Syed Ibn Tawus) and Mafatihul Jinan (by Shaikh Abbas al Qummi) as wll as other books; so are these supplications sound and reliable? And are any particular times for them established, such as Dua Kumail on Thursday night, Dua Ahad, Dua Nudba etc..Also, we find that the style of these supplications is quite eloquent in terms of speech, so should a normal sinful person use these supplications to fill the gap of separation and get closer to Allah (swt), as has been mentioned in the supplication of Sha'baniyah when it is read. I would like your eminence to please shed light on this issue as to how should we treat these supplications, and to answer what I asked. Many thanks.

الجواب: أولاً: إنّ الكثير ـ وربما أغلب ـ الأدعية الواردة في مصادر الحديث والأدعية ـ عدا الصحيفة السجاديّة التي يوجد جدل حول سندها ـ ضعيفةٌ من حيث السند على مستوى البحث الرجالي والتوثيق التاريخي؛ نظراً لمشاكل متعدّدة ابتليت بها بعض الكتب التي تشكّل مصادر للأدعية، وأهمّ هذه المشاكل أنّ هذه الكتب حذفت الأسانيد والمصادر التي أخذت منها هذه الأدعية ولم تذكرها أساساً، كما هي الحال مع مثل كتاب مصباح المتهجّد للشيخ أبي جعفر الطوسي (460هـ)،

Answer: First of all: Many, in fact perhaps most, of the supplications mentioned in the books of hadith and supplications, except for Sahifa al Sajjadiyah around which there is disagreement regarding the status of its sanad; are da'eef (weak/unreliable) in terms of sanad as per research in the field of Ilmur Rijal and historical reliability. This is due to the multitude of problems present in the books which form the source of these supplications. The most significant of these problems is that these books have omitted the sanads and sources from which these supplications have been quoted, and have not mentioned them at all. For example, this is the case with Shaikh Tusi (460 AH)'s book 'Misbahul Mujtahid' (our oldest extant book of supplications).

الأدعية والزّيارات بين منهج التّـأصيل ومنهج التّشكيك

"Al ad'ia waz ziarat", article (link) by Syed Dia al Khabbaz (Saudi Shia scholar, former student of Ayatullah Sadiq Rohani)

مرجع الشيعة الأكبر ، السيد البروجردي ( طيّب الله
ثراه ) ، فإنه لما سئل عن سند دعاء الندبة أجاب إجابة مطولة ، ثم تحدث في نهايتها عنه وعن محمد بن الحسين بن سفيان البزوفري الراوي للدعاء في كتابه ، بما يدل على منهج التأصيل ، حيث أفاد قائلاً : m وعلى كلّ حالٍ هو من الشيوخ الثقات ، وقد روى الشيخ أبو جعفر الطوسي في مشيخة التهذيبين عن شيوخه عنه كثيراً ، وظاهره الاعتماد عليه ، فبعد ثبوت نقل الدعاء عن كتابه يمكن أن يُعتمد عليه في نقله ، وكان هذا المقدار في أمثال الأدعية والمستحبات كافياً ، وقراءته برجاء المطلوبية لا بأس بها

When Ayatullah Burujerdi was asked about Dua Nudba, he gave a long reply. At the end of which he spoke about the dua and Muhammad b.al Hussain b. Sufyan al Buzofri, the narrator of the dua in his book. What displays his inclination towards proving the authenticity of popular supplications, is that he said: "He (i.e al Buzofri, the narrator of the dua) is from the 'shuyukh al thiqat', and Shaikh Tusi narrated from him a lot via his teachers as seen in the 'mashyakhah' of his tahdhibain, and apparently he considered him reliable (2). So after it being proven that the dua is from his book (3), it is possible to rely on his narration. And this level of proof is sufficient for the likes of supplications and recommended acts, and reciting it with the intention of 'rija al matloobiah' (i.e. not attributing the dua to the Imams, but reciting it with the assumption that reciting the dua itself is good, as supplicating in general is a good act, therefore Allah will reward one for it)."

(2) Translator's note: As per Ayatullah Khoei's manhaj though, al Buzofri is majhool (Al Mufid Min Mujam Rijal al Hadith), as he is not mentioned in any of the classical books of rijal (as explained by Shaikh Hasan Al Musawi al Khurasan in his Sharh Mashyakha Vol 1 Page 36).

(3) Translator's note: It is unclear how Ayatullah Burujerdi reached this conclusion that this dua is proven to be from al Buzofri's book. As seen in Ayatullah Moiyad's arguments posted above, this is definitely not proven.

: سيدنا الأستاذ ، سماحة آية الله العظمى ، السيد محمد صادق الحسيني الروحاني ( دامَ ظله الوارف ) ، فإنه لما سئل عن صحة سند دعاء التوسل والزيارة الجامعة وزيارة عاشوراء ، أجابَ عن ذلك بقوله : m سند زيارة عاشوراء والجامعة معتبر لا إشكال فيه ، وأما دعاء التوسل فهو دعاء مشهور ، وضعفُ سنده لا يضر به ، بعد البناء على تمامية قاعدة التسامح في أدلة السنن
ولمّا سُئِلَ عن سند دعاء الندبة أجاب : m الدعاء واردٌ في غير واحدٍ من كتب القدماء المعتمدة ، وعدم وروده بسندٍ معتبر لا يضر به بعد كونه مشمولاً لقاعدة التسامح في أدلة السنن

Ayatullah Sadiq Rohani, when asked about the authenticity of the isnad of dua tawassul, ziyarah al jamia and ziyarah al ashura; replied: As for the isnad of ziyarah al jamia and ashura, so they are definitely reliable (4), as for dua tawassul so it is a well known dua, and the weakness of its sanad does not effect it on the basis of 'al tasamuh fi adillatis sunan (principle of leniency in deducing proofs for recommended acts)'

And when asked about the sanad of dua nudba, he replied that it has been recorded in multiple reliable books of the classical scholars (5), and it lacking a reliable sanad does not effect it on the basis of 'al tasamuh fi adillatis sunan (principle of leniency in deducing proofs for recommended acts)'.

(4) Translator's note: Their isnad are not unanimously proven, as there are other scholars (Shaikh al Radhi and Ayt Fadlullah for example) who do not consider their isnad to be reliable.

(5) Translator's note: As seen in Ayatullah Moiyad's arguments posted above, this claim is incorrect, and our classical primary books of ahadith do not contain this dua, and this dua is not found in any book preceding Ibn al Mashhadi (594 AH)'s al Mazar.

"Wiladatul Imam al Mahdi (as)" Page 88 (series of lectures and Q&A seminars delivered by Ayatullah Bashir Hussain al Najafi to students, compiled and edited by the "Institute of Specialist Studies on Imam al Mahdi" in Najaf, Iraq)