Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3516
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ عُمَرَ بْنِ أَبِي الْوَزِيرِ، حَدَّثَنَا زَنْفَلُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي مُلَيْكَةَ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيقِ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَ إِذَا أَرَادَ أَمْرًا قَالَ " اللَّهُمَّ خِرْ لِي وَاخْتَرْ لِي " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ غَرِيبٌ لاَ نَعْرِفُهُ إِلاَّ مِنْ حَدِيثِ زَنْفَلٍ . وَهُوَ ضَعِيفٌ عِنْدَ أَهْلِ الْحَدِيثِ وَيُقَالُ لَهُ زَنْفَلٌ الْعَرَفِيُّ وَكَانَ سَكَنَ عَرَفَاتٍ وَتَفَرَّدَ بِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ وَلاَ يُتَابَعُ عَلَيْهِ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us; Ibrahim ibn ‘Umar ibn Abi al-Wazir narrated to us; Zanfil ibn ‘Abd Allah, Abu ‘Abd Allah, narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Mulaykah, from ‘A’ishah, from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, that whenever the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to undertake something, he would say: ‘O Allah, choose what is good for me and choose for me.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This is a gharib hadith. We know it only through Zanfil’s narration. He is considered weak by hadith scholars. He is also called Zanfil al-‘Arifi and lived in ‘Arafat. He alone transmitted this hadith, and it is not corroborated.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ غَرِيبٌ لاَ نَعْرِفُهُ إِلاَّ مِنْ حَدِيثِ زَنْفَلٍ .
Al-Tirmidhi states that Zanfil was weak and this report is solitary and uncorroborated; the English witness omits this critical evaluation.
Should this hadith-critical note be retained with the English witness?