Şırnak University Journal of Divinity Faculty

Abstract

Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ, which is mentioned among the nafl prayers, differs from other prayers in many aspects and there are deep disagreements about it. The main source of disagreements is the narrations about Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ. In the hadith narrations, this prayer was taught only to certain people, especially to some of the close relatives of the Prophet, as good news. While Ṣalāts described by their qualities are associated with an event or a time period, Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ is not tied to a certain event or time but is recommended with periodic time periods between once a day and once in a lifetime. The person who performs the specified prayer is promised a high reward that cannot be compared with any other Ṣalāt. Hadith critics also mentioned the flaws related to the proofs of the narrations. There is no information in the narrations that the Prophet or any of his companions performed Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ. Despite the great glad tidings in the narrations of the Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ, the Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ was almost never included in the works of fiqh in the first period, and it was not mentioned in many of the later works. For these basic reasons, a wide range of views has been expressed in the evaluation of the narrations and opposing views have been put forward. In the evaluations made about the hadith and fiqh works; three main tendencies have emerged: performing Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ is very virtuous, there is no harm in doing it, and it is bidʿah. Like many discussions among the ulama in the past, which only concern the scientific circles, the debates about Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ have descended among the common people today and have become one of the issues of controversy among religious people. In recent years, some individuals and religious groups have spread Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ in congregation with various intentions and have developed fraudulent solutions to circumvent the information in the fiqh books that Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ cannot be performed in congregation. In this study, Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ and the way it is perceived and practiced today are considered as a problem. The aim of the study is to reach a conclusion based on extensive analysis on the fiqh value of Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ and to share this opinion with the world of science. Most of the problems related to the subject have been addressed by various authors who have dealt with the subject in the historical process. However, in some of these studies, subjective approaches, and in some others incomplete information transfer or incomplete analysis and evaluations were observed. In this research, starting from the sources of narration on the subject, the evaluations made until today were reviewed with a critical approach, the deficiencies and inconsistencies in the analysis and evaluations were pointed out, and new perspectives were tried to be brought to the subject with additional analyses and evaluations. In our research, after the determinations made about the fiqh status of Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ, attention was drawn to the practices that could be considered as corruption or abuse. In the research, after pointing out the evaluations about the documents of the narrations, the problematic issues about the texts were determined and explained in detail. As a result of the evaluations, no definite conclusion could be reached about the authenticity of the narrations. However, when the narrations are evaluated together with all the related texts, the opinion that Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ is not among the nafls recommended by the Prophet to the Muslims in general has come forward. However, it has been foreseen that performing Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ individually can be seen within the framework of nafl worship in terms of engaging in dhikr, tasbīḥ and prayer. On the other hand, it was concluded that by emphasizing the virtues of Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ for popular purposes, to invite people to Ṣalāt al-Tasbīḥ in congregation and to lead it in congregation is not right.