The aforementioned had?th was reported by Al-Jawraq?n? in “Al-Ab?t?l” (vol. 2 / pp. 35 - 6) and Ibn Al-Jawz? in “Al-Mawd?‘?t” (vol. 2 / pp. 135 - 6) and then said: ‘It is fabricated, no doubt, and the fabricator is of those ignorant story tellers. I am afraid that by narrating such a had?th, he intends to defame Isl?m for if one does such a Sal?t and sees not the prophet ( - ) in his dream, he would surely doubt the prophet’s ( - ) had?th. Besides, how could a two-Rak‘ah N?filah Sal?t replace many Fard ones?! This is a real impossibility. In addition to that, the had?th’s chain of narrators is full of unknown narrators. In all, the had?th is not a real one’.

As-Suy?t? in his “Al-La’?li’ul Masn?‘ah” (vol. 2 / p. 64) and Ibn ‘Arr?q in his “Tanz?hush Shar?‘ah” (vol. 2 / p. 97) both agreed with Al-Jawraq?n?. Ath-Thahab?, in his “Ah?d?th Mukht?rah” (no. 77) said: ‘So, in this case the had?th is forged’.

This had?th has a negative effect on many people, it makes them ignore doing Sal?t. So is the had?th narrated in some late Fiqh books. (1) Some ah?d?th stated a Fidyah to be paid by those who had abandoned Sal?t!! And whoever dies and had missed Sal?t in his life, his heirs could feed one poor for every missed Sal?t. Some Fuqah?’ even limited the amount of food to be given to the poor to be a handful of wheat!! Accordingly, the amount of food to be given by some people is grand. For example, if one died at the age of 60 and was of those who abandoned Sal?t, his heirs have to pay the Fidyah from his bequest that could replace abandoning Sal?t for 45 years. The sum would be as follows:

The amount of food to be paid daily = 5 Mudds of wheat = approximately 3 kg.

45(years) X 354.31days (Lunar year) X 3kg. (Mudds)= 47790kg.

That is approximately 48 tons.

Indeed a great amount that may out strip the bequest. And if the bequest was large enough; the heirs may hesitate to pay it!! This led