Short Answer
It is better to not pray salat ut-tasbih because it is not based on authentic sources and most early scholars ignored it. If this practice had even a moderate basis, at least one of the four imams would have mentioned it is recommended and there would be at least one authentic report about it, since it claims to have so much virtue.
Reason for Asking the Question
There are a few hadiths in Abu Dawud #1297-1299, at-Tirmidhi #481-482, and Ibn Majah #1387 which mention the virtue of a special, modified prayer called salat ut-tasbih, so the questioner wants to know if it is recommended to do this.
What the Qur’an and Sunnah Say
The Messenger of Allah said to al-Abbas…”My uncle, shall I not give you (something)…if you act upon it, Allah will forgive you your sins, first and last, old and new, involuntary and voluntary, small and great, secret and open…pray four rak’ahs…say fifteen times while standing, “Glory to Allah”, “Praise to Allah”, “There is no god but Allah”, “Allah is great”, then bow and say it ten times while bowing, then raise your head after bowing and say it ten times, then prostrate and say it ten times…then raise your head and say it ten times, then prostrate yourself and say it ten times, then raise your head and say it ten times…do that in four rak’ahs. If you can do it once a day, do it. If not, then once a week. If not, then once a month. If not, then once a year. If not, then once in your lifetime.” [Abu Dawud #1297]
What the Scholars Said
Imam un-Nawawi: “Al-Qadi Husayn, and the authors of at-Tahdhib and at-Tatimmah said: Salat ut-Tasbih is slightly recommended because of the hadith about it. However, this view that it is slightly recommended needs to be reevaluated, because (1) the hadith about it is weak and (2) it requires changing the regular form of the prayer, which should not be done without a (strong) hadith (to support that modification)…Al-‘Aqili said: There is not a single solid hadith about Salat al-Tasbih.” [al-Majmu‘ Sharh ul-Muhadhdhab 3:547-548]
Ibn Qudamah: “About Salat al-Tasbih, (Imam) Ahmad (ibn Hanbal) said: ‘I do not like it.’ It was said to him: ‘Why?’ He said: ‘There is nothing authentic about it at all’, and he waved his hand like he was dismissing it.” [al-Mughni 1:438]
Ibn Taymiyyah: “None of the four imams spoke about it (salat ut-tasbih)…this prayer is not recommended.” [Majmu‘ ul-Fatawa 11:579]
Tirmidhi: “More than one hadith has been narrated about salat ut-tasbih but much of that is weak. Ibn ul-Mubarak and more than one (early) scholar considered it (recommended) and explained its virtues.”
Ibn Hajar: states the hadith is not weak when all the chains are combined together just like reciting ayat ul-kursi after prayer [an-Nukat ala Kitab ibn us-Salah 2:848-850]
Scholars who said the practice is slightly recommended: Al-Bayhaqi [Shu’ab ul-Iman], Al-Ghazzali, Al-Baghawi, Ar-Ruyani, As-Subki, Az-Zarkashi, As-Suyuti [al-La’ali’ ul-Masnu’ah 2:43], al-Mundhiri, Ibn Abidin [Radd ul-Muhtar 2:27]
Advice
It is recommended to avoid this practice but people who do it should not be criticized because several later respected scholars held this view by claiming the hadith is hasan (good enough) due to the combination of several chains.
Version 0.25
Certainty Level: 3.5 (out of 5) What is this?
Shaykh Mustafa Umar