Question:
Did the Prophetﷺ seek protection from having a son who would dominate or control his father? He quotes a supplication beginning with: “Allahﷻ umma inni a‘udhu bika min Jaaris sooyi…” and asks whether this supplication is authentic.
Answer:
This supplication appears in a work by Al-Tabarani.
When we examine its chain of narration, the narrators include:
- Abu Huraira
- Sa‘id al-Maqburi
- Muhammad ibn ‘Ajlan
- Abu Khalid al-Ahmar
- Hasan ibn Hammad al-Hadrami
- Abdullah, the son of Ahmad ibn Hanbal
All of these narrators are considered reliable. Therefore, the supplication itself is acceptable.
Arabic Transliteration of this Dua
Allāhumma innī aʿūdhu bika
min jāri s-sūʾ fī dāri l-muqāmah,
fa-inna jāra l-bādiyati yataḥawwal.
Wa aʿūdhu bika
min zawjin tushayyibunī qabla l-mashīb.
Wa aʿūdhu bika
min waladin yakūnu ʿalayya rabban.
Wa aʿūdhu bika
min mālin yakūnu ʿalayya ʿadhāban.
Wa aʿūdhu bika
min khalīlin mākrin
ʿaynuhu tarānī wa qalbuhu yarʿānī,
in raʾā ḥasanatan dafanahā
wa in raʾā sayyiʾatan adhāʿahā.
“O Allahﷻ , I seek refuge in You
from an evil neighbor in a permanent dwelling,
for the neighbor of the desert can move away.
I seek refuge in You
from a spouse who causes me to become old before old age.
I seek refuge in You
from a child who becomes like a master over me (dominating or oppressing me).
I seek refuge in You
from wealth that becomes a punishment for me.
And I seek refuge in You
from a deceitful friend
whose eye watches me but whose heart betrays me:
if he sees a good deed he hides it,
and if he sees a fault he spreads it.”
This duʿāʾ is reported in the works of:
- Al-Muʿjam al-Kabir
- Narrated from Abu Huraira.
The chain mentioned includes:
- Abu Huraira
- Saʿīd al-Maqburī
- Muhammad ibn ʿAjlān
- Abu Khālid al-Aḥmar
- Hasan ibn Ḥammād al-Ḥaḍramī
- ʿAbdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal
These narrators are generally regarded as reliable (thiqa) in hadith literature, and scholars often consider the supplication acceptable for recitation as a duʿāʾ.
This does not mean a child literally becomes a lord. It means a child who dominates, oppresses, or controls his father, becoming a source of hardship.
In other words, a person asks Allahﷻ to protect him from a child who becomes oppressive toward his parents. Instead, we ask Allahﷻ to grant children who respect their parents and obey them.
So yes, this supplication exists and it is permissible to recite it.