Question:
When wearing clothes, is it enough to say “Bismillah,” or should one recite the supplication “Al-hamdu lillāhi alladhī kasānī hādhā…” which is mentioned in some hadith books such as Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah?
Answer:
In several books like Musnad Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah there are narrations about reciting a supplication when wearing new clothes. In those narrations it is mentioned that Abu Umamah wore a new garment and then recited this supplication, saying that he heard Umar say this.
However, the chains of these narrations contain weaknesses. One narration is transmitted by a narrator called Abu al-Ala al-Shami. Scholars who researched this narrator found no reliable information about him. When a narrator is unknown, the hadith becomes weak.
Another narration comes through Saqal ibn Mu‘adh ibn Anas, who is considered weak due to poor memory. Another narrator in the chain, Abu Marhum, is also considered weak. Because both narrators in the chain are weak, the narration cannot be accepted as authentic. Another chain includes Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jud‘an, who is unanimously considered weak by scholars of hadith. There is also a narration reported by Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, but he belongs to a later generation and did not hear directly from the Prophetﷺ.
Because of these weaknesses, the narrations about a specific supplication when wearing clothes are not considered authentic. Therefore, one may simply say “Bismillah” when wearing clothes.
