Question:
some mosques have written a supplication on the wall saying that it should be recited after prayer—“Allahﷻ umma inni as’aluka ‘ilman nafi‘an…” The questioner asks whether this supplication after prayer is authentic.
Answer:
This supplication appears in several hadith compilations such as Sunan Ibn Majah, Musnad Ahmad, and others. The narration comes through Umm Salama(RA).
However, when scholars examine the chain, they find that the narrator after Umm Salama (RA) is described only as “one of her servants.” His name, reliability, and biography are unknown. Because the narrator is unidentified, the hadith becomes weak. Without knowing who the narrator is, scholars cannot evaluate his trustworthiness.
For this reason, the report cannot be considered firmly authentic. Some scholars overlooked this issue and graded it authentic, but technically the chain contains an unknown narrator.