Cited from a tahqiq — print number not yet locked
Narrator: Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari (r.a.)
عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى الْأَشْعَرِيِّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: خَطَبَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ: «يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، اتَّقُوا هَذَا الشِّرْكَ؛ فَإِنَّهُ أَخْفَى مِنْ دَبِيبِ النَّمْلِ». فَقَالَ لَهُ مَنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَقُولَ: وَكَيْفَ نَتَّقِيهِ وَهُوَ أَخْفَى مِنْ دَبِيبِ النَّمْلِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ قَالَ: «قُولُوا: اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ أَنْ نُشْرِكَ بِكَ شَيْئًا نَعْلَمُهُ، وَنَسْتَغْفِرُكَ لِمَا لَا نَعْلَمُهُ».
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) addressed us and said: “O people, beware of this shirk, for it is more hidden than the creeping of an ant.” Someone asked: “How are we to beware of it when it is more hidden than the creeping of an ant, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “Say: O Allah, we seek refuge in You from associating anything with You knowingly, and we seek Your forgiveness for what we do not know.”
Grade
Accepted — included in Sahih al-Targhib
Al-Albani
Sahih al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib
The note retained there: “Narrated by Ahmad and al-Tabarani. Its narrators up to Abu ‘Ali are relied upon in al-Sahih; Abu ‘Ali was declared trustworthy by Ibn Hibban, and I have seen no one criticise him.”
The “three times daily” addition: da‘if jiddan
Al-Albani
Al-Silsila al-Da‘ifa no. 3755
He removed that addition from Sahih al-Targhib because its chain is severely weak. It comes via the Abu Ya‘la route from Hudhayfah — the very route Sheikh Redwan also mentions.
Cited as having a good chain
Sheikh Redwan Muhammad Redwan
Himpunan Risalah, footnote no. 106
He attributes it to Ahmad and al-Tabarani, and also mentions Abu Ya‘la’s report from Hudhayfah with the addition “recite it three times daily”.
Notes
The base report is accepted, but the “three times daily” addition is not. Sheikh Redwan mentions both; al-Albani accepted the first and rejected the second as severely weak.
Al-Bukhari also narrated it in al-Adab al-Mufrad (no. 716), without the mention of “three times”.
The printed number in Musnad Ahmad is not locked; the text above is taken from Sahih al-Targhib.