Kissing thumbs on listening the name of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

Question

I have seen many people kissing their thumbs and then putting them on their eyes on listening the name of prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). I want to ask that is there any proof of this act from the time of sahaba (razi Allahu anhum).

Answer 1

No, there is no proof that any of the companions kissed their thumbs and wiped their eyes upon hearing the name of the Prophet (ﷺ).

There is a hadith in Kashf Al-Khafa' Vol. 2, p. 206, hadith 2296 that conveys the same meaning as your question:

رواه الديلمي عن أبي بكر أنه لما سمع قول المؤذن أشهد أن محمدا رسول الله قاله وقبل باطن الأنملتين السبابتين ومسح عينيه فقال صلى الله عليه وسلم من فَعَلَ فِعْلَ خليلي فقد حلت له شفاعتي.

Narrated by Al-Dailami through Abi Bakr that when he heard the Moathin's [call for prayers] saying "Ahshadu an-na Mohammad-an rassoul Allah", he said the same and kissed the interior of his thumbs, then wiped his eyes. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Whoever does the act of my close friend, my intercession will be permissible for him".

_{— NOTE: My own translation, so treat with care.}

In the same book, it is mentioned that the hadith is not authentic.

According to Islam Q&A fatwa 181365, this is an innovation (bid'ah), as what is narrated through Al-Dailami alone cannot be authenticated. The fatwa also mentions other versions of similar hadiths in Hashiyat Ibn 'Abdin and Tafsir Rooh Al-Bayan, and it elaborates that both are not authentic hadiths as well (one of them is through Al-Dailami). The conclusion is (according to the fatwa) as quoted from Fiqh Al-Ad'iya wa Al-Athkar by 'Abdul-Raziq Badr:

ومن الهيئات المحدَثة في رفع اليدين تقبيل الإبهامين ووضعُهما على العينين عند ذكر اسم النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم في الأذان أو غيره، وقد روي في ذلك حديثٌ باطلٌ لا يصح عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، ولفظه : "من قال حين يسمع أشهد أنَّ محمداً رسول الله: مرحباً بحبيبي وقرة عيني محمد بن عبد الله ثمَّ يُقبِّل إبهامَه ويجعلهما على عينيه لَم يعمَ ولم يرمد أبداً"، و قد نصَّ غيرُ واحدٍ من أهل العلم على أنَّ هذا الحديث باطلٌ لا يصح عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم

One form of innovation is raising the hands, kissing the thumbs and putting them on the eyes when the Prophet's (ﷺ) name is mentioned in the adhan. An invalid hadith was narrated to this effect that does not attribute to the Prophet (ﷺ), and it is: [hadith is quoted]. It was mentioned by several scholars that the hadith is not authentic and is not attributable to Prophet (ﷺ).

_{— NOTE: My own translation, so treat with care.}

When examining the content of the hadith, one finds the Prophet (ﷺ) using the word khalil (close friend), which is a word that the Prophet (ﷺ) did not use to describe Aba Bakr in any authentic hadith. In fact, the only authentic hadiths with this word related to Abi Bakr is to negate the khalil relationship:

حَدَّثَنَا مُسْلِمُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، حَدَّثَنَا وُهَيْبٌ، حَدَّثَنَا أَيُّوبُ، عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "وَلَوْ كُنْتُ مُتَّخِذًا مِنْ أُمَّتِي خَلِيلاً لاَتَّخَذْتُ، أَبَا بَكْرٍ وَلَكِنْ أَخِي وَصَاحِبِي‏"‏‏.‏

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If I were to take a Khalil, I would have taken Abu Bakr, but he is my brother and my companion (in Islam).

Sahih Al-Bukhari 62/8

Not only that, but in this hadith, the Prophet (ﷺ) explicitly frees himself from the khalil relationship altogether:

أَلاَ إِنِّي أَبْرَأُ إِلَى كُلِّ خِلٍّ مِنْ خِلِّهِ وَلَوْ كُنْتُ مُتَّخِذًا خَلِيلاً لاَتَّخَذْتُ أَبَا بَكْرٍ خَلِيلاً إِنَّ صَاحِبَكُمْ خَلِيلُ اللَّهِ

Behold I am free from the dependence of all bosom friends and if I were to choose anyone as bosom friend I would have taken Abu Bakr as my bosom friend. Allah has taken your companion as a friend.

Sahih Muslim 44/8

We can conclude from the above that neither the chain is authentic, nor does the choice of words seem to match what the Prophet (ﷺ) was known to use. In fact, the choice of words is in contradiction with other authentic hadiths.