Fiqh of Dua & Adhkar

Qabeelat Hosna | Student Notes September 2013
Qabeelat Hosna September 2013
24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni
Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................ 4 Activity | How connected are you with All!h?......................................................... 13 Chapter 1 | The Concept of Dhikr & Du! in Islam .......................................................... 16 The Significance and the Benefits of Dhikr and Du! in the Life of the Muslim .......... 16 The Meanings of Dhikr and Du! ................................................................................... 31 The Ruling of Dhikr and Du! ........................................................................................ 33 The Categories of Dhikr and Du! ................................................................................. 35 The Categories of Dhikr ............................................................................................. 35 The Categories of Du!.............................................................................................. 39 For Whom Should You Make Du! Other Than Yourself? ........................................... 43 The Ruling on Making Du! Against or Cursing Someone ........................................... 49 Making du! against the people of sin (f!siq) ............................................................... 52 The ruling on requesting du! from a living, present person ..................................... 54 The Etiquette of Dhikr and Du! ................................................................................... 57 The Transgression (al-itada) in the Du! ..................................................................... 61 Chapter 2 | The Best Dhikr & The Accepted Du! ............................................................ 64 The Best Dhikr is the Qur!n.......................................................................................... 64 The Best Dhikr After Al-Qur!n ...................................................................................... 66 La il!ha illAll!h ............................................................................................................... 69 The Meaning ............................................................................................................. 69 The situations where saying la il!ha illAll!h is ordained .......................................... 71 The virtues of la il!ha illAll!h .................................................................................... 71 Sub"!nall!h .................................................................................................................... 71 The Meaning ............................................................................................................. 72 The situations where tasb#" is ordained ................................................................... 72 The virtues of tasb#".................................................................................................. 72 Al"amdulill!h ................................................................................................................. 73 The Meaning ............................................................................................................. 73 The situations where "amd is ordained ................................................................... 73 The virtues of ta"m#d ................................................................................................ 74 All!hu Akbar ................................................................................................................... 74 The Meaning ............................................................................................................. 74 The situations where takb#r is ordained ................................................................... 74 The virtues of takb#r .................................................................................................. 75 La "awla wa la quwwatta illa bill!h .................................................................................. 75 The Meaning ............................................................................................................. 75 The situations were "awqalah is ordained................................................................ 75 The virtues of saying La "awla wa la quwwata illa bill!h......................................... 76 The Meaning ............................................................................................................. 76 The situations where sending $al!h and sal!m upon the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) is ordained ............................................................................................... 77 The Accepted Du! ........................................................................................................ 80
The reasons why our du! are rejected and not answered.......................................... 83 Chapter 3 | The Ruling of Du! and Dhikr Related To %al!h (Prayer) .............................. 86 Du! al-qun&t ................................................................................................................. 91 The ruling of du! al-qun&t in the mandatory prayers: ........................................... 91 When should we perform al-qun&t during the prayers? .......................................... 94 Rulings regarding al-qun&t ....................................................................................... 95 The Ruling of al-Qun&t during Witr Prayer ................................................................... 95 Making Du! for the Completion of Qur!n .................................................................. 98 Dhikr & Du! During Suj&d of Til!wah (Recitation) or Shukr (Thanking) ...................... 99 Dhikr & Du! during the Khu'bah of Jumuah or (d ..................................................... 100 The Prayer of Need ("!jah) and Its Du! ..................................................................... 101 The Du! of Istikh!rah ................................................................................................. 102 Dhikr & Du! After the Prayer ..................................................................................... 104 Chapter 4 | Rulings related to Dhikr and Du! .............................................................. 107 The Ruling On Raising Hands During Du!................................................................. 107 What Is the Ordained Way of Raising the Hands? ..................................................... 107 The Ruling of Raising Ones Eyes to the Sky While Making Du! .............................. 110 Ruling Related to Reciting the Dhikr .......................................................................... 111 The Rulings Regard Reciting Adhk!r in Congregation ............................................... 113 Chapter 5 | Al-sal!mu alaykum ................................................................................... 116 The Meaning of the Islamic Greeting ......................................................................... 116 The Virtues of Sal!m ................................................................................................... 117 The Ruling on Giving Sal!m ........................................................................................ 117 The Etiquettes of Giving Sal!m ................................................................................... 118 Chapter 6 | Dhikr & Du! 24/7 ....................................................................................... 121 Du! for You to Memorize .......................................................................................... 121 The Ruling of Dhikr & Du! in Our Daily Lives ............................................................ 121 The Morning and Evening Adhk!r .......................................................................... 121 Activity | 21 Day Adhk!r Challenge ............................................................................... 135 Activity | Du! List ......................................................................................................... 136
Introduction
All thanks and praise are due to All!h, and we seek His Help and Forgiveness. We seek refuge in All!h from whatever evil our hearts conceal and from the consequences of our evil deeds. Whomever All!h grants guidance will never be led astray; whomever He leads astray will never find guidance. I attest that none is worthy of worship except All!h, who has no partners, and that Mu"ammad is His slave and Messenger.
O you who have believed, fear All!h as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims in submission to Him. ()le-Imr!n, 3:102)
O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear All!h, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed All!h is ever, over you, an Observer. (Al-Nis!, 4:1)
O you who have believed, fear All!h and speak words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys All!h and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment. (Al-A"z!b, 33:70-71)
Indeed, the most truthful speech is the Book of All!h, the best guidance is the guidance of Mu"ammad, and the worst affairs are newly invented matters. Every newly invented matter is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Hellfire.
To proceed: AlMaghrib Institute is pleased to introduce to you, the course 24/7 - Fiqh of Dhikr & Du! . Here, we will focus on one of the most practical aspects of our ib!dah (act of worship): du!. It is essential for every Muslim to practice this act of worship in order for us to stay connected to our Lord and to keep our hearts full of life and #m!n.
Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of All!h. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of All!h hearts are assured. (Al-Rad, 13:28)
The likeness of the one who remembers his Lord and the one who does not remember Him is like that between the living and the dead. (Bukh!ri) Those who perform dhikr are wise and are promised success, peace, happiness, mercy, forgiveness, and great rewards in this life and the next.
All!h has sent down the best statement: a consistent Book wherein is reiteration. The skins shiver therefrom of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and their hearts relax at the remembrance of All!h. That is the guidance of All!h by which He guides whom He wills. And one whom All!h leaves astray - for him there is no guide. (AlZumar, 39:23) Those who do not engage in dhikr are classified as being hard-hearted losers who are clearly in error and in the group of Satan. As such, they will be made to live a tight and
narrow life full of misery and woe; punished in this life, they will also be risen blind in the next. They will be remorseful of all the time not spent in the remembrance of All!h.
And whoever turns away from My remembrance, indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind. (*!ha, 20:124) This will be one of the fastest weekends of your life because we have so many varieties of topics which we will be covering during this course. Dhikr and du! both deserve their own courses. These topics are related to us as Muslims, a community, and a family. We do this every day and every night. In these two topics there are many fiqh and aq#dah issues which need to be learned and etiquettes and manners which need to be followed. There is a lot of spirituality attached to these topics. Nothing can melt a solid heart except dhikr of All!h, and nothing can bring you closer to All!h like du!. Ali b. Abi #!lib (ra+yAll!hu anhu) was asked, How far is All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la)? He said, As far as when you make du! and instantly All!h answers it. Du! and dhikr connect you with All!h. When All!h wants to communicate with us, He sends down to us books and messengers to deliver His Words to us, but when we want to talk to Him, all we need to do is pray and call upon Him. His Orders and Words come down to us as revelation, and our words, requests, and needs go up in the form of du! and supplications. It is like two sides of a coin: one side is du! and dhikr and one side is Qur$!n. To make du! and dhikr the other side of the coin is the most honorable position because you are so close to All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la). In S&ratl-Baqarah, All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said, If My servant asks you about Me, I am so close to them I will answer their calls. This closeness in relationship is amazing and makes you different. Sometimes when you are so into du! and dhikr, you feel so close to All!h and so strong and pure. Story of a Businessman Shaykh Waleed saw an interview with an Emerati businessman. They asked him, You have so much experience in life, can you tell us something that had a great impact on your life? He said, One day around a$r time, I left my house and was walking in the street and went to the masjid. I saw a Yemeni guy who was making du! inside the masjid. The prayer had already finished and he was alone. I felt so jealous of the way he was making du! because I never in my life felt so into my du! like this man. [Sometimes when you make du! and pray to All!h, at certain moments you feel so close to Him and at other times we feel distant and dont feel a connection to All!h.] I could hear his voice mixed with tears and kept quiet until he finished. When he was done, I approached him and asked if I could help him. He said, I am in trouble. My wife
is scheduled for surgery, but she will not be able to have it until she pays the fee. I asked how much it was, and when he told me, I said I would take care of it. I gave him the money. The moment he received the money, he immediately made suj&d. He didnt even thank me but went immediately into suj&d to thank All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) first. After that, he said thank you to me and made du! for me. I thought that he was an honest man and asked him if he needed any more money, and he said no. I wrote my cell phone number on my business card and gave it to him and told him to feel free to call me if he needed any help in the future. He smiled and gave it back to me and said, Thank you, sir. I know Who to call to help me in the future. I will call Who sent you to me. Lesson: From this, you see how much du! can honor and elevate you. It makes you a person who really feels like he/she is connected with All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la). The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, There is nothing more honoring than du!. Du! honors you. It teaches you that you dont ask anyone except All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la). We will learn how the Muslim jurists discuss whether or not it is permissible to ask someone to make du! for you. Shaykh Waleed only started hearing people ask him to make du! for them once he came to America. Someone asked Umar to pray for him, and he said, Why? Do you think Im a prophet? You pray for yourself. Unfortunately, sometimes du! becomes something not valuable in our lives. Some people ask others to pray for them and dont really mean it. Many times people are not into their du!, and they do not value it. The % a "! bah vs. Us The following example shows how we value dhikr and du! and how the $a"!bah valued dhikr and du!: Abdull!h b. Amr b. al-%& and Abdull!h b. Mas'd were sitting together. Abdull!h b. Mas'd said, If I say in the morning, sub"!nAll!h wal"amdulill!h wa la il!ha illa All!h wa All!hu akbar in the morning, it is more beloved to me than spending four pieces of gold for the sake of All!h. Abdull!h b. Amr b. al-%& said, If I say in the morning sub"!nAll!h wal"amdulill!h wa la il!ha illa All!h wa All!hu akbar it will be more beloved to me than donating four horses to someone going for jih!d fisabilill!h. The point is not to belittle the $adaqah but the point is to honor dhikr and understand the value of it. Ibn Rajab commented, The majority of the early Muslim generations agreed that dhikr of All!h is more valuable in the Eyes of All!h than anything else. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) ordered us to establish $al!h and said that dhikr of All!h is even greater than that. Ulem! said that the purpose of all ib!dah is to cause you to make dhikr. %iy!m, ,ajj, $al!h, zak!h are all about dhikr of All!h.
This course will help you to change your perspective towards dhikr and du!. After this course, insh!All!h you wont make dhikr which you dont understand. If you understand the A, B, Cs of du! and the basic concepts of it, you will never make du! in a language that you do not understand. Du! and dhikr are about the connection to All!h. If you dont understand what you are saying, then there is no connection. You should not be making dhikr and du! in a language that you dont understand. Insh!All!h this course will make us commit to dhikr. Shaykh Waleed will ask you in the exam whether or not you said dhikr today, and if you answer that you did not, then you will lose points. We will discuss the virtues of dhikr and du!. We will also discuss: what benefits come from du!? Why are people not committed to dhikr and du!? Why do people slack? A persons religiosity is shown by how committed he is to dhikr. Shaykh Waleed said they used to memorize the book al-Kal#mah *ayyib by Ibn Taymiyyah in the same way they memorized the Qur$!n. The $a"!bah in several a"ad#th narrated that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) would teach the some adhk!r in the same way he taught them the Qur$!n, and they used to memorize it the same way. They memorized the dhikr in the tashahhud in the same way they memorized the Qur$!n. Unfortunately today we have a generation of Muslim activist leaders in MSAs and in the dawah field who run organizations who dont make dhikr in the morning and evening (or barely do). When the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) would leave his house, he would first look up to the sky. Then he would say,
All!humma inni a&dhu bika an a+illa aw u+alla aw azilla aw uzalla ow a+lima aw u+lama aw ajala aw yujhala alayy (Ya All!h, I ask you to protect me from being misled or to mislead anyone. O All!h protect me from transgressing against anyone or for anyone to transgress against me). Many times we think about du! in a limited form, but it is very wide. Imagine if you said this du! every time you left the house and what kind of life you would have. You would be committed to not doing anything wrong or evil or ignorant or an act of injustice to anyone and in return, All!h protects you from having any of these things happening to you. When we look at the programs we teach in schools and to our children, unfortunately adhk!r does not take priority. Dont underestimate du! and the power of it!
Stories on Du ! A convert woman said, What I miss most about my Christianity is du!. When I was Christian, prayer meant so much to my family and me. Before we ate, we would hold hands and pray. When I was young, every day before I went to bed, my father would kneel with me in front of the bed and we would pray together. I always prayed to God and that is one of the reasons I became Muslim. I dont see this concept of du! in my Muslim sisters and mothers. We dont value du! and prayer. An Egyptian brother lives in Mad(nah, and m!sh!All!h he made ,ajj at least 30 times. Every year he was either invited or somehow things happened and he went for ,ajj. What is his secret? He said, Thirty years ago during my first ,ajj, I was in a bus and had a group of "ujj!j with me and men were in the front and women in the back. There was an elderly Egyptian lady who could barely walk. She was sweating and having a difficult time. I felt so sad for her. I left my spot in the first chair and said to her to please sit down. She said, Son, may All!h never prevent you from coming to ,ajj. Since she said that, I was never prevented from ,ajj. Ali b. Abi #!lib said, All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) sometimes hides the deeds that He loves the most and accepts the most in people you would not expect. Dont ever undervalue or underestimate the power of du!. Abdull!h b. Amr b. al-%& used to teach his kids a&dhu bikalim!till!hitt!mm!ti min sharri ma khalaq before they went to sleep and made sure they memorized it to the extent that he wrote it on a piece of paper and left it next to their bed for them to read it. This is how much he cared that his kids made this dhikr before sleeping. Note: Many people misuse this narration to show the permissibility of tawilah. However, if you read the narration, you will see that it is very clear that he left the paper next to their bed for them to read it because they hadnt memorized it yet. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to make this du! over his grandsons )asan and )usayn even when he was traveling he would never miss it. They held onto it they dont quit like us. They didnt even miss it during the most difficult moments. Ali b. Abi #!lib was taught dhikr by the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and he said since he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) taught him, he never missed it. One of his companions said, Not even on Na"raw!n? Na"raw!n was one of the toughest battles he ever had. He said, Not even that night. He valued it. The adh!n is dhikr. How many of us value the dhikr? Shaykh Bin B!z said that those people who do not repeat after the muadhdhin are losers and lost a great amount of reward. Those who repeat after the muadhdhin and recite du! after will receive the intercession of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) on the Day of Judgment.
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The role of dhikr and du! in our lives must be revived. Whenever you have an event, you make so many preparations, and sometimes we forget about the One who controls the hearts of the people. Are we sincerely begging All!h to give us barakah in our work and efforts? Does du! truly play a major role in our lives? Every single human being is in need of All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la).
All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said in S&rah F!'ir v. 15, O mankind, you are all fuqar! (in need) to All!h. A faq#r is someone in need. A man came to Fu*ayl b. Iy!* and said he wanted to give him money, and Fu*ayl said he only took from the rich, and the man said that he is rich and far from being faq#r and had 8,000 d#n!rs. Fu*ayl said, Would you like to make it 10,000? He said, Of course. Fu*ayl said, Then you are faq#r. The greatest "ad#th ever was reported by the people of al-Sh!m, and the narrator would kneel down when reporting this "ad#th. Every single narrator of this "ad#th from the companions to the end was from Syria. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said, O My servants, all of you are misguided except those whom I guide. All of you are hungry except those I provide food for. All of you are naked except those whom I proved clothing for. Ask for food, I will provide for you. Ask for clothes, I will provide for you. O My servants, you commit sins day and night. Ask My forgiveness and I will provide it. (Muslim) Commentary: Ibn Rajab commented: This "ad#th shows that you need All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) in this worldly life. This is why He mentioned shelter, food, clothing, and guidance. Then All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) mentioned that you need Him also to forgive your sins because without this, you cannot survive the !khirah. We are in need of All!h in this life and in the next. This "ad#th shows we are in need of All!h at all times. All!h says in the Qur!n, O mankind, you are in great need of All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la). All!h loves us more than we love our children. Mutarrif b. Abdull!h b. al-Shikh(r said, I looked at all the good deeds and I found it all in the Hands of All!h and He gives it to whomever he wishes. For example: All!h opened a brothers heart to always give $adaqah, All!h opened the heart of a sister to memorize the Qur!n, All!h helped a sister to make qiy!ml-layl. Mutarrif said, When I think about this, I know that all of this is in the Hands of All!h. If I want to have access to what All!h has in His Hands, I have only one way to do it: du!. At that moment, I realized the value of du!. We Are Always in Need of All ! h Du! is one of the greatest acts of worship. You are always in need of All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la). We need All!h in the times of ease and hardship. A man came to Abul-Dard!, a great companion known as the wisest companion and a judge of al-Sh!m and great scholar of
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the Qur$!n, and asked for an advice. Abul-Dard! said to him, Always mention All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) and remember Him in a time of ease and I guarantee you He will be with you in a time of calamity. Make du! on a day when you are in ease so that He will listen to your du! on a day when you are in distress. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said, He was among the mu$abbih#n This is about Y'nus. A mufasir said that he used to make tasb#" before he was swallowed by the whale, which is why when he started making tasb#" from inside the belly of the whale, the angels were familiar with the sound and words but not the location. The ulem! said he used to do the dhikr before he was in the situation. He was among those who mentioned All!h all the time and All!h saved him at the time of calamity. Dont be like the mushrik#n. All!h mentioned them and said they only pray to All!h in a time of calamity. When All!h gives them, they say they dont need. When he is in distress or calamity, he prays to All!h.
And when adversity touches man, he calls upon Us; then when We bestow on him a favor from Us, he says, I have only been given it because of [my] knowledge. Rather, it is a trial, but most of them do not know. (S&ratl-Zumar, 39:49)
And when We bestow favor upon man, he turns away and distances himself; but when evil touches him, then he is full of extensive supplication. (S&rah Fu$$ilat, 41:51)
It is He who enables you to travel on land and sea until, when you are in ships and they sail with them by a good wind and they rejoice therein, there comes a storm wind and the waves come upon them from everywhere and they assume that they are surrounded, supplicating All!h, sincere to Him in religion, If You should save us from this, we will surely be among the thankful. (S&rah Y'nus, 10:22) All!h describes the kuf!r as only praying in a time of hardship and forgetting All!h during times of ease.
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Dont only pray to All!h at the time of exams. What about the rest of the year? In the Musnad of Im!m A"mad, it is narrated in an authentic "ad#th: Know All!h in the times of ease and All!h will know you in the time of hardship and calamity.
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A c t i v i t y | How connected are you with All ! h?

If you answer NO to any of the following questions, darken the appropriate space in the heart below. 1. Do you have !yatl-kursi memorized? 2. Do you say at least three of the morning and evening adhk!r regularly seven days a week? 3. Do you have any of the Prophets ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) general du! s memorized? 4. Do you know the du! that should be said when you put on new clothing? 5. Do you say bismill!h before eating and al"amdulill!h after eating? 6. Do you regularly say the adhk!r right before sleeping and the adhk!r after waking up? 7. Do you have the du! s for entering and exiting the masjid memorized? 8. Do you know the du! that is recited at the end of wu+&? 9. Do you know more than one of the opening du! s that are recited in the beginning of $al! h ? 10. Do you enjoy making du! during your prayers? 11. Do you feel calm and peaceful when making du! to All!h? 12. Aside from your parents, do you regularly make du! for specific individuals during your $al! h ? 13. Have you prayed for the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) ten times daily during this past week? 14. Did you read S&ratl-Kahf this Friday? 15. Did you sit in your spot after fajr making dhikr and du! until the sun rose for at least one day this past week?
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The dark spots are because of lack of knowledge or the lack of will. You know, but you do not practice. The more dark spots there are in your heart, the more you are prevented from being connected to All!h. The more you make du! and dhikr and are connected to All!h, the more you are ready to receive and connect. Any scholar who is well respected in the area of knowledge must be someone who cares about dhikr. Ibn al-Qayyim said, Whenever my teacher Ibn Taymiyyah prayed fajr, he stayed in the masjid until almost midday every day. I asked him, You take so much time to make dhikr. He said, This is my food and without it, I dont have energy to do anything. Ibn +Abb!s (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said, Whenever I have a problem understanding a verse in the Qur$!n, I would make du! to All!h and dhikr until All!h opened my mind to understand it. The more you are connected to All!h, the more dhikr you do and the more your heart is open to receive from All!h. The more your heart has layers of darkness around it, the more you are prevented from receiving the guidance from All!h.
And whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind. He will say, My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing? [All!h] will say, Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you this Day be forgotten. (S&rah *!ha, 124-126) All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said he will say, Ya Rabb, why did you resurrect me blind? I have sent to you My message and you forgot. The word nisy!n (forgot) does not have the normal meaning. You forget things unintentionally or intentionally. Here, it means they forgot it intentionally and turned their backs on it. All!h said, We forgot about you. All!h never forgets in the sense that He doesnt remember. All!h intentionally dismissed the disbeliever in Jahannam. All!h says that His message and dhikr came to those people, but they intentionally rejected it and intentionally put it behind their backs, so their life is in sorrow. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) describes the life of the believers: The example of those to whom All!h gave dhikr is someone who has light and a reason to be alive.
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So is one whose breast All!h has expanded to [accept] Islam and he is upon a light from his Lord [like one whose heart rejects it]? Then woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of All!h. Those are in manifest error. (S&ratlZumar, 22) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The example of those who remember All!h and those who dont is like the example of those who are alive and those who are dead. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said, Those who have believed and whose heart are assuredby the remembrance of All!h hearts are assured.
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Chapter 1 | The Concept of Dhikr & Du ! in Islam

The Significance and the Benefits of Dhikr and Du ! in the Life of the Muslim
The connection between All!h and us is two-way: from All!h to us is the Qur!n, and from us to All!h are the dhikr and the du!. If one side is missing, then the entire connection falls apart.
Say, My Lord enjoins justice. In every place of worship, set your faces (and attention) towards Him. Invoke Him with sincerity and devotion, by making faith His exclusive domain. You would return to life just like He created you (the first time). (Al-Ar!f, 7:29)
And when My servants ask you concerning Me, [tell them] I am indeed near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls. (Al-Baqarah, 2:186) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, There is nothing more dear to All!h than a servant making du! to him. (Tirmidhi) When you make du! to All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la), you are showing your true nature. There is a nice statement: The more you show your nature to All!h, the more All!h shows you His nature. Our nature is that we are weak and need All!h and cannot survive without Him. The more you show your servitude to All!h, the more All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) shows you His nature, which is His Forgiveness, Mercy, Acceptance, Giving. The more you show All!h you are in need of Him, the more He gives you. The more you show your weakness and His greatness, the more your du! will be heard. Sometimes ulem! would intentionally wear clothes that were not fancy and make du! because of the situation: it doesnt fit to wear fancy clothes. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said you are not supposed to be overdressing. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) saw a man in the cemetery and said, O man who is wearing fancy shoes, take them off! The cemetery is not a place show off and to dress in fancy clothes and be overdressed.
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Show All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) your needs and weakness. O All!h, I admit that I have done so much wrong to myself, and if You do not forgive me, I will be the greatest loser. Expect nothing but All!h showing you His nature of Forgiveness and Acceptance. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Du! is the essence of ib!dah (worship). (Tirmidhi, A"mad) Nothing is more honorable to All!h. The highest position the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) ever reached was during the incident of isr! wal-mir!j. At that point, All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said, Sub"!nalladhi asra bi abdih#l-layla. He (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) used the title of abd for the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) when he was in the highest place. Anytime you run away from being a slave to All!h, you are a slave to Shay'!n or something else.
Is He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him and removes evil and makes you inheritors of the earth? Is there a deity with All!h? Little do you remember. (Al-Naml, 27:62)
They arise from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend. And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do. (Al-Sajdah, 32:16-17) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) once asked his companions: Shall I tell you about the best of all deeds, the best act of piety in the eyes of your Lord, which will elevate your status in the Hereafter, and carries more virtue than the spending of gold and silver in the service of All!h or taking part in jih!d and slaying or being slain in the path of All!h? The dhikr of All!h. (A"mad)
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The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The mufarrid&n will be ahead of everyone else on the Day of Judgment. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, They are the males and females who remember All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) a lot. (Muslim) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was traveling with his companions and they were coming down a hill. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) then said this statement. What does sabaqa mufarrid&n mean? They are ahead of everyone on the Day of Judgment. What does this mean? They will finish their judgment quickly. They are the first to approach the pool of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and drink from it. They are the first to cross the $ir!'. These people move quickly. They are ahead of everyone else. They have only green lights. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said these people remember All!h so much. This is just one example of dhikr of All!h. Ibn al-Qayyim wrote a book al-W!bil al-%ayyib min al-Kamil al-*ayyib (The Invocation of God). He said there are 100 virtues for dhikr, but he did not come up with 100. He was only able to come up with 73 points. Note: In the old days, the first thing scholars wrote was an introduction. In modern days, an introduction is written after writing the book. The people of dhikr come ahead of everyone else. O you who believe, mention All!h as much as you can. S&ratl-A"z!b v. 35: Those who remember All!h much, males and females, All!h has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward.
Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember All!h often and the women who do so - for them All!h has prepared forgiveness and a great reward. (Al-A"z!b, 33:35)
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Dhikr works both ways: it raises your status in Jannah and wipes out your sins. This is why the people of dhikr are ahead of everyone else: most sins are wiped away. This is why they will be very fast and light on the Day of Judgment. %ishah (ra+yAll!hu anha) said, There is not a short period of time that passes by without making dhikr except that on the Day of Judgment you will regret it. The lucky one is the one who comes on the Day of Judgment and finds a lot of astaghfirull!h in his record. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The people of Paradise will not regret except one thing alone: the hour that passed them by and in which they made no remembrance of All!h. (Bay"aqi in Shuabl-#m!n)
Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of All!h. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of All!h hearts are assured. (Al-Rad, 13:28) A man came to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and said, O Ras&lull!h, the laws and conditions of Islam have become too many for me. Tell me something that I can always keep. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Keep your tongue always moist with dhikrull ! h . (Tirmidhi)
And if an evil whisper comes to you from Shay'!n (Satan), then seek refuge with All!h. Verily, He is All-Hearer, All-Knower. (Al-Ar!f, 7:200) The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Do not make your houses like graves, for the Shay'!n runs away from a house in which S&ratl-Baqarah is recited. (Muslim)
And when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of All!h, and remember All!h often that you may succeed. (Al-Jumuah, 62:10)
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How does the Qur $! n order us to make dhikr ? The Qur$!n speaks about the importance of dhikr in ten different ways. Each category has several examples. 1) The Qur$!n orders us to make dhikr. This order is in specific times and general times. O you who believe, make dhikr of All!h a lot and make tasb#" in the morning and the night. O you who have believed, remember All!h with much remembrance. (Al-A"z!b, 33:41) 2) The Qur$!n forbade us from forgetting about dhikr of All!h and from being among the heedless.
And remember your Lord within yourself in humility and in fear without being apparent in speech - in the mornings and the evenings. And do not be among the heedless. (Al-Ar!f, 7:205) Dont be among the heedless. Dont be like those who forgot about All!h so All!h made them forget about themselves. They forget about what truly benefits them and only focuses on things, which do not benefit them. When some people dont remember All!h, they are so busy in dunya that they dont focus on what will benefit them the most. They focus on that which is not beneficial or that which has a temporary benefit. Some Muslim brothers and sisters dont know how to pray and dont memorize anything from the Qur$!n. They forgot about what will truly benefit them. 3) The Qur$!n stated that in order for you to achieve true success, you need dhikr of All!h.
O you who have believed, when [the adh!n] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumuah [Friday], then proceed to the remembrance of All!h and leave trade. That is better for you, if you only knew. (Al-Jumuah, 62:9)
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4) All!h praised the people who made dhikr.
Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember All!h often and the women who do so - for them All!h has prepared forgiveness and a great reward. (Al-A"z!b, 33:35) All!h describes the Muslims and believers male and female. 5) All!h said those who dont make dhikr are among the losers. Losing happens because of the lack of dhikr of All!h.
O you who believe, dont let your children and wealth make you forget the dhikr of All!h. (Al-Mun!fiq&n 63:9) Dont go to an extreme and forget your family. Sometimes we work and work for our family. We are making a living but forget to make a life. 6) All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said that He remembers those who remember Him and mentions those who mention Him.
So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me. (Al-Baqarah, 2:152)
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7) Dhikr of All!h is the greatest thing.
Recite, [O Mu"ammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of All!h is greater. And All!h knows that which you do. (Al-Ankab&t, 29:45). All!h mentions dhikr after mentioning $al!h. 8) In many verses when All!h mentions good deeds, He then mentions dhikr. All!h ended by ordering us to make dhikr. S&ratl-Baqarah.
And when you have completed the prayer, remember All!h standing, sitting, or [lying] on your sides. But when you become secure, re-establish [regular] prayer. Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times. (Al-Nis!, 4:103) 9) The ones who make dhikr will benefit the most from the signs of All!h.
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding. Who remember All!h while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the
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heavens and the earth, [saying], Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire. ()le-Imr!n, 3:190-191) In the creation of All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la), there are great lessons to be learned for those who remember All!h while they are standing, sitting, or laying down. There is a difference when you see kids who see something great and some say, M!sh!All!h, al"amdulill!h and others who say, Wow. The one who says dhikr really benefits when he sees the creation of All!h. 10) In the Qur$!n, when you look at the good deeds All!h spoke about in the Qur$!n, He connected them to dhikr. Good deeds are mentioned in a way that dhikr is the soul for the good deeds. In S&rah *! Ha, All!h said, Make the $al!h so you can make dhikr.
Indeed, I am All!h. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance. (*! Ha, 20:14) ,ajj is ordained so that All!h will be mentioned and honored. The concept of mas!jid and adh!n is for All!h to be mentioned and remembered. ! What are some benefits of constantly making dhikr and du!? - Prevents you from sinning Feel contentment Remembering All!h during the time of ease means All!h will be with you in the time of hardship or calamity. (Story of the Prophet Y'nus) Empower you. Dhikr makes you so strong. Im!m al-)asan al-Ba&ri (ra"imahull!h) was called by al-)ajj!j, who would execute people who corrected him in the $al!h. One day he was stuck and couldnt remember the verse, so he quoted the verse, Give it to me. Then he said, Is there not among you anyone who is smart? No one dared to say anything. Al-)ajj!j said, You talk about al-)asan al-Ba&ri? Ill show you what I will do to him. He ordered his soldier to bring something made of leather on which they cut off the heads of people. Al-)asan was called into the gathering and was making dhikr of All!h. When al- )ajj!j saw him, he said, Ya Aba Sa(d, please come next to me! The ministers and those around him were so surprised. He said, I saw him like a lion and myself like a cat. The people who make dhikr are on a completely different level and very strong. Dhikr of All!h gives you strength in your heart.
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An Egyptian M!liki scholar during the time of A"mad b. Tuloon in Egypt was put in a place for lions to attack him. The lions did not touch him. He started to pray, and while he was in $al!h, the lion came and sniffed him and sat next to him like a dog. A"mad b. Tuloon said this person must be a saint or righteous person and honored him. When he came back to his class, his students asked him what he was thinking when the lion came close to him, and he said, I wondered when the saliva was near me whether or not the saliva was najas and would invalidate the $al!h. Dhikr gives you strength. When dhikr comes to your heart, it takes the fear out. Anytime you make dhikr of All!h, you feel your heart is in serenity and have tranquility. All!h ordered the muh!jir#n to make dhikr of All!h so that the fear of the enemy is taken away. Dhikr gives you a sense of humility. Arrogant people will not make du!. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said, those who are arrogant to submit themselves to Me and to worship Me will enter Hellfire. Dhikr is a reason for provision to be increased. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said, Seek provision from All!h and worship Him. Ibn Taymiyyah said, When you seek provision from All!h, you are abd to Him. When you seek provision from other than All!h, then you are a slave to whom you are seeking provision from. S&ratl-Jumuah: All!h orders us to go and seek provision from His bounties and make dhikr.
And when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of All!h, and remember All!h often that you may succeed. (AlJumuah, 62:10) Protection from Shay'!n. Ibn al-Qayyim said that if this is the only virtue, then this is enough. Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) would always make dhikr, and the Shay'!n would always run away from him. Shay'!n fears those who make dhikr. Protection from jinn. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, When you take off your clothes, say bismill!h and the jinn can no longer see your awrah. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) asked All!h to protect him from the evil eyes of the humans and the jinn. Then All!h revealed S&ratl-Falaq and S&ratlN!s and he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used these to seek protection. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Since I received these verses, I did not pray from anything for the protection from evil eye and jinn except from these two s&rahs.
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Story from Shaykh Waleed A friend of mine was possessed, and we were reading on him. The jinn that was bothering him left his body. I was walking with him on one side and on his other side was a famous student of knowledge who is well known. I heard the cracking of a whip and my friend jumped about five feet and fell on his face. I went to him right away and uncovered his back. I could see the fresh mark on his back and the blood. We tried to calm him down. The jinn had hit him. I asked the jinn, Did you hit him? He said, Yes. I said, Why? He said, Because I was so angry I was forced to leave him. I asked, So why didnt you hit me or my friend (the student of knowledge)? He said, I would love to, but there is between and both of you a wall that I cannot go through. I said, Why? He said, Because of what you said that day. I said, What did I say? He said, Bismill!hilladhi la ya+urru maa ismihi shayun fil-ar+i wa la fisam!i wa huwa AlSam# Al-Al#m. I cannot even touch you. Dhikr of All!h is a real protection against so many evil things around you. One of the best benefits of dhikr of All!h is that it protects you from the Shay'!n. Ibn +Abb!s narrated: The Shay'!n is in you, and anytime you are unaware and dont think of All!h, he whispers to you. When you make dhikr, the Shay'!n wont bother you. If theres nothing else from dhikr of All!h except protection from Shay'!n, that is enough. Dhikr causes forgiveness of sins. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that if you say sub"!nAll!h wa bi"amdih, your sins will be forgiven even if it is as much as the foam in the sea. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Is it too hard for you to make 2,500 "asan!t every day? After each $al!h, say sub"!nAll!h 10 times, al"amdulill!h 10 times, and All!hu akbar 10 times. This is 30 by your tongue, 300 in your miz!n. If you do this five times a day, it is 150 by your tongue and 1,500 as reward. When you sleep, say sub"!nAll!h 33 times, al"amdulill!h 33 times, and All!hu akbar 34 times, then that is 100 by the tongue and 1,000 rewards. And who among you commits 2,500 sins a day? These 2,500 rewards will take care of that many sins you committed that day. It is one of the best ways to purify you from your sins. It makes your heart happy and strong. Great reward comes from it. Sub"!nAll!h wa bi"amdih will plant a tree for you in Jannah. All!h makes dhikr of those who make dhikr. The angels make dhikr for them. It softens the heart. It is a reason for the blessings of All!h to continue coming to you.
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It can replace certain good actions that you cannot do. For example, if a new Muslim said he hasnt memorized S&ratl-F!ti"ah, he should say any form of dhikr and it will replace it. One of the best gatherings is when we gather around dhikr of All!h. Dhikr makes you physically strong and physically active and full of energy. F!,imah (ra+yAll!hu anha) came to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and said she gets so tired from taking care of the children and cleaning the house and carrying things to the farm. She did things inside and outside of the house. [Note: It was very common at that time for a household to have a servant or slave, but F!,imah didnt have one.] She said, Ya Ras&lull!h, I heard that last night you received a lot of wealth (i.e. from zak!h). Would you get me a servant or someone who will work at home? He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was so careful with the public money and would never touch it for a personal reason. This is a lesson for anyone in charge of community money or $adaqah. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) refused. He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, I will give you something better than a servant. When you go to bed, say sub"!nAll!h 33 times, al"amdulill!h 33 times, and All!hu akbar 34 times. F!,imah said she started doing this and never needed help in the household anymore. From this, Im!m ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in his book that this is one of the proofs that dhikr brings strength to the body and makes you active. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, When you go to sleep, the Shay'!n puts 3 knots on your neck. When you wake up and mention All!h and start your day with dhikr, one of the knots will be released In the "ad#th, the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said the Shay'!n makes you lazy and irritated and in a bad mood when you wake up, and if you make dhikr, this influence of the Shay'!n will be removed and you will be made active and energized.
Dhikr results in plants in Paradise. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) met Ibr!h(m in the incident of isr! walmir!j, and he told him, Tell your nation al-sal!mu alaykum. Tell them that Paradise is so pure and so good. Its land is so pure and good. [In another narration, its land smells of musk.] The plants of Jannah are sub"!nAll!h, wal"amdulill!h, wa la il!ha illa All!h wAll!hu akbar. This means that every time you say this, a tree is planted in Jannah. What does this mean to you? What does it mean that if you do certain actions a palace will be built for you in Paradise? It assures you that you will live there and that there is something there to claim. You are securing a place for you in Jannah.
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It shows your status in Jannah. The more plants and more palaces, the bigger the place you have in Jannah. The more that you have, the better place you will secure in Jannah. Nothing will limit All!hs Fa+l and giving and reward.
Dhikr gives you light. In S&ratl-An!m v. 122, All!h says, The example of those is that All!h gives them light.
And is one who was dead and We gave him life and made for him light by which to walk among the people like one who is in darkness, never to emerge therefrom? Thus it has been made pleasing to the disbelievers that which they were doing. (Al-An!m, 6:122) This light is the Qur!n, and the Qur!n is the best form of dhikr. In %a"#" Muslim: Ibn +Abb!s said he heard the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) in the night prayer making du! while saying, O All!h put light in my heart, put light in my eyes, put light in my ears, put light on my right side and left side and in front of me and behind me. Make the light so great and bright. What does this mean? You see things the way it is and hear things the way it is. Light is a tool of guidance. It helps you to understand and comprehend and act. All!h makes dhikr of you and the angels make dhikr of you when you make dhikr. It prevents you from sins. When people are sinning, they do it while they are heedless and not remembering All!h. When you remember All!h, you are likely to abstain from sins. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) says in the Qur$!n: When people commit sin or make indecent acts, they remember All!h. This leads them to making istighf!r. One brother was a heavy smoker, and he said that he wanted to quit. He asked Shaykh Waleed for advice on how to quit. Shaykh Waleed told him that one of the best ways to quit smoking is dhikr of All!h, so every time he had the urge, make dhikr. He started this and quit smoking. Dhikr prevents you from sinning and helps you to stop. A man came to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and said, Ya Ras&lull!h, give me a reminder that I can hold onto until the end of my life. He ($allall!hu
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alayhi wa sallam) said, Keep your tongue moist with the dhikr of All!h. We can learn from this "ad#th that dhikr of All!h has to be through pronunciation and not just through imagination and thoughts. Dhikr involves the movement of the tongue. This "ad#th is used as one of the evidences to prove this. Dhikr is by the tongue and not by the heart. Dhikr connects you with All!h all the time. There is a dhikr to say when you leave the house, when you see something good, when you see something bad. When something good happens to you, you say, Al"amdulill!hlladhi bi nimatihi tatimmu al-$!li"!t (Al"amdulill!h to the One who with His Bounties all good things happen). When something bad happens to you, you say, Al"amdulill!h ala kulli "!l. In every situation, there is a dhikr to say. Adhk!r occupies your entire day. When it is raining or there is thunder, there is something to say. When these things are happening around you, there is something to say to connect you with All!h. The one who remembers All!h will be in His presence all the time. You will reach the level of i"s!n (worshipping All!h as if you see Him), which is the highest level. When you see someone, you are always talking about him. If someone is absent, you dont remember him. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said the people of dhikr are ahead of everyone else on the Day of Judgment. ! What are the top 5 reasons people miss/neglect their adhk!r? - Lack of knowledge. Dont know the benefits. - Laziness - Distractions - Not a priority - Because they started neglecting their adhk!r, they do not have the habit. You dont have a support community. This could be family members or the community at large. When you are around people who dont care about adhk!r, you will not care about adhk!r. When children see the parents praying and making dhikr, they will do the same. When there are more people praying and making dhikr after $al!h, you are more likely to make the dhikr. When you are around friends and people and educators and role models, you will commit to it. Unfortunately so many of us are around people who dont help us make dhikr.
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When was the last time your friend asked you, How is your wird of the Qur$!n? (Wird is an amount of verses you read every day). Or Did you read your morning dhikr today? There are very few. The companions had a relationship of true brotherhood and they cared about each other in religion. Ignorance People dont know what to say. People are busy and dont have time for it. People think that adhk!r takes so much time. It takes less than two minutes to say sub"!nAll!hi wa bi"amdihi 100 times. Ibn Taymiyyah said, It will wipe your sins, but it depends how perfect your adhk!r is and how strong your belief in it is, and it is impossible to do it every time. We reach the complete effect by repeating it multiple times (i.e. say it 100 times in the morning and 100 times in the evening). Sometimes are sin are so severe and need multiple washing. Some people overdo and think the only way to do it is to put so much emphasis on it. Dont overdo it. Dont this makes people turn away from dhikr. People dont know the reward for dhikr. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) came to the companions and said, Is it hard for one of you to read 1/3rd of the Qur$!n in one night? Read qul huwAll!hu ahad. It is equivalent to reading 1/3rd of the Qur$!n. People dont know the meaning. If you dont know the dhikr in Arabic, then say it in English. The point is to know what you are saying and not to say words you do not understand. Knowing the meaning will help you a lot. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) taught us: O All!h, I ask you al-afuww and al-!fiyah. What is the difference between al-afuww and al-!fiyah? Both words are from the same root. Al-afuww means something is eliminated. When someone walks in the desert and leaves footprints which the wind removes, this is afuww. The ulem! said that you are asking All!h two things with this du!: for something to not exist all kinds of evil, related to our sins and mistakes, or harmful things related to religion or worldly life (i.e. health issues, problems in your life, problems with your family). Al-afuww is for whatever happened in the past, and al-!fiyah is for whatever will happen in the future. We ask All!h to remove any sin we committed, anything bad we did, anything that is harming us and to protect us in the future so that it will not happen again. We dont really know what a lot of the du!s we say mean. We also dont know the benefit of it.
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Procrastination They procrastinate and then forget about it later on. We miss dhikr because we are involved in sins. If we are involved in "ar!m, then we wont remember to say the adhk!r.
Response to those who dont make du! because they feel like they commit too many sins: Sufy!n b. Uyaynah said, All!h accepted the du! of Ibl(s, so He will most likely accept your du!. ! What are the top 5 tips that would help keep us consistent in our adhk!r? - Have CD in the car or reminder on the phone - Have a dhikr buddy - Make a schedule. Fit your adhk!r into a schedule. For example: to/from work, coming early to ish! by 10 minutes to make your dhikr. - Many people only know one dhikr even though the Sunnah is filled with many. For example, when you make ruk&, from the Sunnah you can say sub"!na rabbi Al-A-#m or sub"!nall!humma rabbana wa bi"amdika all!hummaghfirli. This will make you excited it is something new. The more you know and memorize a variety of adhk!r, the more you will do it.
Abu Sa(d al-Khudri narrated that Mu!wiyah once came to the masjid and saw people gathering and asked, Why are you here? They said, We only came for dhikr of All!h. He said, By All!h, is this the only reason for you to gather here? They said, Yes. He asked them three times and then said, I am not asking you by All!h because I doubt you. I am asking because we were sitting in the masjid of All!h one day and he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) asked us this question three times and said he only asked us this because Jibr(l came to him and told him that All!h gathered the angels and told them, Look at My servants. They gathered together just to remember Me. I am so proud. (Muslim) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, No people will gather together remembering All!h and mentioning Him except that the angels will surround them and All!hs Mercy will descend around them, and tranquility will descend into their hearts and minds, and All!h will mention them to those in His presence. Review: Im!m ibn al-Qayyim said there are 100 or more benefits of dhikr and he mentioned them in his book al-W!bil al-%ayyib min al-Kamil al-*ayyib. Answer: False. He mentioned 73. The ulem! said that there is one benefit of dhikr that if it was the only one, then it is sufficient. Answer: protection from Shay'!n
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The Meanings of Dhikr and Du !

Linguistic Definition Dhikr originally comes from the word dha-ka-ra. Linguistically, dhikr means to remember something and to not forget it. It usually refers to something honorable. Dhikr and dhukr are the root of the word. Dhukr is related to remembering something and dhikr is mentioning something. Dhukr refers to an act of your mind or heart. Dhikr is an act of the tongue. It is the thing you think about when you dont pronounce it or do pronounce it. When you mention with your tongue, it is something already in your mind or heart. Dhikr is initiated by your mind or heart and followed by mentioning with your tongue. If you just think and dont mention, then this is contemplating about All!h. This is takaffur, which is an act of worship, but it is not dhikr. The pronunciation does not have to be out loud but can include the movement of the tongue. Dhikr is related to something you say intentionally because you are thinking about it. Dhikr usually refers to something honorable. This is why All!h calls the Qur!n dhikr. Meaning of Wird There is another word Arabs used to mention All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la): wird. Wird is something that you recite frequently. The Arabs used the word wird originally to refer to bringing cattle to the water to drink. This act of bringing them to the water is called wird. What is the connection between this meaning and dhikr? Without your daily adhk!r and daily recitation, what will happen to you is what will happen to the cattle if you dont provide water to them. In %a"#" Muslim: The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, You will burn yourself during the daytime until -uhr time comes and you come back pure and clean again. You will burn yourself until a$r comes and then you pray and refresh. Du ! comes from the word daaw which means to call out or to summon. Du! is an act of invocation and supplication. Arabs used this word to have things come towards you. For example, you say, O All!h, I want Jannah because you want it to come to you. Technical Definition Dhikr is to remember All!h by thinking about Him or mentioning His Names and Attributes or His rulings. Ulem! said this because dhikr of All!h is about one of three things: ! Remembering and mentioning All!h by His Names and Attributes. This can be done in two ways:
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1) Praising the Names and Attributes of All!h. Example: saying sub"!nall!h, al"amdulill!h, All!hu akbar. 2) Telling people about the meaning of His Names and Attributes. Think about the meaning of it and apply it to your daily life. This means that you think about All!hs Mercy and are merciful to people. You think about how All!h is Generous so you are generous to people. You make dhikr of All!h being Al-Mu"$in and try to do things perfectly. You remember the Attributes or Names of All!h and apply it to your daily life. ! Remembering the rulings and orders of All!h. (What He loves/hates and likes/dislikes, the "al!l and "ar!m). This can be done in two ways: Dhikr means the Islamic rulings. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said, If you dont know, ask the people of dhikr. The people of dhikr are the people of knowledge those who know the "al!l and "ar!m and what is right and what is wrong.
1) Telling people about it.
The scholars are called the people of dhikr because they remind people about what All!h loves and dislikes and what All!h wants us to do and does not want us to do. A great scholar once said, Maj!lisl-dhikr (the gathering of dhikr) is the place where people study the "al!l and "ar!m. We never come across a single time when the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) gathered the companions together to make dhikr. A great tabi# said, The gathering of dhikr (maj!lisl-dhikr) means the gatherings where people learn the "al!l and "ar!m. They learn what is permissible and what is not permissible. It is a gathering where the d#n of All!h is taught. Note: this is the meaning that only the Sunnis believe in. Innovators refuse to consider this as a meaning of dhikr. Abu Suwad al-Adawi, one of the successors, was sitting and teaching. A man in the gathering said in a loud voice, Lets make this a gathering of dhikr. Say, sub"!nAll!h. Abu Suwad was very angry and said, What do you think we are doing? We are gathering and teaching knowledge. If it's not a gathering of dhikr, then what is it? A way of making dhikr is to read a book or to teach knowledge.
2) Remembering the rulings yourself when they are needed. When you see what is
"ar!m, you remember what All!h said about it. Example: you remember what time -uhr starts. Applying the rule in itself is a form of dhikr. ! Remembering All!h during the time of calamities or when you see the uniqueness of His creation. This can be done in two ways:
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1) When you see the greatness of His creation and you mention All!h. This makes you thankful to All!h. 2) Remembering All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) in a time of calamity. This makes you a person of patience. The first thing that comes to your mind should be: al"amdulill!h ala kulli "!l. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that #m!n is made of $abr and shukr. If you have $abr and shukr, your #m!n is complete. What brings you $abr and shukr? Dhikr of All!h. Al-Du ! is to invoke All!h and to supplicate to Him by calling upon Him, or worshipping Him. Du! refers to the act of worship. It means you are staying away from the way of Shay'!n and coming towards All!h and leaning towards All!h. How do you call upon All!h? You can call upon All!h directly by saying Ya All!h, Ya Al-Ra"m!n. This is the most common meaning for du! for us. You also call upon All!h by worshipping Him. Du! al-masalah is when one is asking for fulfillment of need because he wants something to happen, something to be removed, something good, or something evil to be protected from, etc. This is the most straightforward meaning, which is very common to us. Du! al-ib!dah represents a very broad concept in Islam. Every single act of worship includes this type of du!. What is the relationship between du! and dhikr? Which is more general and which is more specific? When a technical definition has different meanings, we need to ask which meaning we are talking about. Du! as ib!dah is more general. In regards to du! al-masalah, dhikr is more general and du! is specific.
The Ruling of Dhikr and Du !

The Muslim jurists have different opinions on the ruling of dhikr and du!. ! First Opinion: Obligation (w!jib)
This is the position of the Sh!fiis and so many of the M!likis. Evidence:
And your Lord says, Call upon Me; I will respond to you. Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible. (Gh!fir, 40:60) How does this verse show that it is w!jib to make du!? It is a command; therefore, it is w!jib.
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Thumb Rule from us & ll-fiqh : Any command related to religious things means it is w!jib unless there is a proof it is recommended. Any command from All!h and His Messenger related to worldly things and a form of etiquette is recommended unless there is a proof it is w!jib. Example: The majority of the fuqah! said eating with the right hand is recommended because it has to do with etiquette. [Note: other ulem! said it is w!jib because there is another evidence in which the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) made du! against a person not eating with his right hand. However, he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did this because the man was arrogant and not because he was not eating with his right hand.]
And when My servants ask you concerning Me, [tell them] I am indeed near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls. (Al-Baqarah, 2:186)
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The person who does not ask from All!h, All!h becomes angry with him. (Tirmidhi, A"mad) How does this show that it is must to make du! and that it is a sin if you do not make du!? All!h is only angry at something which is "ar!m. Only a few Sh!fiis and M!likis said this was an evidence because this position cannot be standardized. To say du! is w!jib means that in every situation you have to make du! and are sinful if you do not do it, and no ulem! would say this. Some fuqah! did not agree with this opinion. ! Second Opinion: Recommended ( musta " ab ) The vast majority of scholars from the early and later Muslim generations and the official position of the four madh!hib and many scholars is that du! is just recommended. The proof for this is in Bukh!ri and Muslim: A woman came to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and said that she has seizures, and she asked the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) to pray for All!h to cure her. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that he can make du! for her or she can be patient and be guaranteed Jannah. He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) gave her the option, which shows that du! is recommended and not w!jib. If du! was w!jib, then the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) must make du! for her. The scholars mentioned so many other evidences. For example, some people said, Ya Ras&lull!h, we have high fever in our area. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, If you wish, I can pray to my Lord so that He removes it, or you can be
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patient with it and it will be purification. They said, If this is the case, then let it be purification for us. Ibn Taymiyyah said, No one would ever say about a specific du! or situation that du! is must unless this du! is part of an act of worship. All of the adhk!r are recommended and not w!jib. ! Third opinion: The default ruling is that it is recommended, but it could be an obligation, or recommended, or disliked, or forbidden, or permissible depending on the situation. Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, some M!liki and Sh!fii scholars, Ibn Hajar, and others held this opinion. W!jib: Al-F!ti"ah in $al!h is du!. Recommended: adhk!r of morning and night Disliked: when you are sleepy. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said to not make du! while sleepy. Forbidden: du! asking for evil, asking All!h by Mu"ammad ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) to do something (you dont ask All!h by any human being). Shaykh Waleeds opinion: du! in general is w!jib because it relates to aq#dah. One specific du! is not w!jib. If you are sick, you do not have to make du!. Its impossible for a Muslim to never pray to his Lord. No one among the salaf or khalaf said about a specific du! that it is w!jib. In every witr prayer, Im!m A"mad prayed for 100 people by name from his friends. At the top of his list was Im!m al-Sh!fii. Who do you pray for?
The Categories of Dhikr and Du !

The Categories of Dhikr The verbal dhikr that a Muslim can make throughout the day are classified into two categories:
1. Narrated dhikr from the Qur!n and Sunnah.
Restricted by time, situation, number, or location. Restricted by time: Morning and evening adhk!r. In %a"#" Muslim, J!bir said he heard the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) saying, O All!h, protect me from Your punishment on the Day You resurrect Your creation. [Muslim] It is narrated that you say this before sleeping. The adh!n is restricted to the times of $al!h. Restricted by place: When you see the Kabah, when entering or leaving the masjid, when entering the bathroom.
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Restricted by situation: after sneezing, du! to start the $al!h. You cannot make your own dhikr in these situations because the Shar#ah already specified specific things to say. You cannot add to them or change them. You cannot change the adh!n. The du! to start the $al!h is All!hu akbar. This is restricted. A man sneezed and said, Al"amdulill!h wa $al!t wa sal!m ala Ras&lull!h. Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said, Say al"amdulill!h and go say wa $al!t wa sal!m ala Ras&lull!h in your mothers house. You cannot add to or remove from the dhikr from the Qur$!n and Sunnah. General / unrestricted (mu'laq). Example: Making a lot of dhikr. You can say sub"!nAll!h wa bi"amdih any time during the day. You can read Qur$!n as much as you want any time (generally speaking).
Guidelines that must be followed with regards to the narrated (Prophetic) adhk ! r : The dhikr must be established by correct evidence from the Qur!n and Sunnah only. They must be from authentic a"ad#th and not made up or fabricated a"ad#th. If there is debate over authenticity, we restrict ourselves to what is authentic. It can be debatable. For example, when you hear the adh!n, you say:
Al-Bayhaqi added a statement after this, and there is a debate between the Muslim scholars of "ad#th on the authenticity. Shaykh al-Alb!ni said it is weak, and Shaykh Bin B!z said it is authentic. In this case, it is like any fiqh issue, and you follow the scholar you trust the most. No one can say it is bidah. Another example is the du! you say when looking at the mirror. The majority of the ulem! believe it is weak.
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There may be a debate over the understanding of the "ad#th. For example, so many scholars said there is no du! for riding on your mount. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) taught this du! to Ali (ra+yAll!hu anhu) when he was traveling, and he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was never heard saying it when riding his camel or mule inside Mad(nah. Other ulem! said that since in the Qur$!n there is a verse in S&ratl-Zukhruf which mentions that when you are on top of your ride, say this du!, so they take from this verse the permissibility to say this specific du!.
That you may settle yourselves upon their backs and then remember the favor of your Lord when you have settled upon them and say. Exalted is He who has subjected this to us, and we could not have [otherwise] subdued it. And indeed we, to our Lord, will [surely] return. (S&ratl-Zukhruf, 12-13) They also said that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) told Ali to say this when he was riding his animal. There is a debate between the scholars on how to understand the "ad#th. If there is a different understanding, follow the scholar you trust. If it was restricted: The dhikr must be established the way it was reported in regards to the time, situation, number, or location. The dhikr must be said exactly the way it was reported without making any changes. There are general etiquettes of du! and dhikr that should be kept in mind. Be respectful, say them with khush&, etc.
2. What the Muslims initiate of their own forms of dhikr.
A Muslim can make his own dhikr because All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said, Make a lot of dhikr of All!h. This is general, unrestricted dhikr. You are not allowed to make a restricted dhikr. For example, you cannot make a dhikr that you say when you see the color red. As long as you dont restrict it and dont have a belief attached to it and dont treat it like the Shar#ah and it is general and unrestricted, then generally speaking, you are allowed.
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Note: The best dhikr ever is the dhikr from the Qur$!n and Sunnah. The best words you can use to praise All!h with are the words All!h used to praise Himself.
One must keep in mind that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said: O All!h, I cannot praise You as You have praised Yourself. (Muslim) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) admitted that he could not make dhikr on his own better than what All!h has taught him, so what about us? Guidelines that must be followed in regards to the non-narrated adhk ! r (i.e. adhk ! r that are initiated by the Muslim worshipper): Sincerity. They must be done sincerely for All!h. Should be unrestricted by time, number, or situation. The meaning must be acceptable, good, and general without any negative connotations. It cannot contain improper, made-up Names and/or Attributes of All!h. Dhikr cannot contain any strange language with unknown meanings. Ibn Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said, If you see two people claiming that they have secrets about the religion, then know that they are upon innovation in religion.
In someones wird in his book ,izbl-F!ti", he said: O All!h, we ask to love you for nothing and not because of fear of anything and not because we are seeking anything. We ask You to purify us in a way there is no purification behind it. We ask You to let us know secrets. I ask you by my teacher, the prophet, the guide. I ask you by the two, by the four, by the seventy, by the eight, by the secrets of the Shar#ah of Mu"ammad. What is wrong about this? - Asking for perfection. This meaning is not acceptable. - Asking by someone as if those people have rights over All!h - Some words have no meanings (i.e. secrets of Shar#ah, by the two / forty). These are -'fi codes. They believe the two are two im!ms who are in charge of helping people in disasters, etc. They said the four are four awt!d (pegs), which are needed for the earth to be stable. In Sudan, there is a -'fi tar#qa called $al!tl-f!ti". The founder said that Jibr(l came to him and said that his prayer was better than the Prophets ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) $al!h by 100,000 times.
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The Categories of Du !
1. In regards to its meaning
Du ! al-masalah, or the du ! of asking. This type of du! is when one asks for the fulfillment of a need. He wants something to happen or something evil to be removed or something good to happen in the future. Du ! l-ib ! dah , or the du ! of worship. This type of du! represents a very broad concept. In Islam, every single act of worship includes this type of du!. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said the best du! is the day of Arafah. The best du! on that day is: la il!ha illa All!h wa"dahu la shar#ka lah lahul-mulk wa lahul-"amd wa huwa ala kulli shayin qad#r
This is the best du! because the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) is referring to the du! of ib!dah. By glorifying All!h and saying this, you deserve the reward for your taw"#d: forgiveness of sins and receiving all types of good. All!h said, Pray to me, and I will answer you Ulem! said the word du! was used synonymously with the word ib!dah. Du! means to pray to All!h and ib!dah means to worship All!h, but All!h used them interchangeably as if they are exactly the same. In S&rah Y'nus v. 106: Dont pray to other than All!h. Whatever you pray to other than All!h will not benefit you or harm you.
And do not invoke besides All!h that which neither benefits you nor harms you, for if you did, then indeed you would be of the wrongdoers. (S&rah Y'nus, 10:106) The mufasir#n said this means do not worship any other than All!h. And when My servants ask you concerning Me, [tell them] I am indeed near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls. (Al-Baqarah, 2:186)
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2. In regards to the users of it
Narrated du! This is a du! that is quoted from the Qur$!n and Sunnah. The du!s from the Qur$!n and a"ad#th are very general. Ibn +Abb!s was asked what !tina fil-dunya "asanah means and he said it means a beautiful spouse. This is ilml-tafs#r he explained the meaning by giving one example of what it means. It means everything good, and among the good things you can get is a beautiful spouse. %ishah (ra+yAll!hu anha) said, Ya Ras&lull!h, can you pray for me? He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, O All!h, I ask you to forgive her for all of her sins in the past and the future. Any du! from the Qur$!n and Sunnah is always at a higher level than any initiated du!.
Initiated du! The best way to ask is from the Qur$!n and Sunnah, but you can also make your own du!. For example, in witr prayer in Rama+!n, the im!m makes du! and it is mixed between phrases from the Qur$!n and Sunnah and some made by the shaykh himself. This was seen a lot in the early Muslim generations. Im!m A"mad (ra"imahull!h) used to say, O the One who guides, guide us to You. Mutarrif used to say, O All!h, be pleased with me and if you think Im not worthy to reach the level at which You are pleased with me, then treat me with Your mercy because Your mercy reaches everyone.
3. In regards to what you are asking for
We usually ask for four things. All of our requests fall into one of these categories: The removal of harm/evil The protection from harm/evil The continuation of what is good Asking for non-existent good
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Our Lord, indeed we have heard a caller calling to faith, [saying], Believe in your Lord, and we have believed. Our Lord, so forgive us our sins and remove from us our misdeeds and cause us to die with the righteous. Our Lord, and grant us what You promised us through Your messengers and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed, You do not fail in [Your] promise. ()le-Imr!n, 3:193-194) This is the du! of the believers which All!h quoted in the Qur$!n. All!h told us about this du! because it is so unique. This du! includes these four things above. How do these two verses have all of these four points? Removal of harm / evil: forgive our sins Protection from harm / evil: do not disgrace us on the Day of Judgment Continuity of what is good: cause us to die with the righteous Asking for non-existent good: grant us what You promised us through Your messengers (i.e. Jannah) When reading du!s in the Qur$!n, look how many points they cover from these.
4. In regards to the person making du!
All of du! can be categorized into the following: For yourself O All!h, I ask you to forgive me. O All!h, I ask you to guide me. Ibn al-Qayyim said, It is well-recorded from the Sunnah of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) that he used the pronoun me and not we. O All!h, forgive my sins. O All!h I ask You to guide me. This was the most common way of making du! of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). For others O All!h, forgive him/her. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) told Anas b. M!lik: O All!h, I ask you for Anas b. M!lik to have a lot of wealth and a lot of children and bless everything that You have provided for him. (Bukh!ri and Muslim) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) saw Mu!wiyah b. Abi Sufy!n and told him, O All!h, make this man a guided person and make him a person who will guide others and allow him to be a guide to others. (Im!m A"mad, Tirmidhi)
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The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, O All!h, make Mu!wiyah the master of the Book and protect him from the punishment. (Musnad of Im!m A"mad) For yourself then others In the Qur$!n, All!h says in S&rah Mu"ammad: O Mu"ammad, ask forgiveness for your sins and for the believers. This shows that you should ask for yourself and then ask for others. It was never reported that you pray for someone else and then yourself. You start with yourself and then the other person this is the proper etiquette. May All!h forgive me and forgive you. May All!h guide me and guide you. For yourself and others using the pronoun we Ibn Umar said, It is very rare for the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) to leave a gathering before making the following du!: He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, O All!h, I ask You to give us khashiyah of You to prevent us from disobeying and give us the strength to worship You so that we will achieve Paradise. Give us certainty in the heart and make the calamities in the worldly life easy to deal with. O All!h, make our senses / health strong and sound as long as we live. Give us victory over those who abuse us. Dont give us a calamity in our d#n. And dont make the dunya our biggest concern. Dont make our knowledge focused on worldly things. Dont let someone control us who has no mercy in his heart towards us. (Sunan alTirmidhi) A friend of Shaykh Waleed studied in what we call today Bosnia (Serbia). He said, Waleed, if you want to live a decent life, dont live with Muslims. There used to be an area where I lived where they cooked with khamr. They knew nothing about religion. Then the war happened. The calamity was in dunya but not in d#n. I came back to the same area where I studied and I used to be the only young man praying in the masjid, but then the masjid was full at fajr prayer. Calamities will happen in your life. The worst calamity is to lose your d#n and start compromising your principles. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Ya All!h, dont let the calamity strike our d#n.
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For Whom Should You Make Du ! Other Than Yourself?

! Parents
And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as], uff, and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small. (Al-Isr!, 17:23-24) All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said, O All!h, shower them with your mercy. The prophets and messengers asked All!h to forgive them and their parents. Abu Hurayrah (ra+yAll!hu anhu) loved his mother very much, and he prayed for her so much. He said, Anyone who prays for me and my mother, I ask You to shower him with Your Mercy. Abu Hurayrah (ra+yAll!hu anhu) never related any "ad#th related to the ,ajj of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). He (ra+yAll!hu anhu) never left the side of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). He did not make ,ajj with the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) because his mother was sick, and he stayed behind in Mad(nah. When Abu Hurayrah became rich and the prince of Mad(nah, he said, I used to have nothing! He used to put a rock on his stomach and tie a belt around it because he was so hungry and did not have food. [Nowadays we put a belt because we have too much food.] He (ra+yAll!hu anhu) told his students, This is what knowledge leads to: dunya and !khirah. I dedicated my life to the knowledge of "ad#th during the life of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). All!h honored me and never put me down. Im!m Abu )an(fah said, When my father passed away, I did not make du! for anything for an entire year except my parents. Some of the salaf used to make the du! for their parents 70 times in the $al!h in between the two sajdahs. Ibn Taymiyyah said, It is a common narration: O All!h forgive me and my parents. Praying for your parents in every single $al!h is a must. One brother makes du! for his parents in the second suj&d of the first rak.ah of every $al!h in order to make sure he never forgets.
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Family Members
And those who say, Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous. (Al-Furq!n, 25:74)
The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Three supplications are answered without doubt: the supplication of the oppressed, the supplication of the traveler, and the supplication of the parent for his son. (Tirmidhi) Do you make du! for your relatives (brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles)? They have rights over you, and the least of their rights upon you is that you make du! for them. At least make du! for them in your witr. ! Those who benefited you and did good to you in your life and to your friends
Always make du! for those who have done good to you. Muslim scholars said it is highly recommended to make du! for those who have done good to you (i.e. your teachers). The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, If good is done to someone and then they say jaz!kall!hu khayran to the one who did the good, they have indeed praised them well. (Tirmidhi, al-Nas!i) Ibn +Abb!s said, Once the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) went to the bathroom, so I went and got water for the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) so that he could make wu+&. When the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) saw the water, he said, O All!h, give him understanding of the religion. Mu"ammad b. Sir(n said, We were with Abu Hurayrah one night and he said, O All!h forgive Abu Hurayrah and his mother and those who ask forgiveness for them. Since that time I have been asking forgiveness for both of them, so the du! of Abu Hurayrah will reach me! Im!m A"mad said, It surprised me those who claim that they are brothers and sisters in Islam and he is stingy with his du! for his brother. How would he be generous with his money?
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Can you make du! for someone who is non-Muslim who did something good to you? Yes, you are allowed to make du! for them. Ibn +Abb!s (ra+yAll!hu anhu) was asked if a person who is non-Muslim did something to him and said, B!rakAll!h f#k, then what would he say. He said, May All!h bless you, too. ,ad#th )asan: %ishah (ra+yAll!hu anha) narrated that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was given sheep meat as a gift, so he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) told %ishah to distribute the meat among the neighbors, and among the neighbors were non-Muslims. He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) asked what happened, and she said, The servant took the meat to the non-Muslim neighbor and the neighbor said, May All!h bless you and what you have given to us. He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) asked what she said when she heard this and she said, May All!h bless them too. This is a sound "ad#th and Shaykh al-Alb!ni said it is "asan. If a non-Muslim sneezes, you are allowed to say, May All!h bless you. To pray for someone to increase his age: this is not common in our culture today to use this form of du!. There is a debate among the scholars regarding this. Bottom line: you are allowed to pray for someone like this as long as you say with good deeds. May All!h bless you with a long life with good deeds. This is a good du! to make. The majority of the fuqah! say that this is what is permissible. ! Praying for all Muslims and asking forgiveness for them
So know, [O Mu"ammad], that there is no deity except All!h and ask forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and believing women. And All!h knows of your movement and your resting place. (Mu"ammad, 47:19) It is from the Sunnah to make du!s for your Muslim brothers and sisters everywhere, especially those in your city. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) ordered the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) to make du! for the believers. All of the messengers and prophets made du! for the believers. This is something we should care about. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, If you visit a sick person and make du! for him, All!h will heal him, insh!All!h. When you go to visit a sick person, make sure to say nice things.
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And [there is a share for] those who came after them, saying, Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts [any] resentment toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful. (Al,ashr, 10) In S&ratl-,ashr v. 10, All!h teaches us about the believers and how they care about their Muslim brothers who are alive and dead. Our connection is not limited by time or borders. Every time you say, Ya All!h, forgive all the believers, it goes from %dam to the end of time. We are one nation and one ummah. O All!h, forgive us and our brothers who became Muslim before us. Dont put any hate in our hearts towards them. The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Whoever ask forgiveness for the believing men and women, All!h will give such person "asanah (reward) for each believing man and woman. (#abar!ni in al-Mujaml-Kab#r, sound "ad#th) It is a common du! since the time of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) until now: O All!h forgive the believer, the living one and the dead one. Im!m Muslim: Abul-Dard! said he heard the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) say, Anyone who makes du! for his Muslim brother while he is absent, an angel next to him will say, )m#n, and give him similar to what he asked. Im!m al-Nawawi in Shar" Muslim said, This shows you the virtues of making du! for your brothers in their absence. This is the reward for praying for one, so what about praying for a group of Muslims in their absence? The religion makes us never live as individuals only. We are part of a big ummah. This is the beauty of our religion. Many narrations from the early Muslim scholars say that when they wanted to receive something, they would make du! for the same for their Muslim brother or sister. Their intention is that they receive it because they know the angel will say, O All!h accept and give him the same, too. ! Praying for the Leaders Muslim leaders: Im!m al-Nawawi said, There is agreement among the scholars on making du! for Muslim leaders, regardless of they are f!siq, in the jumuah khu'bah. Make du! for them to be guided and just and fair. A )anbali scholar said: This is a matter of agreement. It is recommended to do it in the jumuah khu'bah. A famous Sh!fii scholar said it is recommended for the im!m to do such thing.
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The )anafi scholars said you are not allowed (a few Sh!fii and )anbalis also said this) based on a narration from A,a who was asked if they can make du! for the leaders in the jumuah khu'bah and he said it is not from the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and an innovation. Umar b. Abdl-Az(z wrote to all of the kha'#bs to specifically not make du! for him in the jumuah khu'bah. This position is not the famous / common one. It is permissible for several reasons: - Claiming that this is not the practice of the companions is not something we agree with. The statement of A,a is not accurate. In an authentic narration, when Abu M'sa al-Ashari would make khu'bah, he would pray for Abu Bakr and Umar b. al-Kha,,!b. Someone came and told him that he cannot pray for Umar before Abu Bakr. This was done in front of many companions and they never disagreed. In general, you should make du! for a leader that All!h guides him. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, D(n is na$#"ah (being sincere towards others and towards your leaders). Part of the sincerity is to make du! for them that All!h guides them to do what is right and say what is correct. Part of na$#"ah towards the leaders is to make du! for them. The students asked Fu*ayl b. Iy!*, If you have one du! that All!h said it will be answered, what would it be? He said, If All!h gave one thing, I would make it for the im!m of the Muslims that All!h guide the leader. When Abdull!h b. Mub!rak (equal to Im!m A"mads level) heard this, he said, O Fu*ayl b. Iy!*, who teaches people what is good, who can say such a thing except you? When Fu*ayl b. Iy!* was asked why, he said, If he is good, then people will be good. The result is seen in our daily life. Uthm!n b. Aff!n said, What the leader can enforce is much more than what the Qur$!n enforces. The Qur$!n tells people not to cheat or steal, but they do.
Non-Muslim leaders: You can make du! for non-Muslim leaders. You can ask All!h to guide them to be just and fair and to guide them. Im!m A"mad was tortured in the jail and the leader was personally torturing him. Im!m A"mad was heard saying, O All!h, give al-Mutassim victory in his war against the Romans. He knew that the leader was on the right track. The ruling regarding praying for a f ! siq (evil-doer) You can pray for a f!siq. A f!siq is still Muslim. At the time of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), a drunk man was brought and people were making du! against him. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Dont help the Shay'!n against him. Be smart in the way you make du!. If your du! is a reason for them to continue in their sin (i.e. someone has wealth from the "ar!m), then dont make du! for that (i.e. O All!h, increase his wealth).
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In one community, they told Shaykh Waleed that he can give khu'bah on any topic except alcohol because a board member was involved in selling alcohol. Shaykh Waleed gave a khu'bah on polluted wealth. Ibn al-Jawzis teacher was walking along the river and on the other side of the river people were partying. The students were asking if they should beat them up, or at least make du! against them. The shaykh said, O All!h, as you made them gather in this dunya happy, let them also be gathered together happy in the !khirah. The students asked what this meant, and the shaykh said, Do you think they will have a happy gathering in the !khirah if they continue in this way? I intended that All!h change their situation. The ruling regarding praying for non-Muslims
It is not for the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire. (Al-Tawbah, 9:113)
All!h does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, All!h loves those who act justly. (Al-Mumta"anah, 60:8) Part of being good to them is making du! for them. All!h forbade us from asking forgiveness for the kuf!r. You cannot ask forgiveness for someone who passed away in kufr. You cannot ask All!h to enter them into Jannah. You can pray for guidance for non-Muslims. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said about the tribe of Aslam may All!h save it, and about the tribe of Ghif!r may All!h give them forgiveness (they were still alive). You can pray for your country to be just and have safety and prosperity. The best thing to pray for non-Muslims is guidance. If you win the dunya but lose the !khirah, then you ended up with nothing.
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The Ruling on Making Du ! Against or Cursing Someone
And whoever is patient and forgives - indeed, that is of the matters [requiring] determination. (Al-Sh&ra, 42:43) It is a very serious issue to make du! against someone or yourself. Unfortunately, making du! against others is part of some cultures. This is a bad habit. A young man in Dammam liked to go out a lot. The friends came and asked him to go out after ish!, and his father did not like it. The father said, Go! May All!h never let you come back out of anger. His friends say this man never came back to the house. The father collected him from the morgue. He died in a car accident. Dont take du! against someone lightly. Generally speaking, du! against anyone is not recommended. Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyyah said: All!h ordained du! for one reason, which is for good things to happen, and not for bad things to happen. It is against the default rule of what du! is made for. All!h made it as part of the religion for a purpose. It is not to bring evil upon yourself or others. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said that even in the case of transgression or someone does something bad to you or deserves to be cursed, And whoever is patient and forgives, indeed that is for the matter requiring determination. This means you have the upper hand to be able to do it.
All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said in S&ratl-Isr! v. 11, People ask for evil in the same manner they ask for good. Human beings rush things. Look at Tafs#r Ibn Kath(r for commentary on this verse.
S'rah Y'nus v. 11: And if All!h was to hasten for the people the evil [they invoke] as He hastens for them the good, their term would have been ended for them. But We leave the ones who do not expect the meeting with Us, in their transgression, wandering blindly.
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Qat!dah and Muj!hid and other scholars said, If All!h answered every request you make against people, destruction will happen on earth. From All!hs Mercy, He will not accept such du!. Sometimes All!h accepts it as a lesson for us to watch our tongue. The person whom you pray against is one of two: 1. Transgressor If he is a non-Muslim: the scholars agree that it is permissible to pray against a transgressing disbeliever if you think that this person most likely will not accept Islam. Note: it is better to make du! for them. It is permissible to make du! against them. And Noah said, My Lord, do not leave upon the earth from among the disbelievers an inhabitant. (N&", 71:26). If he is a Muslim: the scholars differentiate between the one who is transgressing openly and the one who is not. They allowed it for both, but said that for the one who hides his sins, it will be better to pray for his guidance and forgiveness. S&rah Y'nus v. 88: O All!h, destroy their wealth and make their hearts solid. They will not return from their transgression until they see their punishment. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) made du! against the people of A"z!b. He said, O All!h, fill their graves and homes from fire. They have distracted me from $al!tl-a$r until the time almost passed. (Bukh!ri) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, O All!h, I ask you to take care of the Quraysh and protect me from their evil. O All!h, destroy Abu Jahl and Umayyah b. Khalaf. O All!h, make their lives like the years of Y'suf [when the economy was bad]. (Bukh!ri)
The cause is only against the ones who wrong the people and tyrannize upon the earth without right. Those will have a painful punishment. (Al-Sh&ra, 42:42) If the transgressors are Muslims and their transgression is openly practiced, then you can openly make du! against them. You have the right to punish them and part of that is to make du! against them.
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All!h does not like the public mention of evil except by one who has been wronged. And ever is All!h Hearing and Knowing. (Al-Nis!, 148) All!h doesnt like to hear bad things to be said except in the case of -ulm. Agreed Upon Guidelines The ulem! agree that if you make du! against a transgressor, you cannot make du! against him on things not related to his transgression. For example, we cannot make du! against his children because they have nothing to do with it. Also, the ulem! said that you are not allowed to pray against him with another form of transgression. For example, you cannot say, O All!h, dont let him die upon Islam. This is a transgression and not allowed. You cannot say, O All!h, dont ever let him make tawbah. This is not allowed. You can only pray against his transgression. For example, you are allowed to say: O All!h, destroy his kingdom. O All!h, take him away from this earth. O All!h, stop him from hurting people. We are still Muslims and have guidelines. We are just and fair even when we have been abused. We dont go beyond the boundaries of our Shar#ah. 2. Victim
All!hs Messenger ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, When a person curses (lanah: to ask that something be deprived of All!hs Mercy) somebody or something, the curse goes up to the heaven and the gates of the heaven are closed. Then it comes down to the earth and its gates are closed. Then it turns right and left, and if it does not find an entrance to go anywhere, it returns to the person or thing that was cursed if he or it deserves to be cursed; otherwise, it returns to the person who uttered it. (Abu D!w'd) An incident took place at the time of Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu). The du!s of Sad b. Abi Waqq!& were accepted du!s. People came to Umar and said, Ya Umar, Sad b. Abi Waqq!& is not a good ruler. He doesnt lead the army. When he distributes the war booty, he is not fair. When he judges between people, he is not fair and just. In another narration: When he prays, he doesnt pray a long prayer. Sad said, O All!h, if this person is lying, I ask you to let him live a long life and live all his life in poverty and make him exposed to all kinds of trials. The narrator said, I swear by
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All!h that I saw this man 90 years old in the streets of Basrah, and when a young teenage girl passed by him, he would hit on her. He lived a miserable life. Did Sad transgress in his du!? You are allowed to pray against someone who transgresses you in the area he transgressed in. No, he did not. Why? He was accused of three things: 1) related to him wanting to save his own life, 2) about his d#n (not following Shar#ah when judging between people), and 3) he cares about his wealth and takes money not belonging to him. He prayed against the person in the same three areas he was transgressing him in. If you are a victim, you can pray against someone. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Every day there are two angels who say, Give the one who spends for Your sake reward and replacement. Destroy the wealth of those who hold their money. Ulem! said that this shows that it was permissible to do it. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The one who is a slave to money and dunya will live in misery. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, May All!h make him a loser the one whose parents are alive in old age and he doesnt take care of them.
Making du ! against the people of sin ( f ! siq )

Narrated Abu Hurayrah (ra+yAll!hu anhu): A drunkard was brought to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). He said, Give him a beating. Then some beat him with their hands, some with their shoes, and some with (a folded) piece of cloth. When he left, someone said to him, May All!h disgrace you! The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Do not help Shay'!n overcome him by uttering such words. (Bukh!ri) The ruling on cursing someone The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The believer is not one who slanders, curses or utters foul or obscene speech. (Tirmidhi) English is different from Arabic. In Arabic, cursing someone is more specific than making du! against them. Curse in the Arabic language means May All!h take you out of His Mercy. This is not appropriate for anyone to do because you put yourself in a position as if you control All!hs Mercy, which is very inappropriate and absolutely unacceptable. Cursing is not something every recommended. It is disliked in all situations. Cursing Believers All!hs Messenger ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Cursing a believer is like murdering him. (Agreed upon) Ruling: It is "ar!m when it goes against a Muslim.
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Cursing non-specific individuals, disbelievers, or sinners All!h cursed the kuf!r. All!h cursed the thieves. All!h curses the woman who refuses to answer the call of her husband. Ulem! say that this is allowed.
Indeed, All!h has cursed the disbelievers and prepared for them a Blaze. (Al-A"z!b, 33:64)
Abu Hurayrah reported All!hs Messenger ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) as saying, Let there be the curse of All!h upon the thief who steals an egg and his hand is cut off and steals a rope and his hand is cut off. (Muslim) Cursing a specific individual, disbeliever or sinner Ruling: It is disliked when it goes against a non-Muslim or a non-believer. The ulem! commented on a "ad#th of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) when he was traveling and he heard someone say, May All!h curse the Shay'!n. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, When you curse the Shay'!n, he gets bigger and bigger until the size of the mountain, but when you say a&dhu bill!hi min al- Shay'!n al-raj#m, he becomes so small the size of a fly. Ulem! said that from this "ad#th, even cursing the Shay'!n is not recommended. It is permissible because the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did it but it is not recommended. The believer is not a person who always curses. It is highly disliked and could be forbidden if he is a believer because the mumin is not a person who curses. Ulem! say that if the individual was cursed by the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), then this may be allowed. In general, the mumin should not curse.
Bukh!ri narrated that there was a man at the time of the Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) whose name was Abdull!h, but his nickname was )im!r, and he used to make the Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) laugh. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) had him flogged for drinking. He was brought one day and
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he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) commanded that he be flogged, and a man who was there said, O All!h, curse him, how often he is brought [for this reason]! But the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Do not curse him, for by All!h, what I know about him is that he loves All!h and His Messenger. Ibn Mufli" mentioned that the curse that is applied to a specific person, whether he is a k!fir or an evildoer, such as saying, May All!h curse so-and-so, mentioning him by name may fall into one of two categories: 1. Where there is a text which states that he is cursed, such as Ibl(s, or where there is a text which states that he died as a k!fir, such as Pharaoh, Abu Lahab and Abu Jahl, cursing such persons is permitted. 2. Cursing a particular k!fir or evildoer concerning whom there is no text stating that they are cursed such as wine-drinkers, those who offer sacrifices to anything other than All!h, the one who curses his parents, those who introduce innovations in religion, and so on. The scholars differed as to whether it is permissible to curse these people, and there are three points of view: 1) It is not permissible under any circumstance. 2) It is permissible in the case of a k!fir but not of a (Muslim) evildoer. 3) It is permissible in all cases. (Ad!bl-Shariyyah by Ibn Mufli")
The ruling on requesting du ! from a living, present person

Ulem! said that if you ask someone to make du! for you, and your intention is to benefit that person only (i.e. reminding the person to make du!), then this is one thing. This is a very rare case. This intention is okay, and there is no difference of opinion in this case. [Most people request for themselves to benefit.] It is permissible to ask a righteous person to pray for Muslims as a whole, as we are permitted to ask someone to pray for rain in $al!tl-istisq! (prayer for rain). There is no difference of opinion among the scholars that this is permissible. It is permissible to ask someone to pray for you, so that both of you can benefit from the du! as the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) asked us to pray that All!h grants alwas#lah (highest place in paradise) after the adh!n.
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The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Any Muslim who prays for his brother in his absence, All!h will assign an angel to say !m#n (and same to you) every time he prays for his brother. (Muslim) Scholars have two different opinions regarding asking someone to pray for you where your intention is for only you to benefit from it. 1) It is recommended to ask those who you think are righteous to pray for you, even if your intention is benefitting only yourself. This is the position of the majority of the Muslim jurists amongst the four madh!hib. Either you think of them as more righteous than you or you think that they are in a position where there du! will be accepted (i.e. a person is traveling or at ,ajj). [Note: There is no basis in the Sunnah that a womans du! during delivery is accepted] This is the position of the )anafis, M!likis, Sh!fiis, )anbalis. Evidence: - There is overwhelming evidence where the companions would come to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and ask him to pray for them. When Anas b. M!liks mother brought him to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), she asked him to make du! for him. She wanted Anas to benefit from it. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, O All!h, make Abu Hurayrah and his mother loved by Your servants. This is why believers love them and hypocrites do not. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) told Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) when he was traveling to Umrah: Dont forget me in your du!. [This is a weak "ad#th because there is a weak narrator in the chain.] Uways al-Qarni was a man who lived in Yemen and was taking care of his mother, which is why he never met the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said to his companions, If you ever meet Uways al-Qarni, ask him to make istighf!r for you. (Muslim) The companions would sometimes ask each other to make du! for each other. A man came to Anas b. M!lik and said, Ya Aba )amzah, can you make du! for us? He said, Ya All!h, give us "asanah in the dunya and the !khirah. The man asked him to make another du! and he made the same du!. The man asked again and he said the same thing, indicating there is nothing better than that.
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2) It is disliked. This is the position of Ibn Taymiyyah and some M!likis. It is only allowed to ask someone to make du! for you if your intention is for him to benefit as well as you. Evidence: - It was never from the Prophets ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) Sunnah to do such thing or the sunnah of the companions or the salaf. People came to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and asked him to pray for them is because he was a prophet. A man came to Hudhayfah (ra+yAll!hu anhu) and asked him to pray for his sins to be forgiven, and he said, May All!h never forgive your sins. Do you see me a prophet? You pray for your sins to be forgiven. (He doesnt mean this literally. This is mean but is not the same meaning in English). They were strong about this because they saw people starting to treat some of the companions like holy men. Ibn Taymiyyah and the M!liki scholars said that it was not something common during the time of the companions for them to ask each other to make du! for them. The only evidence the first group has is when the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) told Umar to make du! for him, but this "ad#th is weak and even Abu D!w'd, who narrates the "ad#th, mentions something about the authenticity of the "ad#th. Bukh!ri said one of the narrators is munkar in "ad#th. Ibn Hajar also mentioned him as a weak narrator. Refutation for "ad#th about Uways al-Qarni: They said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) only meant to show his status. There were people more righteous than him. The "ad#th emphasizes his status. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said the du! of Sad b. Abi Waqq!& is accepted, but he never encouraged people to go to him, and the companions never understand that they should go and ask him to make du! for them. Ibn Taymiyyah said that when you ask people to make du! for you, there are several negative things that may happen. It can make that person arrogant. This is what the companions were afraid of the most. He said they had seen in their time that people believed they had the power to make blessings. This is what we see among misguided shuy&kh. It is a Christian thing to go to the minister and ask for forgiveness. Also, it is a form of humiliation you humiliate yourself in front of someone. All!h said, Ya Mu"ammad, if they ask about Me, I am close to them. Ask for yourself directly. The mumin has dignity. It may lead someone to believe in those people and that they have the power to forgive. It may open the door to shirk.
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To say it is not allowed to do it without this intention is not a strong opinion. Shaykh Waleed says it is permissible, but it should not be a habit. Ulem! also recommend asking those who have made ,ajj to make du! for you after they have finished their ,ajj because their sins have been forgiven. It is allowed as long as it is not excessive and there is no belief attached to it. When someone does it excessively and depends on others to make du! for them, then it is disliked. There is a narration that a man asked Anas b. M!lik to pray for him. There is another narration: Abu Sa(d Mawla said Umar came after ish! to the masjid and he found people there mentioning All!h. He sat with them, and someone said, Ya ful!n, make du! for us. He made du!. When Umars turn came, they asked him to make du! for them. The narrator said, I said to myself that Umar is a harsh and strong person and I dont know if his du! will soften the hearts. When he started making du!, I hadnt seen anyone with a softer heart than Umar. His heart was even softer than the mother who lost her child. It happened occasionally. It was not a common practice. Ibn Taymiyyah and the M!liki statement are correct because it was not a common practice of the companions. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, If you pray for your brother in his absence, the angels say, same to you. From the perfection of taw"#d is to not ask anyone to make du! for you. It is of the perfection of taw"#d that when you ask someone, your heart does not rely on that person but you know that the person is just a tool you rely on All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la).
The Etiquette of Dhikr and Du !

Book: Al-Adhk!r by Im!m al-Nawawi. ! It must be done with sincerity It is an act of worship. Ask All!h to help you make dhikr. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) taught us to say, O All!h help me so that I can always remember You.
He is the Ever-Living; there is no deity except Him, so call upon Him, [being] sincere to Him in religion. [All] praise is [due] to All!h, Lord of the worlds. (Gh!fir, 40:65) ! ! It must be done according to the Sunnah of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). It is recommended for the person to be in a state of wu+& ('ah!rah). It is allowed to make dhikr even when you dont have wu+&. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, I dislike mentioning All!hs Name or to make dhikr while I
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dont have wu+&. (A"mad, authentic) From this, ulem! say that it is recommended. What is the evidence that you are allowed to make dhikr while you dont have wu+&? You say bismill!h before you make wu+&. When you get out of the bathroom, you say ghufr!nak. When you wake up, you say adhk!r. ! ! It is good to purify the tongue with the siw!k or any other method that can make the mouth smell good. Face the qiblah. You are allowed to make it in any direction. It is Sunnah to face the qiblah when making du! and dhikr in general.
Who remember All!h while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire. ()le-Imr!n, 191) ! Choose the times, the location, and the situation where the du! and dhikr are most likely to be answered. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said the masjid is a place for dhikr. (Bukh!ri) S&ratl-N&r v. 36: All!h will be mentioned in these places.
[Such niches are] in mosques which All!h has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and the evenings. (S&ratl-N&r, 36) There are many good times to make dhikr: early in the morning, before sunset, before you sleep, on Friday. ! Have khush& while making dhikr. (Ibn Kath(r said, while you have khush&.)
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Lower the voice.
And remember your Lord within yourself in humility and in fear without being apparent in speech - in the mornings and the evenings. And do not be among the heedless. (Al-Ar!f, 7:205) Ibn +Abb!s was asked, How loud or soft should your voice be? Ibn +Abb!s said, When you make dhikr or du!, you should only hear yourself but others will not hear you. ! Make dhikr & du! individually or alone, away from people.
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that All!h said, I am just as My slave believes Me to be and I am with him when He remembers Me. So if he remembers Me within himself, I too remember him within Myself. (Bukh!ri and Muslim) Avoid people so as to not show off. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said one of the seven under the Shade of the Throne is someone who mentioned All!h by himself while away from people and tears came down. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said All!h says, Those who mention Me while by themselves, I will mention them. S&rah Maryam: All!h praised Zakariyya and said that he called upon All!h in secret. When he called to his Lord a private supplication. (Maryam, 3) ! One should perform a good deed prior to making the du!. Tawbah and $adaqah are among the best deeds that you can offer prior to the du!.
So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship]. And to your Lord direct [your] longing. (Al-Shar", 94:7-8) ! Praise All!h and convey prayer (salaw!t/dur&d) upon Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) in the beginning as well as at the end of du!.
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It is highly recommended. The ulem! said you make it at the beginning, middle, and end of the du!. This is the best format. The least is to do it at the beginning or end. Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) reported a statement of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam): Your du! is stuck between the heavens and earth until you say all!humma $alli ala Mu"ammad. ! Make du! repeatedly. This repetition should be at least thrice. Anas b. M!lik said that when the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) asked something, he would repeat it three times. (Bukh!ri) You can do it more than three times because the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) in an incident made du! five times. (Bukh!ri) ! Make du! with firm conviction.
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Let not any one of you say, O All!h, forgive me if You will, O All!h, have mercy on me if You will. Let him be resolute in the matter, whilst knowing that no one can compel All!h to do anything. (Bukh!ri and Muslim) ! ! ! ! Make an encompassing, general du! as much as you can. Mention the Names of All!h and His Attributes that are suitable to the request or to the du! that you are making. Raise both hands during the du!. Start du! with Al"amdulill!h The ulem! said the evidence is S&ratl-F!ti"ah. It is all praising before one request: ihdinal-$ir!'l-mustaq#m. Therefore, it is recommended before making du! that you praise All!h. Musnad of Im!m A"mad: The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) heard a man making du! and never heard him say al"amdulill!h or al-$al!t wa sal!m ala Rasulull!h, so when he finished, he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, This man rushed his du!. When one of you wants to make du!, he should start with praising his Lord. Than! means to repeat the praise. It is sunnah to say !m#n. Ulem! said there are many meanings. The strongest opinion is O All!h, accept. Another meaning: O All!h, I repeat everything I just said again and again. You double your request. It is recommended to say !m#n at the end of your du!.
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Q&A Should a woman say !m#n aloud in congregational prayer? Yes, as long as you are in the womens side and men cannot hear you. If you are near men, then no. Im!m al-Nawawi said, There are more than 100 a"ad#th showing that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) raised his hands in du!. What does someone do when their #m!n is low and they dont feel connected to All!h? - Look at your relationship with All!h. Sins cut you off from All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la). Ask All!h for forgiveness and repent to All!h. Maybe there is a sin that you are not aware of. - When you make du!, dont only ask for the dunya. - Follow the etiquettes of du!. - Our du! is weak because we dont think about it. Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said, I was never concerned with the answer of the du!. My concern was always with the du! itself. - Choose the right time for the du!. For example: Ya Rabb, for whatever reason, I dont enjoy my du! as before. Ya All!h, if you are not angry with me, I dont care about anything else. Ya Rabb, I know that you have so many other creation other than me, but I have only one Creator, You. Beg All!h and ask Him. - Learn All!hs Names and Attributes and ask using them. - Acts of charity soften the heart. - Make du! after a good deed. - All!h is always there for you. 24/7. You can call on Him any time. Gem: Everyone makes du! at the same time with different tongues and different du!s, and All!h hears every single one as if he is the only one asking, and He has the ability to give everyone whatever they asked at the same time. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that All!h said, O My servants, if the beginning of you until the end of you and the jinn gathered in one place and asked Me and I give each of them what they request, this would not decrease My kingdom an inkling.
The Transgression ( al-itada ) in the Du !

Transgression in du! is forbidden.
Call upon your Lord in humility and privately; indeed, He does not like transgressors. (Al-Ar!f, 7:55) Transgression means going beyond the limit and going beyond what is permissible. There are categories: - In the words of the prayer Examples:
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Praying to other than All!h. You should not pray to other than your Creator. Praising All!h with things He never praised Himself with, or with things He freed Himself from (i.e. father). To ask for something that is impossible, such as: Forgive Satan, let Firawn go to Paradise. Using words with no meaning. Make du! cursing someone. Making du! and saying at the end if You wish or insh!All!h The way it is performed: for example, making it so loud or dancing while making du! Some scholars said one of the ways of transgression in du! is to recite the du! like reciting the Qur$!n. Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd said, If you stand in front of a king and do this, would it be proper? Shaykh Waleed: This statement is not correct and doesnt make sense. If this was correct, then it is an accusation that the Qur$!n is transgressing. If it is not a proper way of talking, then it is not a proper way of reciting the Qur$!n, which no Muslim would say. This is ghaflah: the !lim is saying a statement and is unaware of the consequences of his statement. In Islam, what your statement entails, you are not entitled to. Some people also said it is not proper to make du! that rhymes. Al-Suy',i said this. Shaykh Waleed: It is only wrong if you change the meaning just to match the rhyme. To make the du! rhyme is the way of the Qur$!n. There is a prince who was mentally challenged and he wanted to make things rhyme, so he wrote a letter to the judge in his city. He wrote: O our judge in Qum, I fire you so leave. This judge was fired just because the prince wanted to make a rhyme.
It was reported that Abdull!h b. Mughaffal heard his son saying (in invocation), O All!h! I ask You for the white palace on the right of Paradise if I were to enter it. So he said, Dear son, ask All!h (ta!la) for Paradise and seek refuge from the Hellfire for I have heard the Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) saying, There will come in this nation people who will transgress (or exceed) in ablution and du!. (Abu D!w'd) Places where du! is not recommended: - Making du! in temples Making du! next to graveyards Making du! in places where bidah is practice
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Situations and places in which dhikr & du ! are prohibited: In the bathroom. When listening to the khu'batl-jumuah. It is not recommended to make dhikr while sleepy. While you are in al-"amm!m, which is the place where people go to wash their bodies (i.e. the shower). While having intercourse.
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Chapter 2 | The Best Dhikr & The Accepted Du !

The Best Dhikr is the Qur ! n
S&ratl-Furq!n v. 33: All!h calls the Qur$!n the best word. All!h is the best, so what comes from Him is the best as well. The Qur$!n is All!hs Words. Abu AbdulRahman al-Sulami said, The virtue of the Qur$!n over any other speech is like the virtue of All!h over any creation. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The Qur$!n is the best form of dhikr. When we say make dhikr of All!h, the best dhikr you can do is reading Qur$!n. The best dhikr you can study is studying the Qur$!n. Im!m al-Bukh!ri in his %a"#" mentioned the following "ad#th when discussing the virtues of the Qur$!n: Abu M'sa al-Ashari said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The example of the believer who reads the Qur$!n is like the example of a sweet grapefruit. It smells good and tastes good. The example of the believer who doesnt read the Qur$!n is like the example of the date. It tastes good but there is no smell. The example of the hypocrite who reads the Qur$!n is like mint. It is sour but smells good. The example of the hypocrite who doesnt read the Qur$!n is like a type of fruit that tastes bad and has no smell. How does this "ad#th show the virtues of the Qur$!n? The hypocrite still smells good because of the power of the Qur$!n. Ibn Mas'd said, If you want to know if you really love All!h or not, then look at your relationship with the Qur$!n. If you love the Qur$!n, you love All!h. The s&rahs and verses of Qur!n vary in virtue because All!hs Words and Speech vary in virtue as well. Some of the Qur$!n is better than others. Ahll-sunnah wal-jam!ah agreed upon this concept. Why would All!hs Speech vary in virtue? Isnt it all perfect? How can we say some is better than others? The virtue of anything comes from two sides: who said it and what it is about. From the perspective of who said it, all of All!hs verses are equal because they all come from the same source. When it comes from the perspective of the concept, some verses are higher in virtue. Al-F!ti"ah is the mother of the Qur!n and the best s&rah. (Bukh!ri) What does this mean? The mother of something means that it is the source of it. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Khamr is the mother of all evil because it is the source of all evil. Where in S&ratl-F!ti"ah does it speak about Islamic rulings? Iyy!ka nabudu wa iyy!ka nasta#n $ir!'l-mustaq#m Ulem! said the $ir!' means the religion of Islam. S&ratl-Ikhl!$ is equal to reading 1/3rd of the Qur!n (Bukh!ri) )yatl-Kursi in S&ratl-Baqarah is the best !yah in the Qur!n. (2:255)
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The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said this to Ubayy b. Kab. Which s&rah is equal to 1/4th of the Qur$!n? S&ratl-K!fir&n. Also S&ratl-Zalzalah (based on "asan "ad#th) The Names and Attributes of All!h vary to the point where they can impact the dhikr. There are certain Names which can only refer to All!h such as: Al-Ra"m!n, Al-Qudd&s, M!likil-N!s, M!liki Yawml-D#n. Al-isml-a-am of All!h (the Greatest Name of All!h). There are a"ad#th which speak about the concept that All!h has a Name which is the greatest name of All!h. Ulem! debated over this issue. There are a"ad#th which mention this phrase the Greatest Name of All!h. ,ad#th of Abi Um!mah: All!hs Greatest Name is that which whenever He is asked by it, He will answer the request. It is in three s&rahs: S&ratl-Baqarah, S&rah )le-Imr!n, S&rah *! Ha. In another "ad#th, he mentions v. 163 in S&ratl-Baqarah and v. 2 in S&rah )le-Imr!n, but there is only one Name common between these: All!h. In another "ad#th, the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) heard a man making du! and said, You have asked All!h with His Greatest Name. The ulem! have more than 30 opinions on this issue; these are some: 1) All!h 2) Al-,ayyl-Qayy&m. This is the majority position. 3) It is unknown. This is the opinion of Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Hajar. All!h kept it hidden for a reason so that you will ask All!h by all of His Names. (Similarly, All!h didnt tell us when on Friday du! is accepted and All!h did not tell us when laylatl-qadr is.) 4) Shaykh Bin B!z said there is no such thing as the Greatest Name and the a"ad#th speaking about this means Great Name. There is no one Name with a special quality different from the others. His evidence: the a"ad#th never mention one single Name but always mention multiple Names and different Names. The "ad#th is speaking about when you ask All!h, mention the Name that shows His Greatness. Review: The best form of dhikr is al-Qur!n. Answer: True Is reciting the Qur$!n better than saying sub"!na rabbi al-ala? Answer: It depends. In certain situations, other dhikr can be better than the Qur$!n. This is not by looking at the dhikr itself but by looking at the time or situation. Ibn Taymiyyah said, There are so many disagreements between the scholars over which one is the best, and both sides are correct. Because of this, we can understand that when a man came to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and asked what the
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best deed he can do is, he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Dont be angry, Pray on time, Keep your tongue moist with the dhikr of All!h. His answers were different from each other. Those without knowledge said that these statements contradict each other, but in reality they dont. The best deed for that particular person was to control his anger. When it comes to the deed in itself, the best deed ever is taw"#d, which means the believing in the Oneness of All!h and that He is the only one worthy of worship. Generally speaking, the act of the heart is better than the act of the limbs (i.e. love, fear, hope). At the time of -uhr, the best thing to do is pray. What are three situations when du! or dhikr is disliked or prohibited? Answer: while taking a shower, in the toilet, while sleepy What are four of the etiquettes that should be followed during du!? Answer: face the qiblah, be the state of wu+&, have sincerity, start with praising All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la)
The Best Dhikr After Al-Qur ! n

Samurra b. Jundub narrated that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said the most beloved words to All!h are four: sub"!nall!h, wa al"!mdulill!h, wa la il!ha illAll!h, wa All!hu akbar (Muslim). Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that these words are more beloved to All!h than anything the sun will reach. (Muslim) What does this statement mean? They are better than anything in this dunya. These words cover all aspects of taw"#d and if la "awla wa la quwwatta illa bill!h are added to them, it will cover the concept of qadar. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said four words are the best speech and they are from the Qur$!n. He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) then mentioned the four words. If two people made two deals and one was able to say these four words and the other had so much money, the winner is the one who said the words. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) passed by Umm Hani and she was sitting, she said at that time she was old and weak. He passed by her while she was making dhikr. He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said to her, Say sub"!nAll!h 100 times, it will be equal to 300 slaves from the children of Ism!(l. Say al"amdulill!h 100 times, it would be like donating 100 horses for the sake of All!h to the muj!hid#n. Say All!hu akbar 100 times, it would be like slaughtering 100 camels for the sake of All!h and donating the meat to the poor people. Say la il!ha illa All!h 100 times, and the record of your deeds will fill what is in the heavens and earth. If you say these four words, there would be no one who will come on the Day of Judgment with deeds better than yours except someone who said what you said and added to it. (Im!m A"mad reported this)
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The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, No one will say sub"!nall!h, wa al"!mdulill!h, wa la il!ha illAll!h, wa All!hu akbar, la "awla wa la quwwata illa bill!h unless all of his sins will be erased / forgiven, even if it is as much as the foam of the sea. (in another narration: as long as there were no major sins). The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Saying sub"!nall!h, wa al"!mdulill!h, wa la il!ha illAll!h, wa All!hu akbar will let your sins fall off from your record the same way the dry leaves fall of the trees on a windy day. (Tirmidhi "ad#th of Anas) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Ibr!h(m told me, Say sal!m to your nation. Tell them that Paradise is pure and the soil is pure and the water is pure and sweet and the plants of Jannah are made of sub"!nall!h, wa al"!mdulill!h, wa la il!ha illAll!h, wa All!hu akbar. Im!m A"mad reported in his Musnad: A group from Bani Udhrah came to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). These three became Muslim. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Who will take care of them? #al"a said, I will do that, ya Ras&lull!h. They stayed with #al"a. Later on, one of the battles took place and one of them died during the battle. In another battle, a second man died. The third man died in his bed. #al"a said, I saw these three in his dreams in Paradise. I saw the man who died in his house in a higher place than the ones who died shah#d and the ones who died shah#d entered later on after him. I said this cannot be a true dream and went to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and told him. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, What makes you think this is from Shay'!n? There is no one better than the believer who will live a long life and fill his days with All!hu akbar, sub"!nAll!h, wa la il!ha illa All!h wal"amdulill!h. This man said so many tasb#", ta"m#d, and takb#r that it raised his level in Paradise. (al-Nas!i, al-Alb!ni said it is "asan) Mustadrak al-)!kim: All!h has chosen of all the words for four words to be the best: sub"!nall!h, wa al"!mdulill!h, wa la il!ha illAll!h, wa All!hu akbar. When you say sub"!nAll!h, All!h will write 20 rewards and erase 20 sins. La il!ha illAll!h and All!hu akbar are similar to that. For al"amdulill!h, All!h will write 30 rewards and 30 sins will be erased. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that when you say al"amdulill!hi rabbil .!lam#n for no reason, you get 30 instead of 20 because usually people say it when good things happen to them, but this person is doing it not because something good happened to him but because he wants to make dhikr. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Take your positions and protect yourself. Abu Hurayrah said, We are scared. Is the enemy approaching us? He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, No. I mean take your position and protect yourself from Hellfire. Say sub"!nall!h, wa al"!mdulill!h, wa la il!ha illAll!h, wa All!hu akbar. These words will come on the Day of Judgment and save you and advance you and be the remaining good. (Mustadrak al-)!kim, al-Nas!i)
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Some ulem! said the remaining good means no one can ever claim these deeds from you. From the "ad#th of the person who is the biggest loser on the Day of Judgment, he will be stopped by other people because he did wrong to them (i.e. backbiting) and All!h will tell them to take from his good deeds. Some ulem! said he can take from all your deeds except the remaining good ones, which cannot be touched. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) said in S&ratl-Kahf v. 46: These rewards will remain and always give you hope in the Day of Judgment that you will end up in Paradise.
Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [ones] hope. Musnad of Im!m A"mad: The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, One of the dhikr that you make to praise All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) and honor Him with is to say sub"!nAll!h, wAll!hu akbar wa la il!ha illa All!h wal"amdulill!h. The echo of your voice will be heard around the Throne of All!h and it will be kept repeated so the angels will know who said it. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Dont you like your voice to be heard in such a place? It will be kept repeating for a long time. When the angels hear your voice, they will pray for you as well and intercede for you as well. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Bakhkhin bakh (wow!). [He raised his hand and showed five fingers.] One of five are so heavy on your scale on the Day of Judgment. Sub"!nall!h, wa al"!mdulill!h, wa la il!ha illAll!h, wa All!hu akbar and a good son or a daughter that will pass away during your lifetime and you will be patient and seek the reward for it on the Day of Judgment. Im!m al-Dhahabi said this is an authentic "ad#th. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was approached by a group of his companions who said, Rich people get all the reward they pray like us and fast like us but they have extra money to donate in $adaqah and to go to Umrah, and we cannot. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) has given you the opportunity to give $adaqah other than the $adaqah of wealth. Every time you say sub"!nall!h, wa al"!mdulill!h, wa la il!ha illAll!h, wa All!hu akbar it is $adaqah. (Muslim) A bedouin man came to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and said, Ya Ras&lull!h, Qur$!n is not my thing. I cannot memorize from the Qur$!n. Can you teach me something else that will be sufficient for me? He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Say sub"!nall!h, wa al"!mdulill!h, wa la il!ha illAll!h, wa All!hu akbar wa la "awla wa la quwwata illa bill!h. The man said, Ya Ras&lull!h, these five are for Him. What is for me? [When you read the F!ti"ah in $al!h, you praise All!h and then say ihdinal-$ir!'lmustaq#m] The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, You can say, O All!h, forgive me, shower me with Your mercy, protect me from anything that is harmful, provide for me, guide me. The man held up his hands with closed palms, and he thanked the
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Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and left so happy holding his hands like this. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, This man has filled his hands with so much goodness. [Abu D!w'd, al-Nas!i, authentic "ad#th] Sub"anAll!h, what a big difference between the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and us today. If someone said this to an im!m today, he would say, Shame on you. Dont ever underestimate the power of these words. At any given time, if you see yourself doing nothing, just keep saying these words.
La il ! ha illAll ! h
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Anyone who says la il!ha illAll!h sincerely enters Jannah. (A"mad) The Meaning La negates. The word ilah comes from the root aliha meaning waliha. It is common in Arabic that they replace the letter "amza with wow. Walah in Arabic means something that you are extremely in love with. The word All!h means the One you love the most. There is added meaning to this as well: the Arabs say that love has so many different levels. It starts with liking something and thinking about something. It reaches to a level called loving so much that you worship it. This love is a combination of intense emotion and respect. Ilah means the one you love so much to the extent that you worship it. In the Qur$!n, in S&ratl-Ar!f, All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) says about Firawn: M'sa is going to leave you and your god. Ibn +Abb!s used to deny this qir!!h. He used to read it as: il!hatak and not !lihatak meaning M'sa will leave you and leave worshipping you because Ibn +Abb!s said, Firawn had no gods at this time but claimed he was the god worthy of worship. Ibn +Abb!s is correct and not correct. It is a correct way to read, but it is incorrect because the way we read it today is !lihatak meaning leave you and your gods. Ahll-sunnah say ilah is fi!l which means maf"&l. If ilah is f!il, it means doer, but we say it is maf"&l and means the One you worship. Those who said ilah is f!il said ilah means Creator, Maker, Sustainer, the One who exists. This is how they translate la il!ha illa All!h to mean there is no God that exists but All!h. This sets apart the Sunni belief from the Mutazilah, Ash!irah, -'fis. If you say la il!ha illa All!h means no Creator, Sustainer but All!h, this is correct, but it is not the only meaning and not the direct meaning. Why? When the Prophet
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($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) gathered the people of the Quraysh and told them to say la il!ha illa All!h, what did the Quraysh say? This is weird and unacceptable and rejected. They did not accept it. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Say one word and you will own the whole world. If la il!ha illa All!h means no Creator and no Sustainer except All!h, then why did they not say it? The kuf!r of the Quraysh believed that All!h is the only Creator and there is no Sustainer and no Provider but All!h. The Quraysh dont agree on giving that Sustainer and Creator the absolute submission in worship. When ahll-sunnah say la il!ha illa All!h, they mean there is no one worthy of worship except All!h. The first one who made the statement that ilah means Creator was Abu )asan al-Ashari. If you look at the tafs#r and statements of the early Muslim scholars from the tabi#n and before, you will only hear them say it means there is no one worthy of worship except All!h. All!h is the only One worthy of being worshipped. Ibn Jar(r al-#abari said, It means to forbid the worship of other than All!h. (J!mi al-Bay!n) Abu al-Mu.affar al-Sam!ni: [Indeed I am All!h, la il!ha illa ana so worship Me]. That is: no one deserves worship other than I. (Tafs#r al-Sam!ni) All!h is the only One we submit ourselves to. If this settled into our minds and hearts, our relationship with All!h would be completely different and we would be driven by love of All!h to worship Him and honor Him. No one disobeys All!h once in his or her lifetime or disbelieved in All!h unless he has a lack of love or lack of respect. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) quoted what N'" told his people in the Qur$!n: Why dont you have the proper respect for All!h? All!h described the kuf!r and said, They did not respect All!h or give All!h the proper respect. They love their gods the same way they love All!h or even more. Because of this, you see the difference between the $a"!bah and early generations and us. Anas b. M!lik said to the second generation, You are doing things that we had considered as major sins. The $a"!bah had a rule: dont ever look at how small the sin you committed but always look at how great the Lord is whom you disobeyed. This goes back to taw"#d and honoring and loving All!h. It is the key to Paradise, #m!n, and our d#n. It is the most important testimonial we make in our lifetime.
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The situations where saying la il ! ha illAll ! h is ordained When a person becomes Muslim. Some ulem! said when a child reaches the age of puberty or when the child starts talking. In tashahhud Before death Adh!n and iqam!h After wu+& In the morning and evening adhk!r Khu'bah of Jumuah and khu'bah of (d. Im!m al-Sh!fii said it is a pillar of khu'bah to say it When you are going through calamity or suffering or a difficult time. The proof: When the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was sweating so hard before his death, he was heard saying, La il!ha illAll!h. Death is so hard.
The virtues of la il ! ha illAll ! h Many a"ad#th were mentioned above. This word is the key to Jannah. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that N'" said to his son, I order you to say la il!ha illa All!h. If the seven heavens and seven earths were on one side of the scale and la il!ha illa All!h is on the other, it would be much heaver than the heavens and the earth. If anyone says it sincerely, it will prevent Hellfire from touching that persons body.
Sub "! nall ! h
The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said There are two phrases which are light on the tongue, heavy in the balance, and beloved to the All-Merciful: sub"!nall!hi wa bi "amdihi, sub"!nall!hl-a-#m. (Bukh!ri and Muslim)
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The Meaning Sabba " a indicates the freeing of something from anything shameful, harmful, or improper. It is to free All!h from whatever is evil, improper, or bad. Sabba"a is swimming. When you swim, you go far away from the shore. In Arabic, sabba"a originally means when you distance something from something else. Sub"!nAll!h describes how pure All!h is. Sub"!nAll!h means freeing All!h from anything that is imperfect. This is why this word never comes by itself. It is always in the company of al"amdulill!h or All!hu akbar or la il!ha illa All!h. You always have to add to it another word to describe how good All!h is and how perfect All!h is. Sub"!n means He is so far away from anything which is not proper. The situations where tasb #" is ordained You will never see in the sunnah that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) would say sub"!nAll!h when he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) saw something beautiful or amazing. When they claimed He had a son, he would say sub"!nAll!h. When he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was angry at something or saw something "ar!m done, he would say sub"!nAll!h. Because of lack of pure Arabic understanding, people say sub"!nAll!h in situations where it is not correct. When you see something wrong being done. Suj&d and ruk& Morning and evening To correct the im!m When traveling and descending After $al!h Before sleeping When making istighf!r and tawbah When traveling When hearing the thunder
The virtues of tasb #" The word tasb#" is in the Qur$!n in 30 different times. Six times as statement from the angels, 9 times from a statement of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), 4 times from other prophets, 3 times about animals and creation making tasb#", 3 times about the believers making tasb#", 6 times all of creation making tasb#".
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Al " amdulill ! h
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, For him who says: Sub"!nall!hi wa bi "amdihi (All!h is free from imperfection, and His is the praise), a palm-tree will be planted in Jannah. (Tirmidhi) ,amd is the opposite of criticizing. ,amd is praising. The Meaning , amd means to praise something with the quality that it deserves to be praised with. We say al"amdulill!h for two things: All!hs Names and Attributes, and because of what He has ordained and revealed and sent down to earth. Al"amdulill!h includes shukr. The situations where " amd is ordained Morning and evening adhk!r Before sleeping In the prayer When you hear good news During a calamity. Why do we praise All!h in the time of calamity? It immediately reshapes your thinking it is a calamity but in reality it is good because All!h never decreed anything upon you unless it is good. A stumble may prevent a fall. After sneezing At the beginning and end of du! After eating. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, All!h will be so pleased with His servant when he/she eats or has a sip of water and says al"amdulill!h. After waking up When wearing new clothes
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The virtues of ta " m # d Al"amdulill!h was mentioned more than 40 times in the Qur$!n. Sometimes there is a reason and sometimes there is no reason. One of All!hs Names is Al-,am#d, the One who deserves to be praised, and it is mentioned 15 times in the Qur$!n. In Jannah, there is a house called al-"amd. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, When All!h takes a child, He will ask the angels what the parents say and they will say he said al"amdulill!h and All!h will tell them He has built a house for him in Jannah called baytl-"amd. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) praised All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) the most and will be holding the banner of "amd on the Day of Judgment. His nation praises All!h the most because we know more about the Names and Attributes of All!h than any other prophets and the best praise is to praise All!h with His Names and Attributes. What is the best form of al-"amd? The majority of the ulem! said it is the way All!h mentioned it in the Qur$!n: al"amdulill!hi rabbil .!lam#n. Other ulem! said: al"amdulill!h equal to His bounties and equal to the great things He gives us.
All ! hu Akbar
The Meaning Takb#r means that All!h is the greatest in all aspects and areas of taw"#dlrub&biyyah, al-ul&hiyyah, and al-asm! wal-$if!t Ulem! said it means: He is the greatest in His Names and Attributes. All!hs Mercy is greater than any other mercy. All!hs Knowledge is greater than any other knowledge. All!hs Plan is the perfect plan and the best plan. All!hs Shar#ah and laws are the best laws. All!h is the greatest in His Shar#ah, Qadar, and Names and Attributes. The situations where takb # r is ordained Takb#r!t of (d Adh!n and iq!mah Starting the $al!h ,ad#th of J!bir: Whenever the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) went up Dhikr of traveling Before sleeping
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When hearing about great things happening After $al!h When sacrificing an animal During ,ajj when climbing the two mountains In calamity In the $al!h In the 10 days of Dhul-,ijjah, it is Sunnah to make takb#r
The virtues of takb # r What is the correlation between tasb #" , ta " m # d, takb # r and tahl # l (la il ! ha illAll ! h)? From the Qur$!n and Sunnah, sub"!nAll!h and al"amdulill!h always come together and All!hu akbar and la il!ha illa All!h come together. Why? Tasb#" is to free All!h from anything imperfect and ta"m#d describes All!h as everything perfect. All!h is the only One worthy of worship because He is the greatest.
La " awla wa la quwwatta illa bill ! h

The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Say La "awla wa la quwwata illa bill!h (There is no might or power except with All!h) in abundance, for indeed it is from the treasures of Jannah. (Bukh!ri) The Meaning It means that nothing and no one has the power to change ones condition except by All!hs help and aid. It is one of the treasures of Jannah. The situations were " awqalah is ordained When leaving the house. What is the connection between the statement and leaving the house? You know that you will not achieve what you want without the help and aid of All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la). When a calamity strikes. You are saying: Ya Rabb, this is so difficult to go through, and the only way I will go through it is with Your Help The response to the muadhdhin when he says "ayya ala al-$al!h
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The virtues of saying La " awla wa la quwwata illa bill ! h All of the adhk!r focus on how weak we are without All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la). Without All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la), we cannot make it. The way to not rely on yourself is to always constantly make dhikr.
Verily, All!h and His angels send prayers upon the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). O you who believe! Send prayers upon him and peace! (Al-A"z!b, 33:56) The Meaning Ibn al-Qayyim was of the opinion that for All!h to pray over His Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), it denotes All!hs praise for the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) in the heavens. This is substantiated by Abul-%liyahs narration in Bukh!ri that said, All!hs prayer upon His Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) is for Him to praise him amongst His angels. According to this view, for the angels or human beings to send prayers upon the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) is asking All!h to praise the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and exalt his status. There are two famous opinions regarding what $al!h means: 1) Famous opinion: %al!h means All!hs Mercy upon you. Ibn al-Qayyim wrote extensively about this word from a linguistic and Shar#ah perspective. When All!h makes $al!h on someone, He showers His Mercy on him. This understanding is not correct. It has nothing to do with the root or the Shar#ah meaning because All!h differentiates between these: Those people who will be receiving All!hs prayer and mercy. This means that there is mercy and there is prayer. 2) Strongest opinion: Praise. When All!h makes $al!h on Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), He is praising him. This entails that you have the quality and attributes that make you worthy of being praised by All!h. What does sal!m mean? During the time of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), when they said this, it meant, Ya All!h, praise Mu"ammad. Ya All!h, save Mu"ammad. Should we still continue to say sal!m? At his time, it was about making him safe. Ulem! said that
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during the time of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), it was to save him so that he can deliver his message, and after he passed away, it is to save his sunnah and the interpretation he delivered to us. The situations where sending $ al ! h and sal ! m upon the Prophet ( $ allall ! hu alayhi wa sallam ) is ordained Tashahhud On Fridays. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Say $al!h and sal!m as much as you can on me on Fridays because there is an angel who tells me who did it. This is one of the greatest acts of worship we do on Fridays, even more than reading S&ratl-Kahf. Morning and evening dhikr. If you say it in the morning and evening ten times, then you will receive the intercession of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). Entering the masjid When hearing the name of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) being mentioned Before, during, and after making du! During khu'batl-jumuah. Im!m al-Sh!fii said it is a pillar of making khu'bah and the khu'bah is invalid if it is not done After adh!n %al!tl-jan!zah after the second takb#r Safa and Marwa The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Any time people gather and leave before mentioning All!h and sending $al!h and sal!m on the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), they will regret this gathering on the Day of Judgment.
It is an innovation to say this when you forget something! It is okay if you say it sometimes, but it is bidah if you believe in it. Ibn Abdl-Sal!m and al-Nawawi said it is an innovation to wipe your face after saying this. Some people said it prevents you from evil eye or "asad, but there is no basis for it. Some people say it when they smell good perfume, and there is no basis for it. The virtues of $ al ! h and sal ! m upon the Prophet ( $ allall ! hu 'alayhi wa sallam ) Im!m Ibn al-Qayyim wrote a book called Jal!ll-Ath-ham. This book focuses on the virtues and meanings of $al!h and sal!m on Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). He mentions 40 different virtues that you gain from doing $al!h and sal!m on Ras&lull!h: - All!h raises you 10 levels every time you say it - 10 "asan!t every time you say it - 10 sins are forgiven - It is a reason for du! to be accepted - A reason to receive intercession from the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) - A reason for All!h to protect you - A reason for your worries and sorrows and anxiety to go away
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,ad#th: A man said, Ya Ras&lull!h, what if I make 1/4th of my du! for you? He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, That will be good for you. He said, What if I make / of my du! for you? He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, That will be even better for you. He said, What if I make 2/3rd of my du! for you? He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, That will be even better for you. He said, What if when I make du!, I will not ask anything for myself but just praise All!h and say $al!h and sal!m on you? He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, In this case, All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) will take care of all your affairs and will take care of all your sadness, anxiety, and worries away and give you whatever you want even without mentioning it. Ibn al-Qayyim commented: This will happen to you because it shows the true nature of your love of Ras&lull!h and you love him over yourself. It means you love the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) more than yourself, which is the condition of having perfect #m!n. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Those who dont make $al!h and sal!m on me will miss their way to Judgment, especially on the $ir!'. The ulem! said to give you aid and support, then always send $al!h and sal!m on the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). Also it is one of the reasons to have a bright light on the Day of Judgment. When you make $al!h and sal!m on him once, he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) will praise you ten times and the angels as well. LECTURE ONLINE: by Shaykh Waleed on virtues of $al!h and sal!m on Ras&lull!h What is the ruling on saying the $ al ! h and sal ! m on the Prophet ( $ allall ! hu alayhi wa sallam ) when he is mentioned? There are three different opinions: 1) It is a must every time you hear his name and if you do not, then you are sinful. This is the position of a group of )anafis like al-Ta"!wi, some of the Sh!fiis and M!likis. All!h in S&ratl-A"z!b ordered us to make $al!h and sal!m. Tirmidhi reported that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, A loser is the one who hears my name and doesnt offer $al!h and sal!m on me. From this, the scholars said it is a must. This is the strongest opinion. 2) It is recommended. This is the majority opinion. It is highly recommended. It is only w!jib once in your lifetime. 3) Ibn Taymiyyah and other scholars said it is recommended and only a must when you make du!. This is not a strong opinion because there are many examples when the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) made adhk!r in the morning and night and it was included. The strongest opinion is that when the name of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) is mentioned, it is w!jib. As for initiating it, it is recommended and not w!jib.
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What is the ruling on writing the $ al ! h and sal ! m in abbreviated form such as SAWS, SAS, PBUH, etc.? Im!m al--uy'ti said, It is disliked to resort to these abbreviations when making $al!h and sal!m on the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). The majority of the fuqah! said it is not allowed to abbreviate and they considered this disrespectful. In the old days, when the great im!ms would start saying one "ad#th after the other, people would keep space to later go back and fill in with $allall!hu alayhi wa sallam. They would not write an abbreviation. The ulem! said ahll- "ad#th are the closest people to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) on the Day of Judgment because they said $allall!hu alayhi wa sallam the most. From this, we see the nature of the early Muslim generations. They considered abbreviation a form of disrespect. Today, it is a difference case. We are in the era and time of 140 characters. Abbreviations are not a form of disrespect today. Abbreviations like this are allowed with one condition: You have to say it. The Forms of $ al ! h and sal ! m upon the Messenger of All ! h ! The short one: After the mention of his name, one should say: $allall!hu alayhi wa sallam or alayhi $al!tu wal-sal!m which can be translated as may the praise and peace of All!h be upon him. One can also say additional du! that sends peace and blessings upon him such as: All!humma $alli wa sallim ala nabiyyina Mu"ammad [O All!h send Your praise, prayers and peace upon our Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) Mu"ammad]. ! The long, complete one: There are two authentic narrations with different wordings:
Abu Mu"ammad Kab B. Ujrah (ra+yAll!hu anhu) reported, The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) came to us and we asked him, O Messenger of All!h, we already know how to greet you (i.e. say al-sal!mu alaykum), but how should we supplicate for you? He said, Say: All!humma $alli ala Mu"ammadin, wa ala !li Mu"ammadin, kama $allayta ala
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!li Ibr!h#ma, innaka ,am#dun-Maj#d. All!humma b!rik ala Mu"ammadin, wa ala !li Mu"ammadin, kama b!rakta ala !li Ibr!h#ma, innaka ,am#dun-Maj#d [O All!h, exalt the mention of Mu"ammad and the family of Mu"ammad as you exalted the family of Ibr!h(m. You are Praised and Glorious. O All!h, bless Mu"ammad and the family of Mu"ammad as You blessed the family of Ibr!h(m. You are Praised and Glorious.] (Bukh!ri and Muslim)
Abu )umayd al-Sa(di (ra+yAll!hu anhu) reported: The Companions of the Messenger of All!h said, O Messenger of All!h! How should we supplicate for you? He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) replied, Say: All!humma $alli ala Mu"ammadin wa ala azw!jihi wa dhurriyy!tihi, kama $allayta ala Ibr!h#ma; wa b!rik ala Mu"ammadin wa ala azw!jihi wa dhurriyy!tihi, kama b!rakta ala Ibr!h#ma, innaka ,am#dun-Maj#d [O All!h, exalt the mention of Mu"ammad and his wives and offspring as You exalted the mention of the family of Ibr!h(m, and bless Mu"ammad and the wives and the offspring of Mu"ammad as you blessed the family of Ibr!h(m. You are the Praised, the Glorious]. (Bukh!ri and Muslim)
The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said: ...Send your prayers and blessings upon me, for they will be conveyed to me wherever you may be. (Abu D!w'd)
The Accepted Du !
All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) told us that He will accept our du!s. The scholars of tafs#r discuss the following verse:
And when My servants ask you, [O Mu"ammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me, so let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided. (Al-Baqarah, 2:186) All!h has promised to answer our du!. Does this mean that every du! will be answered and that every request will be fulfilled?
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Does this mean All!h accepts the du! of everyone? They said this is problematic because N'" said, Ya All!h, save my son, and All!h did not accept his du!. All!h did not accept the du! of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) to guide his uncle. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) for an entire month made du! against certain individuals and cursed them in $al!h and made du! against them. All!h forbade him from doing such things and said in S&rah )le-Imr!n: The matter is not in your hands, ya Mu"ammad. All!h might guide them to repentance or punish them. Those individuals whom the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) prayed against all became Muslim. All!h showed His mercy took over his anger. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) prayed for his uncle his whole life and Abu #!lib was so close and said he knew in his heart the religion of Mu"ammad ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was the right religion. All!h said, Mu"ammad, you dont guide those whom you love. Lesson: The matter belongs to All!h. No human being is greater than the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). Ibr!h(m (alayhil-sal!m) made du!, Ya Rabb, forgive my father in S&ratl-Shuar! and All!h did not accept it. What does it mean that All!h answers the du! and prayer of every caller? - Some scholars said this verse has nothing to do with du! al-masalah (du! of requesting) and this verse means I reward those who worship Me / accept their act of worship and reward them for it. Du! is of two types: request and worship. Other group said that there is no doubt that this verse deals with those who worship All!h. They said the verse cannot be limited to the worship only and also includes du! al-masalah. They said any du! made that meets all the conditions and proper etiquettes must be answered by All!h, but All!h answers the du! in different ways. They said: He gives what you ask but according to the time He sees fit All!h answers you by giving you something better than what you ask for. For example, maybe you asked to marry a certain person and All!h gave you something better than what you asked for. All!h protects you from something evil or bad that was supposed to happen to you only because of your du!. (This belief sets apart the heart of the believer and a non-believer). Rabiah al-Adawiyya said, Sub"!nAll!h, even when All!h prevents you from something, He has already given you. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) will not give you what you ask for but will save this du! in a form of reward completely for you. There is one narration
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saying that people on the Day of Judgment when they see the reward they get, All!h will tell them it is all of the du!s that He did not give to them in dunya, they will say, We wish none of our du!s were accepted and that they were all saved for the Day of Judgment. All!h knows that maybe there is one moment on the Day of Judgment when your scale is going to tip the other way and this helps you or All!h wants you to reach a higher level in Jannah. The reward is saved for you on the Day of Judgment. The majority of the fuqah! said this. The proof: "ad#th of Im!m Bukh!ri in al-Adab al-Mufrad and in al-Tirmidhi the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, No Muslim will pray and ask All!h for something and the du! does not ask for something "ar!m or evil or cutting the ties of kinship unless All!h gives him one of three things: All!h gives him what he asks for, All!h delays it until the Day of Judgment, or He will save him from evil equal to the thing he asked for. The companion said, Ya Ras&lull!h, is this the case every time I ask for something? We will make so much du!! The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, And All!h has much more than you can ask for. This is the correct opinion. Some M!likis and Sh!fiis said: All!h promised to answer but He promises answering if He Wills, so He does not promise to answer in all situations. Evidence: In S&ratl-An!m, All!h said He will remove the harm if He wishes. In S&ratl-Sh&ra v. 20. S&ratl-Isr! v. 18. They said it is according to the wish of All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la).
The situations in which du! is most likely to be answered and accepted: ! The Time - On the day of Arafah. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The best du! is on the day of Arafah. - Month of Rama+!n - Jumuah: The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, There is a short period of time on Friday when du!s will be accepted. There are more than 18 opinions, and there are three which are strongest: 1) Right before maghrib. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Seek this period of time right before sunset. 2) ,ad#th of Anas in %a"#" Muslim: This short period of time is when the im!m sits between the two khu'bahs. 3) When the iq!mah has been called before he prays $al!tl-jumuah. Some ulem! said that this time moves from Friday to Friday. - Last 1/3rd of the night. Calculate the time from maghrib to fajr and divide this by 3. - Time of fajr. - First 10 days of Dhul-,ijjah.
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After the $al!h. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, When you make an obligatory prayer, there is a du! that will be accepted. Ulem! said that is during the $al!h or right after the $al!h. One of the best times in $al!h is in suj&d or right before sal!m. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that right before sal!m, choose the most beloved du! to you to say.
The Situation - When drinking zamzam - When following the jan!zah - When breaking the fast - When you are in calamity - When you have been abused or oppressed The People - The just ruler - The father - The mother - The traveler - A righteous son making du! for his parents. A man will say, Ya Rabb, I dont deserve this high level in Jannah. The angel will say, You reached this level in Jannah because of the du! of your righteous children. The Place - Makkah - Inside the masjid - On Arafah during the day of Arafah
Are there signs to indicate that our du ! was answered? %ishah (ra+yAll!hu anha) said, When my tongue started to flow in du! and come so easily and I have goose bumps and tears coming down, then I know that this is the moment All!h opened the door for my du!. Sometimes when you make du!, you have a strong feeling that All!h is helping and aiding you your du!, and this is a sign of acceptance in du!.
The reasons why our du ! are rejected and not answered

Ibn al-Qayyim summarized this into three areas: the caller, the du!, an outside reason. All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) will sometimes not accept your du! because you are a transgressor and are making -ulm. You are making du! while your heart is not into it. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said All!h will not accept the du! of the one who is heedless (his heart is not into it). The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said a man will travel on his camel to go for ,ajj or Umrah and he is dusty and has put in so
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much effort but his food and clothes are from "ar!m and his income is "ar!m and he is nurtured from "ar!m. One of the main reasons your du! is not accepted is if you are not fair and just to those around you. Also, corrupt belief with prevent the du! from being answered. ! When the du! is weak in itself for the following reasons: It involves bad manners towards All!h or involves asking All!h may for something impermissible. The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, A persons du!s will continue to be answered so long as he does not pray for something sinful or for the breaking of family ties. (Muslim) Example: O All!h, forgive me if You wish. This is the wrong wording and doesnt make sense. Example: I ask You by so-and-so to forgive me. This is not correct wording. ! ! ! When the person who is making du! is weak in himself, meaning he is fainthearted in his turning towards All!h. Consuming "ar!m wealth is one of the major reasons why du!s are not answered. Trying to hasten the response.
Dont ever give up on your du!! One of the famous early scholars said, There is something Ive been asking All!h for 20 years. I havent received it yet, and Im not giving up on it yet! Whenever you make du!, you are not losing anything you are winning. All!h will accept your du! as long as you are not hasty. Be patient with it. There is a point in your life when you have to move on. For example: Im!m al-Sufy!n al-Thawri said, For 20 years I have been begging All!h to let me enjoy qiy!ml-layl. All!h then let me enjoy it for 20 years. For 20 years, he was struggling. Sufy!n b. Uyaynah made 80 ,ajjs during his lifetime. Every year he said while he was in Arafah, he said, Ya All!h, dont let this year be the last year to meet You here. The last year he was at Arafah, and someone said, You didnt say the famous du! you make every year. He said to him, I feel shy to ask Him after all these years to let me come again. He died in Dhul-Qadah before the next ,ajj. Du! is a great ib!dah. Some ignorant -'fis say that All!h knows their situation so they dont need to ask Him. This is ignorance. The true righteous, ascetic people who follow the Sunnah of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) make du!.
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%ishah (ra+yAll!hu anha) woke up in the night and didnt see the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) next to her and found him praying. She put his hand in his hair to see if it was wet, and she found it dry and she heard him saying in his suj&d, O All!h, I have wronged myself and committed mistakes, so I ask you to forgive me. J!bir (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said, I saw the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) in Makkah on the Day of Arafah. After he prayed -uhr and a$r, he raised his hands to make du!. The sun went down and the Prophets ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) hands were still up. All!h described the prophets and messengers as praying to Him and begging Him. The concept of there not being a need for du! is a false concept. This also goes against the concept of taw"#d because du! is the essence of ib!dah.
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Chapter 3 | The Ruling of Du ! and Dhikr Related To % al ! h (Prayer)

Al-$al!h means al-du!. What is the linguistic relationship between these? %al!h is $ilah, which means connect. It connects you with All!h during the du!. Every part of the $al!h should be filled with du!.
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The closest one of you comes to his Lord is while he is prostrating, (therefore) make many supplications therein. (Muslim)
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, I have prohibited you from reciting while bowing or prostrating. During the bowing, glorify the Lord. During the prostrations, strive your hardest in making supplications. Most likely, you will be listened to. (Muslim) It is an innovation to make du! between the two sal!ms. Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah said this is an innovation, and many other scholars mentioned this as well. There are two positions in $al!h where you do not make du!: in between the two sal!ms and when you do the short sitting before you stand up before the next rak.ah. During this position, the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) never said anything. He would sit to let his bones settle and then stand up. ! The ruling of supplicating during suj&d and ruk&
Why is suj&d the best position for du!? - You are in total submission. - It is the position that shows your humility the most. This is why Ibl(s never made suj&d to %dam he was arrogant. - Suj&d is the first act of worship All!h ordered after the creation of %dam. One of the first things the ulem! talked about regarding du! and dhikr during ruk&: can you make du! during ruk&? The Sh!fiis and )anbalis said it is recommended to make du! while you are making ruk&. The M!likis said it is disliked for a person to make du! while he is making ruk&. The )anafis said it is recommended to make du! during ruk& in the voluntary prayers but not the obligatory prayers.
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Thumb Rules: - There is no difference between an obligatory and voluntary prayer when it comes to rulings. Anything applying to voluntary prayers must apply to obligatory prayers and vice versa unless there is a proof that there is a difference between the two. For example: %ishah (ra+yAll!hu anha) woke up and found the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was not next to her and her hand touched the feet of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) while he was making suj&d while his two feet were touching each other. This is why the ulem! said it is sunnah that your feet touch each other in $al!h (not just in the voluntary $al!h). The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Pray as you have seen me pray. Those who said it is recommended / good base their argument on several evidences. Their strongest evidence: in Bukh!ri When this s&rah was revealed (S&ratl-Na$r), %ishah (ra+yAll!hu anha) said that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to say in his ruk& sub"!na rabbi al-a-#m The strongest M!liki evidence and )anafi evidence is: The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, In ruk&, glorify and praise your Lord. In suj&d, make a lot of du!. [authentic] This shows that the ruk& is not made for du! but is made for glorifying All!h. Is this "ad#th strong enough for their argument? No. In us&ll-fiqh, we say that when the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said we glorify All!h in the ruk&, it does not mean you are not allowed to do anything else. Why? If this is the case, then it means we cannot glorify All!h in suj&d, which we do. Therefore, their understanding of the "ad#th is not a strong understanding. Many scholars even among the M!likis and )anafis do not take the position that it is not allowed. The strongest opinion is that it is permissible to make du! in ruk&. It is impermissible to read Qur$!n in ruk& and suj&d. What is the wisdom behind this? In ruk& and suj&d, you are in a state of humility, and the Qur$!n is the Word of dignity and glory. Can I quote from the Qur$!n in my du! in suj&d? Yes, you can. Why? What is not allowed is reciting, and when you do this, you are not reciting the Qur$!n. This is why if a sister takes the opinion that she cannot read Qur$!n while on the menses, she can still say the du!s from the Qur$!n. Some scholars said it would be better if you change it a little bit, but there is no need for that and no proof for that.
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Combining all or some of the ordained du! during ruk& or suj&d Im!m al-Nawawi said yes. And you can alternate. The Sunnah of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) is that he would do one at a time. Note: making du! in between the sal!ms is an innovation. Ibn Taymiyyah and other scholars mentioned this as an innovation. Another position in $al!h when you dont say anything is the short sitting before standing to the second and fourth rak.ah.
Making du! by other than what has been narrated in Qur!n and Sunnah, and for a worldly matter during prayer, far+ or nafl (obligatory or recommended prayer). The ulem! debated over this issue. First opinion: The official position of the )anafis and the famous position of the )an!bilah is that it is forbidden and it is not allowed to ask during your $al!h with anything that has to do with worldly life. Evidence: The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said to Mu!wiyah al-Sulami, You cannot say anything in this $al!h from what people usually say. They understand from this that you cannot say anything other than the Qur$!n and Sunnah, and they restricted the du! to only what is from the Qur$!n and Sunnah. T!w's, the student of Ibn +Abb!s, said, Dont make du! in the obligatory prayer with anything other than what came in the Qur$!n. Second opinion: This is the majority opinion. You can ask for anything in your $al!h from the dunya or !khirah. This is the official position of the Sh!fiis and M!likis and one position of the )an!bilah. Evidence: In Bukh!ri, the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, After you finish tashahhud, make du! with whatever you wish. This is a very general statement. They refute the evidence that the )anafis used about not saying anything from peoples talk in $al!h by saying the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was talking about conversation. Mu!wiyah was praying and someone sneezed and said al"amdulill!h and he responded. The $a"!bah were telling him to not talk, and he said, Dont tell me not to talk! I can say what I want! Later, they brought him to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) who told him, In the $al!h there cannot be anything from what people say. What is being referred to is conversation. The evidence for the majority opinion is much stronger and a clear evidence on the permissibility of making du! with whatever you want. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said in suj&d to make any du! you wish.
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There is a narration reported as the statement of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) but it is weak. It was narrated as an authentic narration as a statement from %ishah (ra+yAll!hu anha): Ask All!h for everything, even to help fix the straps on shoes. In $al!tl-fajr and $al!tl- ish! and in several other $al!h, the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) made du! and said, O All!h, save so-and-so person, forgive so-and-so tribe. This is not in the Qur$!n, so the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) himself prayed for things not in the Qur$!n. They are quoting T!w's, but lets look at how the $a"!bah understood the "ad#th. Ibn Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said, In my $al!h, I will ask All!h to provide for me and help me the hay I give to my donkey and the salt I give to my wife. Al-)asan alBa&ri said, Pray and ask in your $al!h with whatever you wish. The salaf are very clear that their practice was to pray for worldly things. ! Making du! in English (or any language other than Arabic) during $al!h in either far+ or nafl (obligatory or recommended prayer). First position: It is not allowed and your $al!h will be invalid if you do so. This is the position of those who said you cannot make du! with that which is not in the Qur$!n. Some )an!bilah also said this. This is the official opinion of the )anafis and it is one opinion among M!likis and one opinion among the Sh!fiis and one opinion among the )anbalis. Note: Abu )an(fahs position is that it is permissible to do so, but the )anafi position is that it is forbidden. The im!m of a madh-hab may have a position that is different from the madh-hab itself. Madh-hab means the school of. It is not based on the choices of the founder. It is the choices of the scholars of the madh-hab. The madh-hab is based on the principles the im!m laid down. Evidence: All!h said to N'" (alayhil-sal!m), Dont ask Me with something that you dont know. The fuqah! said that when you ask All!h with a foreign language, you dont know what it means, so you are asking in a way that has no meaning. The original Muslim jurists were talking about someone making du! in a language he doesnt know the meaning of. Refutation: What if this is a persons language and he knows what it means? This can apply to someone who speaks English and doesnt know Arabic. Anyone who is not Arab, the moment he becomes Muslim, he will be melted in society and Arabic will become his language. In modern days, we have Muslims who dont know Arabic, but at the time of the early generations and early 500 years of Islam, this did not exist there were no Muslims who did not know Arabic. The fuqah! lived at that period of time, so they taught from the culture they had at that time.
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Second position: If the person doesnt understand Arabic and doesnt speak it, he is allowed to make du! in any language. The )anafis, M!likis, Im!m A"mad. This is the most popular opinion of the Muslim jurists. Some Sh!fiis said it is not allowed and he must learn some Arabic phrases. The common opinion is that he can say it in any language and it is based on the principle that All!h only asks you to do what you are capable of. Third position: Im!m Abu )an(fah and some M!likis and Sh!fiis said that even if you know Arabic, you are allowed to make du! in your own language. Shaykh Waleed believes what you must say in Arabic is the dhikr, and then you can use any language you want. ! Making du! for a specific person during prayer. First opinion: The majority of the scholars from the four madh!hib believe in the permissibility. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) prayed for and against individuals in his $al!h. )anafis, Sh!fiis, M!likis and strongest opinion of )an!bilah. Evidence: In prayer, the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) prayed for specific people by name. Also, the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said in his $al!h, O All!h, forgive %ishah all of her sins. Abul-Darda said in his prayer he prays for 70 people in every $al!h. He said, I pray for 70 of my brothers and I name them by name in my $al!h. Im!m al-Sh!fii had 100 people he named in his witr. Abdull!h b. al-Zubayr made du! for his father in $al!h. Second opinion: The )anafi school and one narration from the )anbali scholars state that it is not allowed make du! for someone specific during $al!h and this will invalidate the $al!h. They said that this would be like peoples talk. Third opinion: It is allowed in the nafl (recommended prayer) and not in the far+ (obligatory prayer). This is one narration among the )anbalis. ! If I am praying or listening to the Im!m reciting Qur!n during the prayer, am I allowed to ask for Jannah if verses of Jannah are recited? Am I allowed to ask for salvation if verses of punishment are mentioned? The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said this during his witr prayer. This "ad#th is authentic but was reported when the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) was praying his night prayer. It was never reported during an obligatory prayer. The default rule is that there is no difference between obligatory and nafl prayers unless there is an evidence. It was not recorded that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did this during the obligatory prayers, which shows he ($allall!hu
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alayhi wa sallam) intentionally left it out because it is something obvious that was not recorded. This is the strongest opinion. Other scholars said there is no difference and you can do it in both obligatory and voluntary prayers. ! There is nothing reported from the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) regarding special supplication during tasl#m. This has no basis.
Du ! al-qun & t
Qun&t, according to the definition of the fuqah!, is the name of a du! (supplication) offered during prayer at a specific point while standing. Qun&t means a long period of time invoking with sincerity and seeking the reward of All!h. It means to pray, to ask, to stand up. Qun&t can refer to the specific du! that you say. Qun&t can mean any du! or a specific du!. Terminologies were usually made later on in history. In the early time of Islam during the time of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), companions, and successors, the term qun&t meant one du!. Because of this, when someone says the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) made qun&t in fajr, does it mean he made the specific du! or a long du!? It caused confusion to the later Muslim scholars and they started interpreting the "ad#th of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). Ibn Hajar said, This is one of the most confusing areas of a"ad#th. The ruling of du ! al-qun & t in the mandatory prayers: There are two areas: for no reason or for calamity. ! During fajr Prayer. The Sh!fii scholars say that qun&t in fajr prayer is sunnah whether there is a calamity or not. The majority of the Muslim jurists disagree with the Sh!fiiyyah on this issue. Their position is based on the "ad#th of Anas who said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) continued making qun&t until he passed away. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) spent one month making du! for some people. Anas said that even when this calamity finished, the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) continued making du! in fajr prayer until he died (but not for those people). (this is weak)
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The vast majority of fuqah! disagree with the Sh!fiis and say the "ad#th is weak because of two weak narrators. Also, this "ad#th is abrogated because in Bukh!ri and Muslim, the "ad#th says the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) prayed qun&t for one month and then left it. Abu M!lik said, Father, you have prayed behind the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), Abu Bakr, Uthm!n, and Ali. Have you seen them making qun&t at fajr in the prayer? He said, I have not seen any one of them do such thing, and it is an innovation. There are several narrations like this. Anas b. M!lik himself said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) only made qun&t when he was praying for or against someone. This is reported by Ibn Khuzaymah. Those who said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) prayed qun&t at fajr were referring to that one month when that incident took place. Bottom line: in fajr prayer, it is not sunnah to make qun&t. Im!m A"mad was once praying in al-Sh!fiis masjid and made qun&t. He was asked if someone was )anbali and prayed in a Sh!fii masjid, then should he make qun&t and he said yes because of the unity of the Muslims. ! At Times of Calamity The position of the majority of the Muslim jurists ()anafis, M!likis, Sh!fiis, )anbalis) is that al-qun&t is permissible upon a calamity. A few M!likis, )anbalis, and Sh!fiis said that qun&t is not allowed in the mandatory $alaw!t. Those who said it is allowed to perform du! al-qun&t upon calamity differ on which $al!h it can be done in:
1. The majority of the )anafis, M!likis, and )anbalis said in fajr prayer. 2. You can have the qun&t in any prayer except Jumuah. This is the opinion of
Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, and Ibn Hajar.

3. Only in fajr and maghrib. This is the position of some of the )anbalis. 4. In any prayer that is read out loud. This is the position of some )anafis and
)anbalis. Who can decide which calamity we make qun&t for? - The )an!bilah said the im!m of the masjid or community - The majority of fuqah! said the head of the Islamic state in a Muslim country
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Qun&tl-n!zilah is only done in the masjid. You do not make it in your own individual prayer. The fuqah! said it is ordained in: 1) war 2) plague, diseases 3) prices have increased and people are in trouble financially 4) mud slides, wildfires The vast majority of fuqah! said it is permissible and recommended to make qun&t for calamity when it strikes the Muslim world or a specific region of Muslims because of the concept of brotherhood. Only a few M!likis and Sh!fiis said there is no concept of qun&t for calamity. Their evidence is a "ad#th from Umm Salamah in which the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Dont make qun&t at fajr. Ibn Mas'd said, The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) never made qun&t in his $al!h. Refutation: These two narrations are absolutely weak. The first one has several weak narrators. Also, even if these "ad#th had a basis, they are not referring to the qun&t of calamity. For those who said it is permissible to make it during calamity, in which $al!h? The )anafis, )anbalis and some M!likis said only in fajr. Why? Because most of the a"ad#th mention that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did it in fajr prayer. The )an!bilah disagreed and said it can be done in any prayer except Friday prayer and (d because there is already du! in the khu'bah. Their evidence is that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) made du! for a calamity in ish! prayer, and Ibn Umar said it was in maghrib. (Bukh!ri) In another narration, Abu Hurayrah said he heard the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) do it at ish! prayer and fajr prayer. Ibn +Abb!s said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) made qun&t at -uhr, a$r, maghrib, ish! and fajr for a whole month. (Not every single $al!h) Ibr!h(m al-Nakh!i said qun&t of calamity during jumuah is bidah. The early companions forbade making qun&t of calamity during jumuah. Some )an!bilah said only during maghrib and fajr, and they base this on a "ad#th saying the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) made it at these times. Some of the fuqah! will see one evidence and base his opinion on what he has seen, but he doesnt have access to everything. Ilm (knowledge) is collective. You look at everyone so that it is a complete picture. Some scholars like the )anafis and )an!bilah said only in the prayer you read aloud. The strongest opinion is with the )an!bilah, which is all of the five prayers except Jumuah and (d. This is the opinion of Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, and Ibn Hajar. There is consensus among the Muslim jurists that there ! If someone catches the congregational fajr prayer after the Im!m has finished alqun&t, he does not have to make up al-qun&t in his second rak.ah.
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! !
The majority of the Muslim jurists dislike making qun&t upon a calamity during voluntary prayers. There is no specific form of du! for qun&tl-naw!zil. In the qun&t of calamity, the entire du! should focus on the issue being prayed for. Ulem! said it is recommended to not make it long. When Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) was in the war with the Romans, he made du! against the Christian Romans. When Ali was in a war, he made du! against the people he was fighting.
When should we perform al-qun & t during the prayers? Ibn Hajar said, After collecting the evidences, I concluded that the people who described the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) making his du!, they confused between the qun&t of witr and the qun&t made during calamity. The vast majority of a"ad#th in relation to the qun&t of witr, it is done before ruk&, and when he makes du! for calamity, it is after ruk&. Can it be done in any way? Yes. The qun&t of witr should be before ruk&. When it comes to calamity, it is after ruk&. This is the common practice of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam).
1. According to the M!likis and one narration from the Sh!fii madh-hab, it is
recommended to make the qun&t before ruk&. Al-Nawawi said, Our madh-hab (Sh!fii) is that qun&t takes place after ruk&. This is the view adopted by Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali... (Majm&)
2. According to the majority of the scholars from the four madh!hib, it is
recommended to make the qun&t after ruk&. Ibn Abb!s, Anas and Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did the qun&t after ruk& (A"mad) and there are narrations from the companions that they made their qun&t after ruk& such as Umar, Uthm!n and Ali. (#abari, Bay"aqi)
3. Some of the Sh!fiis and M!likis said that the qun&t can be made before or after
performing ruk& and that is why we see narration suggested that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and his companions did both ways.
4. After analyzing all the narrations related to this issue, Ibn Hajar said, We learn
that it was the normal practice to recite the qun&t before ruk&. However, on certain occasions (such as the befalling of a calamity, etc.) the qun&t would be recited after ruk&. (Fat"l-B!ri)
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Rulings regarding al-qun & t ! Raising hands during du ! al-qun & t First opinion: It is recommended to raise your hand during du! al-qun&t. This is the position of Abu Y'suf, some M!likis, the strongest among the Sh!fii and )anbali scholars. Anas b. M!lik reported that he saw the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) raise his hands when he was making qun&t. (Bay"aqi in his Sunan). Also, it has been narrated that Umar, Ali, Abu Hurayrah, Ibn Mas'd, Ibn Abb!s and others did as well. (Sunanl-Bay"aqi, Mu$annaf Abdul-Razz!q, Qiy!ml-Layl by Al-Marw!zi) Second opinion: It is not recommended to raise your hand during du! al-qun&t. This is the position of the )anafis, the famous among M!likis and one narration among the Sh!fii scholars. Abu )an(fah said you point with your finger but do not raise your hands. Why? Because he said the Prophet only raised his hands three times during his lifetime: Arafah, istisq!, and the battle of Badr. However, this claim is not correct. ! Raising the eyes toward the sky during du ! al-qun & t. The majority of the Muslim jurists dislike raising the eyes to the sky during al-qun&t. Ibn )azm and some Sh!fii scholars said that it is forbidden.
The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, How is it that some people raise their eyes towards the sky during al-$al!t (the prayer)? He stressed (this point) and added, People must refrain from raising their eyes towards heaven in $al!t (prayer) or else their sight will certainly be snatched away. (Bukh!ri). The position of Ibn )azm and the Sh!fiis is the strongest position. ! The Muslim jurists agreed that the Im ! m should not make du ! alqun & t lengthy. Some said it should be as long as it takes to read S & ratl-Inshiq ! q .
The Ruling of al-Qun & t during Witr Prayer

The majority of the Muslim scholars (the M!likis, Sh!fiis, )anbalis and some )anafis) are of the opinion that it is sunnah (recommended) because the companion who
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narrated to us about the Prophets ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) witr did not mention that he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to do qun&t. Another opinion, according to Abu )an(fah, is that it is w!jib (obligatory), whereas on the opposite side of the spectrum, some M!likis have said qun&t in witr is not sunnah but rather, as T!w's said, is bidah. The )anafis said it because the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) in an authentic "ad#th told al-)asan after he taught him the du! of qun&t, Put / make this du! part of your $al!h. This is an order, which is why they said it is w!jib. Refutation: The majority said that if this is correct, then no one among them said the specific format is w!jib, so if they are saying the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) told al-)asan that the du! is w!jib, then that means the specific wording is w!jib also, but the )anafis dont believe in this. The M!liki position considers qun&t in witr bidah. When it comes to fiqh, dont think that you know everything. You will be surprised how the fuqah! have different opinions! The evidence of the M!likis: someone said, I was with Abu Hurayrah for ten years and never saw him pray qun&t in witr. Refutation: We have clear a"ad#th which show us that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) told al-)asan to make du! of qun&t and Umar and Ibn Mas'd did qun&t in witr. Therefore, we say it is recommended and All!h knows best. Is al-qun & t ordained in all witr prayers or during specific times of the year? The )anafis, )anbalis and one narration among the Sh!fiis: It is recommended all year long. Evidence: The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to make qun&t before ruk& as Ubayy b. Kab described. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) told al-)asan to make du! of qun&t in the witr and didnt specify a time of year. The Sh!fiis and one narration among the M!likis and )anbalis: It is only recommended in the last half of Rama+!n. Qat!dah and al-)asan al-Ba&ri said it is recommended all year long except the first half of Rama+!n. Some Sh!fiis have said it is only recommended in Rama+!n.
The strongest opinion is that you can make qun&t any time. It is not w!jib to do it in every witr, but you should do it sometimes and leave it sometimes. Why are there so many opinions? Because some a"ad#th said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did it and others said he did not.
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Is there a specific form for al-qun & t of witr ? You can add to the qun&t of witr. Al-Alb!ni said you cannot add to it, which is a weird position that no one agreed with. Umar added to it.
The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) taught al-)asan b. Ali du! al-qun&t in witr prayer: All!humma-hdini fi man hadayta wa !fini fi man !fayta wa tawallani fi man tawallayta wa b!rik li f#ma a'ayta, wa qini sharra ma qa+ayta, fa innaka taq+i wa la yuq+a alayk, wa innahu la ya+illu man w!layta, tab!rakta rabbana wa ta!layt. [O All!h, guide me among those whom You have guided, pardon me among those whom You have pardoned, turn to me in friendship among those on whom You have turned in friendship, and bless me in what You have bestowed, and save me from the evil of what You have decreed. For verily You decree and none can influence You; and he is not humiliated whom You have befriended, nor is he honored who is Your enemy. Blessed are You, O Lord, and Exalted. There is no place of safety from You except with You]. (Nas!i) Umar prayed qun&t with the following words: All!humma inna nasta#nuka wa numinu bika, wa natawakkalu alayka wa nuthni alaykal-khayr, wa la nakfuruka. All!humma iyy!ka nabudu wa laka nu$alli wa nasjudu, wa ilayka nas! wa na"fid. Narju ra"mataka wa nakhsha adh!baka, inna adh!bakal-jadd bil-kuff!ri mul"aq. All!humma adhdhibl-kafarata ahll-kit!b ladh#na ya$udd&na an sab#lika [O All!h, verily we seek Your help, we believe in You, we put our trust in You and we praise You and we are not ungrateful to You. O All!h, You alone we worship and to You we pray and prostrate, for Your sake we strive. We hope for Your mercy and fear Your punishment, for Your punishment will certainly reach the disbelievers. O All!h, punish the infidels of the People of the Book who are preventing others from following Your way]. (Bay"aqi) Al-Nawawi said, The correct view which was stated definitively by the majority of scholars is that there are no specific words, rather any du! may be said. (Majm&) Muslims should say $al!t and sal!m upon the Messenger ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) during al-qun&t because this is one of etiquettes of du!. The Im!m or person alone should not say al-qun&t in witr out loud, according to the )anafis, M!likis and one narration among the Sh!fiis. The )anbalis, however, and the strongest opinion among the Sh!fiis and some M!likis are of the opinion that the Im!m should say it out loud, but the one praying alone should not.
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Can you make the qun&t in English? Yes, you can. Do you say it out loud? The )anafis said that it is not allowed to be out loud but should be in secret. The famous position of the M!likis and some Sh!fiis also agree with this. They said this because they said All!h ordered us to make du! silently. The majority of the scholars said that you are allowed to make it out loud. This is the position of some )anafi scholars as well. The evidence for this is an authentic narration of Ubayy b. Kab (ra+yAll!hu anhu) in Rama+!n made du! of qun&t out loud and people were behind him. He did this in front of Umar b. al-Kha,,!b and the companions, and none of the companions opposed this or said it was wrong. This is proof that there was consensus of the companions at the incident that what he did was acceptable. If you are by yourself, then you do not say it out loud. What are the differences between al-qun & t of witr and al-qun & t of n ! zilah ? Ibn al-Zubayr saw someone raising his hands and make du! after rising from ruk&. He told him the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) never did such action in the prayer. ()aythami in Majmal-z!w!(d) Qun&t of witr is only in the witr prayer and qun&t of n!zilah can be done in obligatory prayer. Most of the time the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) made qun&t of witr before ruk& and qun&t of calamity after ruk&. In qun&t of witr, you can make any type of du!, but the n!zilah is restricted to the calamity itself. Qun&t of n!zilah must be approved by the im!m. Qun&t of witr does not need approval of anyone. There is a narrated form for qun&t of witr, but there is no format ever reported for qun&t of n!zilah.
Making Du ! for the Completion of Qur ! n

No Muslim scholar known to Shaykh Waleed has spoken about the permissibility of du! at the completion of Qur!n during the mandatory prayer or discussed this issue. As for making du! at the completion of Qur!n during the voluntary prayer, the majority among )anafis, M!likis and Sh!fiis say it is disliked and some even say it is bidah. The )anbalis said it is recommended. It is the choice of al-Nawawi but only for the person who is praying alone. Anas (ra+yAll!hu anhu) used to gather his family after completing the recitation of the Qur!n, and then make the du! with his family members following and saying !m#n. Im!m A"mad used to say, I witnessed the people of Makkah offering du! kha'mlQur!n in Rama+!n in the witr. (Al-Mughni by Ibn Qud!mah)
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The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) never reported a du! for the completion of the Qur$!n. No one among the Muslim scholars said that you can make du! of kha'mlQur!n in the obligatory prayers. Ulem! debated over the permissibility of doing kha'ml-Qur!n in voluntary prayers. First opinion: It is disliked to make du! of kha'ml-Qur!n during tar!w#" or witr. This is the position of the )anafis, the M!likis, Sh!fiis. The Sh!fiis said this is one of the innovations in religion and should be stopped in the mas!jid. Evidence: The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) never did it and not a single companion did it and not a single successor did it, so it is an innovation. Shaykh alUthaym(n said it was bidah. Second opinion: The )an!bilah said it is recommended to do it during the voluntary prayer. (Im!m al-Nawawi said it is recommended if you do it by yourself but it is not allowed to do it in congregation.) Evidence: Im!m A"mad was asked why he said this when there is no proof for it, and he said, I have seen the people of Makkah doing it. Makkah is an international city and scholars from all over the world come and visit and the people of Makkah are doing it, and I never heard anyone oppose it or object to it, and they have been doing this year after year. Im!m A"mad is saying that it was like consensus of the scholars. Du! of kha'ml-Qur!n was only reported outside of the $al!h by Anas b. M!lik. When he used to finish the Qur$!n, he would call his family members and neighbors and he would make du!. This is the only authentic narration we have from the early generations. Shaykh Waleed advises that if someone is in the prayer and wants to make du! of kha'ml-Qur!n, then combine the du! of kha'ml-Qur!n with the witr together. Note: In the 80s in Makkah, they used to have du! of kha'ml-Qur!n before ruk& and du! of witr after ruk&. Scholars then gathered and discussed the issue and came up with this solution and combined them together so that madh!hib agree. In the du!, you ask All!h by the great deed you just finished (completing the Qur!n).
Dhikr & Du ! During Suj & d of Til ! wah (Recitation) or Shukr (Thanking)
The Muslim should say sub"!nall!h as he/she does in the regular prayer during suj&d. Other du!s can be added according to the M!liki, Sh!fii, and )anbali scholars. The )anafis, on the other hand, say that you should only say the tasb#".
Exalt the Name of your Lord, the Most High. (Al-Ala, 87:1)
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When this verse was revealed to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), he said, Make it part of your suj&d (A"mad), and this includes all kinds of suj&d. It also has been reported that he used to say other du!s in suj&d. The correct opinion: it is recommended and not w!jib. Therefore, if you skip it, it is not a sin. The most authentic "ad#th: The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Say sub"!na rabbi al-ala and make it part of your suj&d. Therefore, in the suj&d of til!wah or shukr, you say this. Suj&d of shukr is done when you hear good news. The strongest opinion among the scholars is that you do not need to have your "ij!b on or have wu+& or face the qiblah for suj&d of til!wah or suj&d of shukr because it is not $al!h. The point is the immediate response of the suj&d.
Dhikr & Du ! during the Khu ' bah of Jumuah or ( d

The Muslim jurists agreed that it is recommended for the kha'#b to make du!. In one narration, Amm!r saw Bishr b. Marw!n raising his hands while he was making du! during khu'batl-Jumuah. Amm!r told him, May All!h disgrace these two hands. I have seen the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) in the $al!h and he never raised his hands like this. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) would only point his finger. This "ad#th shows two things: 1) The im!m is not allowed to raise his hands in khu'batl-Jumuah when making du! except for praying for the rain. 2) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to make du! in the khu'bah. The companions approved the du! of Bishr in the khu'bah. They disagreed with him raising his hands. Can a listener raise his hands while the im!m is making du!? It is permissible to raise your hands as a listener during the du!. You dont have to. You can say !m#n without it. Some scholars said it is bidah to do it, which is not correct. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) told us that raising the hands is a time when the du! will be accepted. Im!m al-Sh!fii said making du! for the Muslims in the khu'bah is one of the pillars of the khu'bah. Some scholars like Shaykh al-Alb!ni said you are not supposed to make du! in the khu'batl-Jumuah except related to the topic, but this opinion is sh!dh and has no basis in Shar#ah. ! The Muslim scholars agree that making du! during the khu'bah of Jumuah is ordained for the Im!m. He should choose from whatever du! he likes without committing to a particular one because there are no special supplications. There is no special supplication between the two khu'bahs for the Im!m or the attendees.
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! ! !
There is no specific supplication on the eve or day of (d. The ruling of takb#r during (d. What is the ruling of congratulating one another by offering du! in both (ds? The khu'batl-h!jjah has been narrated from the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), and in it there is du!. According to the )anafis, some M!likis and one narration among the Sh!fiis and )anbalis, it is permissible to congratulate others on (d and to pray for each other that All!h accept your deeds and grants you a happy (d. It has been narrated from the companions that they used to do so. (Mentioned by al--uy'ti and others; Im!m A"mad said the isn!d of this narration is good) Jubayr b. Nufayr said, When the companions of Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) met on the day of (d, they would say to each other, Taqaball!hu minna wa mink (may All!h accept from us and you). (Ma"!miliyy!t; Ibn Hajar, Fat"l-B!ri) Im!m M!lik disliked such du!s because it is imitating the people of the book. Im!m M!lik was very strict about this. However, many from among the M!likis and )anbalis say that if a person congratulates you, you can congratulate them back.
The Prayer of Need ( "! jah ) and Its Du !

It has been narrated that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, If anyone wants something from All!h, or from a human being, he should perform ablution and do it well, then pray two rak.ahs, then extol All!h Most High and invoke blessing on the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), then say, There is no god but All!h, the Clement and Generous. Glory be to All!h, the Lord of the mighty throne. Praise be to All!h, the Lord of the universe. I ask Thee for words which will guarantee Thy mercy, actions which will make certain Thy forgiveness, a supply of every virtue, and freedom from every offense. Do not leave me a sin which Thou do not pardon, a care which Thou do not remove, or a want that meets with Thy pleasure which Thou do not supply, O Most Merciful of the merciful ones. (Tirmidhi and he said this "ad#th is weak) Al-Alb!ni said, Rather, it is +a#f jiddan (very weak). Al-)!kim said maw+& (fabricated) a"ad#th were narrated from Abu Awfa. It has been narrated that Ibn Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said regarding supplicating for a missing thing: Pray two rak.ahs and after tashahhud say, O the One who guides the misguided and the One who returns the missing things. I ask you by your izzah & sul'!n (Might, Power, Dignity, Owning every thing) to return to me what I have missed. It is from you and your generosity and goodness to me. (Ibn Abi Shaybah, al-Bay"aqi said it
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is "asan narration from Ibn Umar and al-)!kim said it is narrated by trustworthy narrators). Note: There was no specific format. If you have a need for something, you can pray two rak.ahs and make du! for whatever you want. This "ad#th is very weak and reported by Tirmidhi and has a person who is a liar in the chain. It is not Sunnah and this is what Im!m M!lik said.
The Du ! of Istikh ! rah
All!humma inni astakhayruka bi ilmika wa astaqdiruka bi qudratika wa asaluka min fa+likala-#mi, fa innaka taqdiru wa la aqdiru wa talamu wa la alamu wa anta all!mul-ghuy&bi. All!humma in kunta talamu anna h!dhal-amra khayrun li fi d#ni wa ma!shi wa !qibati amri faqdirhu li wa yassirhu li thumma b!rik li f#hi wa in kunta talamu anna h!dhal-amra sharrun li fi d#ni wa ma!shi wa !qibati amri fa$rifhu anni wa$rifni anhu waqdirliyal-khayra "aythu k!na thumma ar+ini bihi. [O All!h, I seek Your guidance [in making a choice] by virtue of Your knowledge, and I seek ability by virtue of Your power, and I ask You of Your great bounty. You have power, I have none. And You know, I know not. You are the Knower of hidden things. O All!h, if in Your knowledge, this matter (then it should be mentioned by name) is good for me both in this world and in the Hereafter (or: in my religion, my livelihood and my affairs), then ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. And if in Your knowledge it is bad for me and for my religion, my livelihood and my affairs (or: for me both in this world and the next), then turn me away from it, [and turn it away from me], and ordain for me the good wherever it may be and make me pleased with it.] ! The du! of istikh!rah is ordained for Muslims and there is no disagreement amongst the scholars as Im!m al-Shawk!ni said. (N!ill-Awtar) The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to teach his companions to make istikh!rah in all things, just as he used to teach them s&rahs from the Qur!n. He said, If any one of you is concerned about a decision he has to make, then let him pray two rak.ahs of non-obligatory prayer, then say: . (Bukh!ri) ! The matters in which istikh ! rah is ordained On the permissible things. It cannot be made on the obligatory or recommended or "ar!m things. It comes from the word ikhtara, which means
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the thing that brings good to you. It is allowed when you are deciding between two recommended things and dont know what to choose. It should be after the prayer. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Pray two rak.ahs and then make this du!. These two rak.ahs must be voluntary and not sunnah or far+. The Muslim jurists agree on repeating it. Why? It is du! and du! can be repeated. No one can make istikh!rah on behalf of anyone else. What if someone has menses or "ay+? In this case, they make the du! without the $al!h. Can the du! be read from a piece of paper? Yes. If you do not know Arabic, you can read the translation.
Du ! of istikh ! rah should be after the prayer Ibn Abi Jamrah said. The wisdom behind putting the $al!t before the du! is that istikh!rah is intended to combine the goodness of this world with the goodness of the next. A person needs to knock at the door of the King (All!h), and there is nothing more effective for this than prayer because it contains glorification and praise of All!h and expresses ones need for Him at all times. (Fat"l-B!ri)
The Muslim jurists agree that the person should not add to the du! of istikh!rah anything from his own or change it, but some )anafi, M!liki and Sh!fii scholars said it is permissible to praise All!h and to send $al!h and sal!m on Ras&lull!h in the beginning and the end of the du! of istikh!rah. Repeating istikh!rah is permissible because it is a form of du!, and any du! can be repeated. This was stated by some )anafi and Sh!fii scholars. Making istikh!rah for someone else was never reported from the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), nor from any one of his companions. The "ad#th clearly states that this is a du! that the person makes directly for himself, unless the matter will affect the person in an indirect way; in such a case, it is allowed (example: a mother making istikh!rah for her sons marriage proposal). There are no specific etiquettes unique to making istikh!rah, and one follows the same etiquette for making any other du!.
! !
Many people think that once they pray istikh!rah they will have a dream or see a sign, but this is made up. Im!m al-Nawawi said, When you make du! of istikh!rah, you should not have your decision made. You should come to the $al!h with a neutral stand. Shaykh Waleed disagrees with this. In the du! itself you are asking if something is good for you. Du! of istikh!rah does not mean All!h chooses for you. If All!h chooses for you, then All!h takes the responsibility, which is against qadar. You make the choice and carry
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the responsibility of your choice. We are believers and people of faith: we do research and make the decision. Why do you pray istikh!rah? You are saying, Ya All!h, You know and I dont. You are capable and I am not. My research leads me to choose this, but You are the One who knows everything. Your du! is requesting one of two things: 1) All!h blesses your choice so even if the choice is evil, you are asking All!h protect you from the evil of it. 2) All!h will take it away from you. All!h will change your heart and make it go towards something else. Ulem! discussed why we pray first and then make the du!. It is because of etiquette. All!h is teaching us to do something for the !khirah and then make the du! because the du! is focused on dunya. You fulfill the rights of the !khirah first.
Dhikr & Du ! After the Prayer

! Start with All ! hu Akbar or astaghfirull ! h
When the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to finish his prayer he would say: Astaghfirull!h (I seek All!hs forgiveness) 3 times, and All!humma antal-sal!m wa minkal-sal!m tab!rakta ya dhal-jal!li wal-ikr!m (O All!h, You are Peace and from You is all peace, blessed are You, O Possessor of majesty and honor) once. (Muslim) It is common for ahll-"ad#th in India to say All!hu akbar three times after the $al!h. Ibn Hajar mentioned this too. However, most scholars disagree with this because there is a very clear "ad#th that when the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said the tasl#m, he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) would then say astaghfirull!h three times. The text is very clear and there is no space for arguing. There is a "ad#th of Ibn +Abb!s: We used to recognize the end of the $al!h by takb#r. Refutation: This "ad#th is ambiguous. Ibn +Abb!s (ra+yAll!hu anhu) was a child. Ulem! said he didnt mean All!hu akbar but was referring to what happened after the $al!h because you can say the adhk!r of the $al!h in different ways, and takb#r could mean saying the three words together: sub"!nAll!h wal"amdulill!h wa All!hu akbar. ! How to make the dhikr with your hand The sunnah is to count with the fingertips of your right hand by putting them on the palm of the same hand.
Abdull!h b. Amr said, I saw the Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) counting the tasb#". (Abu D!w'd). Ibn Qud!mah said, With his right hand.
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It is done with the right hand as Ibn Umar narrated. The proper way is to start with the pinky finger and curl it in until all fingers are inside the palm and then you open it again and start over and curl them in again. This is k!na yaq#du tasb#". You can do it another way and it is not "ar!m. ! The ruling of using masba"ah (prayer beads)
It is best to do it with your hand because the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Use the tips of your fingers because they will testify for you on the Day of Judgment. (Im!m A"mad) It was reported from several companions that they used to make tasb#" with stones. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) passed by -afiyyah and she was siting and making tasb#" with the seeds of the dates. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, What is this? She said, Ya Ras&lull!h, Im counting my tasb#". He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Said sub"!nAll!h as many as you have. She had in front of her 4,000 seeds. Al-Shawk!ni and Ibn al-Qayyim wrote about this. The maximum in a"ad#th is always 100 times for dhikr. The -'fi dhikr always has a huge number, which is taken from Buddhist monks. The point from the "ad#th: The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did not forbid her from using the seeds. He was worried about her overdoing it. Since the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) approved the use of the seeds, Ibn Taymiyyah said it shows the permissibility of using stones to count the a"ad#th. This is the position of the majority of Muslim jurists. Some fuqah! including some M!likis said using beads is not allowed because of the origin. Shaykh Zayd Abu Bakr wrote about the history of beads and where they came from and found they came from Buddhist monks and then to Christianity and some -'fis took it from their influence and another practice and it became something people believed in and the shaykh would pass it on to his students, etc. Shaykh Waleed: It isnt a Sunni way of making tasb#" and not a sign of ahll-sunnah. When you read about the ulem!, they dont have the sib"ah hanging around their necks or hands. If someone uses it because he wants to count with it, it is not bidah or sinful or "ar!m. It always represents certain groups and people who do not 100% follow the Sunnah. ! ! The ruling of raising hands during du! after $al!h Raising ones voice while making dhikr after $al!h
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Ibn Abb!s (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said, They used to raise their voices when making dhikr after finishing the prayer in the time of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). In college, Shaykh Waleed prayed with Shaykh al-Alb!ni one day a$r prayer. He finished his prayer and Shaykh Waleed starting saying the tasb#" out loud. The shaykh said, Who was praying next to me? The one who disturbed me in my adhk!r. Shaykh Waleed said, Shaykh, if you raise your voice too, then you wouldnt be confused. It is Sunnah. The shaykh said, M!sh!All!h, you are teaching me the Sunnah? Shaykh Waleed said the narration of Ibn +Abb!s and the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) raised his voice with dhikr after $al!h. The shaykh said Im!m al-Sh!fii said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did this to teach them what to say. Shaykh Waleed say Im!m M!liks response of why didnt the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) raise his voice with all of the adhk!r and the "ad#th in Bukh!ri of Ibn +Abb!s in which the word meaning raise his voice was used and if it was for the purpose of teaching then it would have only been done a few times, so there must have been another purpose. Shaykh al-Alb!ni said, It is good to follow the evidence, but that is not my position. The Sh!fiis said you should not raise your voice and some )anafis also said this because it is only done for teaching. The )an!bilah said you should raise your voice. The )anafis said you should not raise your voice because the du! in general should be in a soft voice and not loud voice. The strongest opinion among the scholars is to raise your voice in tasb#", takb#r, tam"#d and la il!ha illa All!h. This is the opinion of al-#abari, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn )azm, one narration of the M!likis. ! ! If two prayers are combined together, it is sufficient to recite the post-prayer adhk!r only once. If a person forgets to make adhk!r during the allowed time or could not due to valid reasons, he/she can read it whenever they are able. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, If you overslept or forget about $al!h or dhikr that you used to do, then you should make up the $al!h and the dhikr. ! Im!m M!lik and Mulla Ali Qary mentioned that if a women prays at home, she should make the dhikr at home, as she will receive the same reward as the men in the masjid. In some a"ad#th, the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Whoever prays in the masjid and sits in the masjid making dhikr until the sun rises gets the reward of complete Umrah. It is recommended that they have a musalla in the house. Abu Bakr had a musalla in the house. This means a designated area in the house for prayer.
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Chapter 4 | Rulings related to Dhikr and Du !

The Ruling On Raising Hands During Du !
The Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Your Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, is Kind and Most Generous, and He is too kind to let His slave, if he raises his hands to Him, bring them back empty. (Abu D!w'd) First position: Raising the hands is recommended in du! in general. This is the position of the majority of the Muslim jurists (Sh!fiis, )anafis, )anbalis, one narration of Im!m M!lik). The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) raised his hands in so many a"ad#th. Al-Nawawi said about 100 "ad#th were reported in relation to raising the hands. Im!m Bukh!ri has a chapter on raising hands in du!. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) raised his hands before the battle of Badr, when asking for rain, etc. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, All!h feels shy when you raise your hands to let them go empty. He will also answer you in one of four ways. Second position: Raising the hands is disliked, but you can point with your finger to the sky. This was one narration from Im!m M!lik. He said, I dislike for a person to raise his hands except for $al!tl-istisq!. His opinion was to raise one finger. The evidence goes against this opinion. He restricted it to istisq! but it was reported in other than that. Third position: Raising the hands is recommended only in times of calamity or during istisq! (praying for the rain). This was the other narration from Im!m M!lik. Im!ms al--uy'ti and al-Nawawi said that there are around 100 a"ad#th showing that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) would raise his hands during du!. (Tadr#bl-R!wi) Abul-Dard! (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said, Raise up these hands of yours in supplication before they become manacled with the chains [of Hellfire]. Raising the hands shows humility and the true nature of human beings that he is in need. It stimulates All!hs Mercy and Generosity.
What Is the Ordained Way of Raising the Hands?
M!lik b. Yas!r said that the Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, When you ask of All!h, ask of Him with the palms of your hands, not with the backs of them. (Abu D!w'd)
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The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) would raise his hands as high as his chest in du! and would then pass them over his blessed face. (Mu$annaf Abdul-Razz!q) Ulem! said there are types of raising the hands: First position: To raise your hands at the same level of your shoulder holding them together. This is known as du! al-raghab. Second position: To raise your hands higher than your chest and not above your head. This is known as du! al-ibtih!l. This is for when things are more severe. Third position: You only point with your index finger. This is known as du! al-ikhl!$. This is during khu'batl-Jumuah. This is du! al-taw"#d. Fourth position: To raise your hands higher than your chest while the backs of the hands are facing the sky. This is known as du! al-rahab. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did this during the battle of Badr. Abu Bakr said that he saw his underarms and his hands were raised to the extent his robe fell off of his shoulders. Some ulem! said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did this when making the du! for istisq! to the extent that his hands were so high the back of the hands faced the heaven. All of these ways are from the Sunnah of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and are for different situations. Shaykh Ibn Uthaym(n (ra"imahull!h) stated in al-Shar"l-Mumti (4/25) that they should be held together. He said: As for separating them and holding them far apart from one another, there is no basis for that in the Sunnah or in the words of the scholars. ! Raising one hand in case of disability. Im!m Muslim reported that J!bir (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) held the camel with one hand and raised one hand up. Raising hands with du! during Friday sermon (Khu'batl-Jumuah). Raising hands with du! after $al!h. In many communities, the im!m finished the $al!h and starts making du!. Most of the time people dont know what the im!m is saying, so what is the point? The fuqah! among the four madh!hib said that this consistent act of du! after $al!h is not correct and against the Sunnah of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). When the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) finished $al!h, he would say astaghfirull!h 3 times and then make adhk!r. When people start making du! right away, then they are losing the Sunnah by not saying the adhk!r. They finish the du! and then leave without saying the adhk!r.
! !
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Ibn +Abb!s said, When people invent an innovation in religion, they kill a sunnah. It is dangerous to think you can come up with something better than the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). You can raise the hands and make du!, but to do it right after the $al!h is not correct. You do it after you say the adhk!r from the sunnah. Sometimes the im!m will occasionally do it and that is fine. ! Wiping the face with ones hands after making the du!. It is not recommended. This is the opinion of Sh!fii, )anbali. Im!m M!lik said it is bidah to wipe over the face after finishing the du!. Im!m Ibn al-Mub!rak was asked if we should wipe our faces after du!, and he said he never saw any authentic "ad#th to support such an action. Im!m Sufy!n al-Thawri said he disliked wiping the face after making du!. Ibn Taymiyyah said, As for wiping the face after making du!, there is a "ad#th or two narrated regarding this but they are not authentic. Some of the )anafis, some Sh!fiis and some )an!bilah said it is recommended for you to wipe your face after du! because of the "ad#th Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned: Ask All!h with the palm of your hands and not with the backs of your hands and when you finish, wipe your face. ,ad#th from Abi D!w'd and Ibn M!jah. This "ad#th is weak because all of the ulem! of "ad#th agree that -!li" b. )ass!n is a weak narrator. ,ad#th of Ibn +Abb!s: He used to wipe his face with his hands. In another "ad#th, he said the barakah is in your hands so wipe your face with them. This is weak. Can you make suj&d outside of the $al!h to make du!? Scholars said yes because Ali b. Abi #!lib said one of the best ways to make du! is in suj&d. However, this statement doesnt really specify it is outside of $al!h. Most Muslim scholars said it is permissible and you are allowed to make suj&d outside of $al!h for the purpose of du!. What is not correct is to just make suj&d to praise All!h. ! Wiping the face with the hands after al-qun&t. Umar b. al-Kha,,!b said that when Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) raised his hands in du!, he would not put them down until he had wiped his face with them. (Tirmidhi) Ibn Abb!s said that the Messenger ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Do not put curtains on walls, and whoever looks into the book of his brother without his permission, then verily hes looking into the fire. Ask All!h with your palms (i.e. raised to the sky) and do not ask him with your forehands. Once you have finished (your supplication) wipe your face with them. (Abu D!w'd) These "ad#th are weak and some scholars have said they are "asan (acceptable).
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First opinion: It is not recommended for the person to wipe his face after du!. This is the opinion of Im!m M!lik, the strongest one among the Sh!fiis madh-hab, one narration from Im!m A"mad and the choice of Ibn Taymiyyah. Second opinion: It is recommended for the person to wipe his face after du!. This is the opinion of a few of the M!liki and Sh!fii scholars, and the strongest one among the )anbalis. Some Muslim jurists deem it permissible to kneel while making du!. Some Muslim scholars deem it permissible to prostrate outside the $al!h while making du!.
The Ruling of Raising Ones Eyes to the Sky While Making Du !

The majority of the scholars from the four madh!hib believe in the permissibility of raising the gaze to the sky during du!. The opinion of a few jurists from the Sh!fiis and )anbalis, and the strongest opinion among )anafis is that it is disliked for the person to raise his/her gaze to the sky while making du!. It is reported in so many a"ad#th that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) raised his head and his eyes up to the heavens when making du! outside the $al!h. Is the sky the direction (qiblah) of making du!?
We have certainly seen the turning of your face, [O Mu"ammad], toward the heaven, and We will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face toward al-Masjidl-,ar!m. And wherever you [believers] are, turn your faces toward it [in prayer]. Indeed, those who have been given the Scripture well know that it is the truth from their Lord. And All!h is not unaware of what they do. (S&ratl-Baqarah, 144) The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) upon his death was looking up to the heavens. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) came to drink from a container that was supposed to be filled with milk, but it was empty. Ub!dah had seen it earlier and drank
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it because he didnt think it was for anyone. He saw the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) raising his eyes and making du!. Ub!dah was afraid he was making du! against him and ran and got him milk. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, I said, O All!h, provide food and drink for those who provided for me. Scholars say this should be said to the one who was supposed to give you food but did not and not for the one who provided you food. When leaving the house, he ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) raised his eyes and said the du!. It is okay to raise your eyes to the sky as long as it is outside of $al!h.
Ruling Related to Reciting the Dhikr

! Is it mandatory to recite the narrated adhk!r verbatim or can they be recited according to the general meaning? The majority of the fuqah! said you should do it exactly the way it is. J!bir said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to teach them the du! in the same way they were taught a s&rah of the Qur$!n. The Qur$!n is not recited with the meaning; it is recited exactly the way it is. In a "ad#th, a companion said, The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) taught me when I go to bed, I make wu+& and lay down on my right side and say:
He changed it to say, And I believe in Your Messenger, the one that You have sent. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) corrected him to say, prophet and not messenger even though they are synonyms and both are referring to the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did not accept the changing of the wording, which led scholars such as Im!m al-Nawawi and alShawk!ni and Ibn Hajar and others to say adhk!r is exactly the way the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) taught us. This is why Ibn Umar was so mad at the man who sneezed and said al"amdulill!h wa $alat wa sal!m ala Rasulull!h. They consider it transgression in du! if you dont do it the way it is.
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Some scholars said it is allowed to change it if it is to the same meaning and if the dhikr is not restricted dhikr such as the tashahhud or what is said when breaking the fast. If it is a general du!, even if you change it a little, it is permissible. For example, some of the adhk!r of the morning and night. Why is it acceptable? Their proof is that even these a"ad#th are narrated by the meaning. The $a"!bah sometimes changed the wording but they brought the exact same meaning because they understood the culture and Arabic language; therefore, we say that it is allowed if it is the same meaning. This can be tricky for people in our times because we dont understand the Arabic language well enough to make a change and may mess it up. The vast majority of the )anafis, M!likis, Sh!fiis, and Ibn Taymiyyah said that dhikr is of two types: 1. Restricted by number and situation. In this case, the person cannot change the dhikr. 2. If the dhikr is general, then reciting it can be by its meaning. ! ! Reciting the adhk!r in a language other than Arabic. Ibn Taymiyyah said the Muslim female should change the nouns/pronouns (which are usually masculine) that are mentioned in the narrated adhk!r to fit her own specific gender. Is it mandatory to adhere to the specific number of repetitions that are mentioned in the narrated adhk!r or can somebody add or subtract repetitions? It depends. If it is restricted dhikr, then you cannot. If it is open dhikr, then you can. For example: adh!n is restricted. We dont have any evidence that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said sub"!na rabbi al-a-#m more than three times, but it is not restricted to three and you can say sub"!na rabbi al-a-#m more than three times. The sunnah is to say sub"!nAll!hi wa bi"amdih to the 100. If you are confused about how many times you have said it, then you go with what you are certain about. Some )anafi, Sh!fii, and )anbali scholars believe in the permissibility of adding more repetitions. Most of the )anafis said it is not allowed to add anything to what has been narrated, and this is the position of Ibn Hajar as well. For them, adding more repetitions is like adding more rak.ah to the $al!h or more repetitions to the adh!n, which is not allowed.
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Some scholars combine the two opinions by saying: If the dhikr is restricted to certain situations, time, repetitions, then changes cannot be made, but if it is unrestricted, adding more repetitions is permissible. ! ! If the person is not sure about the number of repetitions he/she made in reciting the dhikr, then the person should go by the number he/she is certain about. Making dhikr verbally vs. making dhikr in the heart The dhikr of the heart is the contemplating and thinking about All!h. Al-Shawk!ni and other scholars said dhikr is something that you need to pronounce. The best dhikr is when your heart and tongue are connected. ! It is an innovation in religion to make dhikr by only mentioning an explicit Name of All!h or by substituting it through the pronoun He. This was something invented after the time of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) where people start making dhikr with only one of All!hs Names. This is pure innovation in religion and never reported from the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam). There is a fabricated "ad#th that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) told Ali (ra+yAll!hu anhu) to repeat saying All!h. Al-Shawk!ni said that by agreement of the ulem! this is a made-up "ad#th. Some people lie and say that All!h told them this dhikr. They say it is in the Qur$!n when All!h said, Say, All!h. The verse is talking about the kuf!r when All!h (sub"!nahu wa ta!la) told them, Who is the Creator of this and that? Say, All!h, and leave them. They said the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The Day of Judgment will be established upon people who dont say, All!h, All!h, All!h. (Muslim) This "ad#th is authentic but also has another narration: None among them say la il!ha illa All!h. Narrators would sometimes narrate a short version. We combine both versions to understand the "ad#th. This "ad#th is not talking about permissibility of dhikr. Also, when you say, All!h, All!h, All!h, there is no meaning. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Glorify the Name of your Lord.
The Rulings Regard Reciting Adhk ! r in Congregation

This has two ways and one is acceptable. Before finishing a gathering, the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) would make du!. When teaching and reminding and educating each other, it is fine. People sitting together and reading Qur$!n is fine. Ulem! discuss dhikr done in a congregation where there is dancing, music, etc. When Im!m M!lik heard about this, he said it is bidah and forbidden to attend this. The late
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generation of M!likis go against the teaching of early M!liki scholars regarding this issue. There is no "ad#th supporting the $a"!bah coming together and making any ritual or adhk!r in this manner. Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) saw people making adhk!r in a circle with stones, and he told them it is not allowed.
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, No people gather in one of the houses of All!h reciting the Book of All!h and studying it with one another except that mercy covers them... (Bukh!ri & Muslim) Im!m Nawawi said, And in this there is evidence for the virtue of gathering for the recitation of the Qur!n in the masjid. And it is our view and the view of the overwhelming majority. But M!lik said, It is disliked. (Muslim) Ibn Umar reported that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, When you pass by the gardens of Paradise, avail yourselves of them. The Companions asked, What are the gardens of Paradise, O Messenger of All!h? He replied, The circles of dhikr. There are roaming angels of All!h who go about looking for the circles of dhikr, and when they find them they surround them closely. (Tirmidhi) Amr b. Salmah said, We used to sit by the door of Abdull!h b. Mas'd before the morning prayer, so that when he came out, we would walk with him to the masjid. (One day) Abu M'sa al-Ashari came to us and said, Has Abu Abdul-Ra"m!n come out yet? We replied, No. So he sat down with us until he (Ibn Mas'd) came out. When he came out, we all stood along with him, so Abu M'sa said to him, O Abu Abdul-Ra"m!n! I have just seen something in the masjid which I deemed to be evil, but all praise is for All!h, I did not see anything except good. He enquired, Then what is it? (Abu M'sa) replied, If you live you will see it. I saw in the masjid people sitting in circles awaiting the prayer. In each circle they had pebbles in their hands and a man would say, Repeat All!hu akbar a hundred times. So they would repeat it a hundred times. Then he would say, Say la il!ha illAll!h a hundred times. So they would say it a hundred times. Then he would say, Say sub"!nall!h a hundred times. So they would say it a hundred times. (Ibn Mas'd) asked, What did you say to them? (Abu M'sa) said, I did not say anything to them. Instead I waited to hear your view or what you declared. (Ibn Mas'd) replied, If only you had ordered them to count up the evil deeds they acquired and assured
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them that their good deeds would not be lost! Then we went along with him (Ibn Mas'd) until he came to one of these circles and stood and said, What is this which I see you doing? They replied, O Abu Abdul-Ra"m!n! These are pebbles upon which we are counting takb#r, tahl#l and tasb#". He said, Count up your evil deeds. I assure you that none of your good deeds will be lost. Woe to you, O ummah of Mu"ammad ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam)! How quickly you go to destruction! These are the Companions of your Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) and who are widespread. There are his ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) clothes, which have not yet decayed and his bowl which is unbroken. By Him in Whose Hand is my soul! Either you are upon a religion better guided than the religion of Mu"ammad ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) or you are opening the door of misguidance. They said, O Abu Abdul-Ra"m!n! By All!h, we only intended good. He said, How many there are who intend good but do not achieve it. Indeed All!hs Messenger ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said to us, A people will recite the Qur!n but it will not pass beyond their throats. By All!h! I do not know, perhaps most of them are from you. Then he left them. Umar Ibn Salmah (the sub-narrator) said, We saw most of those people fighting against us on the day of Nahraw!n, along with the Khaw!rij. (D!rimi in his Sunan) He said better from the companions or starting bidah because the companions never understood from the verses to make dhikr in the way they were doing it. The man replied, We are only intending good. No one doing bidah says anything different. The $a"!bah said, And so many people intend good but they did not act good. Your intention is not good enough. The narrator said that he saw most of those people on the day of Nahrawan when Ali (ra+yAll!hu anhu) was fighting the Khaw!rij. Al-Sh!tibi commented: That which is small bidah leads to big bidah. Saying takb#r together on (d is not bidah. This is different from what the salaf are talking about. On (d, Umar would say All!hu akbar and people would say it with him. The salaf were talking about the practices of extreme -'fi groups.
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Chapter 5 | Al-sal ! mu alaykum

The Meaning of the Islamic Greeting
Al-sal ! mu alaykum is the greeting of Islam and Muslims; it is one of the most famous, well-known phrases uttered by Muslim and non-Muslims alike about Islam. The meaning of this greeting literally is peace, harmlessness, safety, and protection from evil and from faults. The name Al-Sal ! m is a Name of All!h, so the meaning of this required greeting between Muslims is: May the blessing of His Name descend upon you. The usage of the preposition ala in alaykum (upon you) indicates that the greeting is inclusive. Al-sal ! mu alaykum is a greeting and supplication at the same time. Al-sal!mu alaykum or Sal!mun alaykum. Al-sal!mu alaykum is two things: a greeting and a du!. When you go to the cemetery and say al-sal!mu alaykum, you are making du! for them. When you greet someone, you are greeting them and making du! for them. Sal!m means peace and that you will be free from any harm from me. Alaykum means upon you. The peace and protection is upon you and protecting you from all sides. It is so sad that you tell your friends al-sal!mu alaykum and then backbite him because you promised him safety and then go and betray him. What is worse is saying it and your family and friends do not see your mercy. This greeting is a way of life, which we dont live by. Wa barak!tuh The singular is barakah. This comes from birkah, which means oasis or well in the desert because whenever there was water in the desert, there was barakah. Barakah means a lot of good coming in and coming out. This means that this person you are meeting expects only good from you and things which will benefit him. Another meaning of barakah is that something will remain. Who started the sal ! m greeting? Anas (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said that when the people of Yemen came, Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, The people of Yemen have come, and they are the first who came shaking hands. (Abu D!w'd) %dam (alayhil-sal!m) started this greeting. The angels greeted him.
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The Virtues of Sal ! m
Abdull!h Ibn Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) narrated that a man asked Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam), What is the best thing in Islam? He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Feeding others and giving the greeting of sal!m to those whom you know and those whom you do not know. (Bukh!ri and Muslim)
Abu Hurayrah (ra+yAll!hu anhu) narrated that Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not tell you about something which, if you do it, you will love one another? Spread sal!m amongst yourselves. (Muslim) Al-Q!+i Iy!* said, This is urging us to spread sal!m, as mentioned above, among those whom we know and those whom we do not know. Sal!m is the first level of righteousness and the first quality of brotherhood, and it is the key to creating love. By spreading sal!m, the Muslims love for one another grows stronger and they demonstrate their distinctive symbols and spread a feeling of security amongst themselves. This is the meaning of Islam. (Ikm!l, 1/304) Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said that when you say al-sal!mu alaykum wa ra"matull!h wa barak!tuh, you receive 30 "asanah. It is a blessed greeting from All!h. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Spread the sal!m among you. You can say other than sal!m (i.e. whats up, good morning) after saying sal!m.
The Ruling on Giving Sal ! m

,!fi- Ibn Abdul-Bar said, It is a unanimous agreement of the Muslims that to commence sal!m is sunnah and to reply is w!jib. (Tam"#d) Bukh!ri has a chapter on men giving sal!m to women and women giving sal!m to men. Ulem! said that if there is fitnah and a bad situation (i.e. a young girl by herself in a dark place and a young man) then apply sal!m quietly and not out loud this is a rare case. It is the worst thing ever if you use the religion and Islam for a cheap desire that you want to fulfill (i.e. saying sal!m to hit on a guy or girl). If you want to play around, dont use the religion. It was common during the time of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) that men give sal!m to women and women give sal!m to men.
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It is sunnah for the young to give sal!m to the older and the one passing/riding gives sal!m to the ones sitting. Giving sal!m is sunnah and replying is w!jib, and this is agreed upon.
The Etiquettes of Giving Sal ! m

! All!h said, When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it or (at least) return it equally. Certainly, All!h is Ever a Careful Account Taker of all things. (Al-Nis!, 4:86)
! ! !
Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, If you say sal!m, make it loud so people can hear it. (Bukh!ri) Abdull!h b. Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said, There is no reward if the sal!m is not said aloud, and you must reply the same or louder. (Bukh!ri) Abu Hurayrah (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said the Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, When one of you comes to a gathering, let him say sal!m, and when he wants to leave let him say sal!m, for the former is not more of a duty than the latter. (Abu D!w'd) Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Let the rider give sal!m to the walking. Let the walking give sal!m to the sitting. (Bukh!ri) If one member of a group performs the greeting, that is enough and there is no need for the rest of them to say anything. Similarly, if a member of a group replies to a greeting, that shall be sufficient. (Abdull!h b. Abi Zayd al-Qayraw!ni, Ris!la)
! !
Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, If two people are the same age, the best amongst them should say sal!m first. (Bukh!ri) It is permissible for the opposite gender to exchange sal!m.
Ibn Hajar said, Concerning the permissibility of men greeting women with sal!m and women greeting men: What is meant by its being permitted is when there is no fear of fitnah. (Fat"l-B!ri) Ibn Abi )azam narrated: There used to be an old woman who used to bring us some dates. She used to cultivate land and do cooking. We used to say sal!m in the presence of the companions, and she used to reply wa alaykuml-sal!m. (Bukh!ri)
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Anas b. M!lik (ra+yAll!hu anhu) reported, Whenever Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to go past children, he used to say al-sal!mu alaykum to the children. (Bukh!ri) Abdull!h b. Umar (ra+yAll!hu anhu) said, I asked Bil!l: How did Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) respond to them as they greeted him while he was in prayer? Thereupon he said, He ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) only made a gesture with his hands (in order to respond to the greeting). (Tirmidhi) Al-Bar! said, Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, There are no two Muslims who meet and shake hands, but they will be forgiven before they part. (Abu D!w'd) Anas (ra+yAll!hu anhu) narrated: When the companions of Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) met, they would shake hands, and when they came from a journey they would embrace one another. (#abar!ni, al-Awsa'; Ibn Mufli", Ad!bl-Shariyyah) M!lik regarded it as makr&h to embrace one who comes from a journey and said that it is a bidah (innovation). He explained the fact that Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) did that to Jafar when he came as being a unique case. Sufy!n said to him, You cannot regard it as a unique case without evidence and M!lik fell silent. Q!*i said, The fact that he fell silent indicates that he accepted what Sufy!n said and agreed with him. This is the correct view, so long as there is no evidence that this is a unique case. (Ibn Mufli"; Ad!bl-Shariyyah)
Even if the other person cannot hear you, give sal!m. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) forbade us from giving a sign / signal without verbalizing it. A hug is Sunnah when hearing good news or a person comes back from travel. ! There are certain circumstances under which it is preferable not to offer sal!m. When a person is relieving himself When one is having marital relations When someone is sleeping Offering sal!m when someone is reciting the Qur!n is permissible but discouraged. The same rule applies to someone who is making du! (supplication) or one who is praying.
Greeting non Muslims Ras&lull!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Do not initiate the greeting of sal!m to a non-Muslim. (Muslim)
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Anas (ra+yAll!hu anhu) reported that the companions of All!hs Apostle ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said to him, The people of the Book offer us salutations (by saying al-sal!mu alaykum). How should we reciprocate them? Thereupon he said, Say: Wa alaykum (and upon you too). (Muslim) You reply in full. The Qur$!n says that if anyone greets you with something, you should reply with at least the same. You can say the sal!m to a k!fir. You are asking for All!hs Mercy and barakah be put on that person (i.e. become a Muslim). ! It has been narrated by Anas (ra+yAll!hu anhu) that the companions of the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) would walk together and when a tree would come in their way they would separate towards the left and right. Then on meeting each other, one of them would greet the other with sal!m.
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said to start the greeting to non-Muslims with other than al-sal!mu alaykum.
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Chapter 6 | Dhikr & Du ! 24/7

Du ! for You to Memorize
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Whoever awakes at night and then says: La il!ha illAll!hu wa"dahu la shar#ka lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul "amd, wa huwa ala kulli shayin qad#r, sub"!nall!h, wal-"amdulill!h, wa la il!ha illall!hu wAll!hu akbar, wa la "awla wa la quwwata illa bill!hil-Aliyyil-A-#m. Rabbighfirli [None has the right to be worshipped except All!h, alone without associate, to Him belongs sovereignty and praise and He is over all things wholly capable. How perfect All!h is, and all praise is for All!h, and none has the right to be worshipped except All!h, All!h is the greatest and there is no power nor might except with All!h, The Most High, The Supreme. O my Lord forgive me.] he will be forgiven. or the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, and then asks, he will be answered. If he then performs ablution and prays, his prayer will be accepted. (Bukh!ri)
The Ruling of Dhikr & Du ! in Our Daily Lives

The Morning and Evening Adhk ! r
So be patient over what they say and exalt [All!h] with praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting; and during periods of the night [exalt Him] and at the ends of the day, that you may be satisfied. (*!ha, 20:130)
And remember your Lord within yourself in humility and in fear without being apparent in speech - in the mornings and the evenings. And do not be among the heedless. (Al-Ar!f, 7:205)
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Timings of the Morning and Evening Adhk ! r There is a debate between the scholars about the times which the adhk!r of morning and evening both start and end. The most famous opinions are: ! ! ! ! ! ! Morning is from mid-night until -uhr time. The evening is from -uhr until mid-night. This is the opinion of Ibn Durayd, and al--uy'ti took this opinion. Morning is from fajr until sunrise, and night is from -uhr until sunset (maghrib). This is the opinion of another Arabic language scholar Ibn A,iyya. Morning is from fajr until sunrise, and night is from a$r until ish!. This is the opinion of Shaykh Uthaym(n. Morning is from fajr until maghrib. Night is from maghrib until fajr. This is the opinion of Ibn al-Jazari. Morning is from fajr until sunrise, and evening is from maghrib until midnight. This is the opinion of Ibn Hajar and al-Fayr'z Ab!di. Morning is from fajr until sunrise, and evening is from a$r until maghrib. This is the opinion of al-Nawawi, Bakr Abu Zayd, and Ibn B!z.
One does not have to recite all the adhk ! r that were reported for every situation. Al-Nawawi said, Say from it (morning and evening adhk!r) as much as you can because each one has different ajr (reward) and benefits. Some have more protections and others more rewards. If you do not have much time left, then choose the most important with the most ajr to say first. The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, If I order you to do something, then do what you are capable of. (Al-adhk!r) It is recommended to say the morning and evening adhk ! r in the masjid . J!bir reported: When the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to pray fajr, he would stay in his place until the sun rose making dhikr. (Muslim) You can recite the adhk ! r from memory or read from a book. Al-Awz!i was asked: In the morning is reading Qur!n or reciting the dhikr of the morning better? Al-Awz!i said that there is nothing better than the Qur!n, but the $a"!bah and t!bi#n used to make dhikr after fajr until the sun rose and did not read the Qur!n.
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Upon Morning and Evening You Say:
The Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) said, Any slave of All!h who says in the morning of every day and in the evening of every night: In the name of All!h with whose Name nothing is harmed on earth nor in the heavens, and He is the All-Seeing, the All-Knowing three times shall be safe from the reach of anything evil or harmful. (Tirmidhi)
O All!h! You are my Lord! None has the right to be worshipped but You. You created me and I am Your slave, and I am faithful to my covenant and my promise as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done. I acknowledge before You all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I confess to You all my sins. So I entreat You to forgive my sins, for nobody can forgive sins except You. (Abu D!w'd) Upon Morning You Say:
We have reached the morning, and at this very time unto All!h belongs all sovereignty, Lord of the worlds. O All!h, I ask You for the good of this day, its triumphs, its victories, its light, its blessings, and its guidance. And I take refuge in You from the evil of this day and the evil that follows it. (Abu D!w'd) Upon Evening You Say:
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We have entered upon evening and the whole Kingdom of All!h entered upon evening, and all praise is for All!h. None has the right to be worshipped except All!h, alone, without partner, to Him belongs all sovereignty and praise and He is over all things omnipotent. My Lord, I ask You for the good of this night and the good of what follows it and I take refuge in You from the evil of this night and the evil of what follows it. My Lord, I take refuge in You from laziness and senility. My Lord, I take refuge in You from torment in the Fire and punishment in the grave. (Muslim)
I take refuge in All!hs perfect words from the evil of His creation. (Three times in the night) (Tirmidhi) Ibn Abb!s related that the Messenger of All!h ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to commend al-)asan and al-)usayn to All!hs protection, saying: U#dhukuma bi kalim!till!hil-t!mmah, min kulli Shay'!nin wa h!mmah, wa min kulli aynin l!mmah. [I commend you two to the protection of All!hs perfect words from every devil, vermin, and every evil eye.]
Upon finishing your wu +& you say:
All!humma-jalni minal-taww!b#na wa jaalni minal-muta'ahhir#n. [O All!h, make me of those who return to You often in repentance and make me of those who remain clean and pure.] (Tirmidhi) And upon leaving your house you say:
All!humma inni a&dhu bika an a+illa aw u+all, aw azilla aw uzall, aw a-lima aw u-lam, aw ajhala aw yujhala alay. [O All!h, I take refuge with You lest I should stray or be led astray, or slip or be tripped, or oppress or be oppressed, or behave foolishly or be treated foolishly.] (Abu D!w'd)
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On your way to the masjid you say:
All!humma-jal fi qalbi n&ra, wa f# lis!ni n&ra, wa-jal fi sam!i n&ra wa-jal fi ba$ari n&ra, wajal min khalfi n&ra, wa min am!mi n&ra , wa-jal min fawqi n&ra, wa min ta"ti n&ra, All!humma !tini n&ra [O All!h, place within my heart light, and upon my tongue light, and within my ears light, and within my eyes light, and place behind me light and in front of me light and above me light and beneath me light. O All!h, bestow upon me light.] (Bukh!ri & Muslim) And upon entering the masjid you say:
A&dhu bill!hil-a-#m wa bi wajhihil-kar#m wa sul'!nihil qad#m minal-Shay'!nl-raj#m [bismill!hi wal-$al!tu] [wal sal!mu ala ras&lill!h] All!humma-fta"li abw!ba ra"matik. [I take refuge with All!h, The Supreme and with His Noble Face, and His eternal authority from the accursed devil. In the name of All!h, and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of All!h. O All!h, open the gates of Your mercy for me.]
And upon leaving the masjid you say:
Bismill!h wal-$al!tu wal-sal!mu ala ras&lill!h, All!humma inn# asaluka min fa+lik, All!humma-$imni minal-Shay'!nl-raj#m. [In the name of All!h, and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of All!h. O All!h, I ask You from Your favor. O All!h, guard me from the accursed devil.] (Muslim)
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Upon traveling:
All!hu akbar, All!hu akbar, All!hu akbar, sub"!nal-ladhi sakhkhara lana h!dha wa ma kunna lahu muqrin#n, wa inna ila rabbina lamunqalib&n, All!humma inna nasaluka fi safarina h!dhal-birra wal-taqwa, wa minal amali ma tar+a, All!humma hawwin alayna safarana h!dha, wa'wi anna budah, All!humma antal-$!"ibu fil-safar, wal-khal#fatu fil-ahl, All!humma inni a&dhu bika min wath!l-safar, wa k!batl-man-ar, wa s&il-munqalabi fil-m!li wal-ahl. [All!h is the greatest, All!h is the greatest, All!h is the greatest. How perfect He is, The One Who has placed this (transport) at our service, and we ourselves would not have been capable of that, and to our Lord is our final destiny. O All!h, we ask You for birr and taqwa in this journey of ours, and we ask You for deeds which please You. O All!h, facilitate our journey and let us cover its distance quickly. O All!h, You are The Companion on the journey and The Successor over the family, O All!h, I take refuge with You from the difficulties of travel, from having a change of hearts and being in a bad predicament, and I take refuge in You from an ill-fated outcome with wealth and family.] (Muslim) Upon entering a city:
All!humma rabbl-sam!w!tl-sabi wa ma a-lalna, wa rabbl ar+aynl-sabi wa ma aqlalna, wa rabbl shay!'#ni wa ma a+lalna, wa rabbl-riy!"i wa ma dharayn, asaluka khayra h!dhihlqaryati, wa khayra ahlilha wa khayra ma f#ha, wa a&dhu bika min sharriha wa sharri ahliha, wa sharri ma f#ha. [O All!h, Lord of the seven heavens and all that they envelop, Lord of the seven earths and all that they carry, Lord of the devils and all whom they misguide, Lord of the winds and all whom they whisk away. I ask You for the goodness of this village, the goodness of its inhabitants and for all the goodness found within it and I take refuge with You from the evil of this village, the evil of its inhabitants and from all the evil found within it.] ()!kim)
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Upon entering the market:
La il!ha illAll!h, wa"dahu la shar#ka lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-"amd, yu"yi wa yum#tu wa huwa "ayyun la yam&t, bi yadihl-khayru wa huwa ala kulli shayin qad#r. [None has the right to be worshipped except All!h, alone, without partner, to Him belongs all sovereignty and praise. He gives life and causes death, and He is living and does not die. In His hand is all good and He is over all things, omnipotent.] (Tirmidhi)
Upon entering the home:
Bismill!h. (Muslim) And upon sleeping you say:
As the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) used to place his right hand under his cheek when about to sleep and supplicate: All!humma qini adh!baka yawma tabathu ib!dak. [O All!h, protect me from Your punishment on the day Your servants are resurrected.] (three times) (Abu D!w'd) Upon eating and drinking:
Bismill!h If you forget to say it before starting, then you should say (when you remember): In the Name of All!h in its beginning and end. (Abu D!w'd)
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When you finish you say:
Al"amdulill!hil-ladhi a'amani h!dha wa razaqan#hi min ghayri "awlin minni wa la quwwah. [All praise is for All!h who fed me this and provided it for me without any might nor power from myself.] (Tirmidhi) And you say to the one who offered you the food
All!humma b!rik lahum f#ma razaqtahum, wa-ghfir lahum war"amhum. [O All!h, bless for them, that which You have provided them, forgive them and have mercy upon them.] (Muslim) Upon wearing new clothes you say:
All!humma lakal-"amdu anta kasawtan#hi, asaluka min khayrihi wa khayri ma $unia lah, wa a&dhu bika min sharrihi wa sharri ma $unia lah. [O All!h, for You is all praise, You have clothed me with it (i.e. the garment), I ask You for the good of it and the good for which it was made, and I seek refuge with You from the evil of it and the evil for which it was made.] (Abu D!w'd) Upon seeing someone wearing a new garment you say:
Ilbas jad#dan wa !ish "am#dan wa mut shah#dan. [Wear anew, live commendably and die a shah#d.] (Ibn M!jah)
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If you are in pain you say:
Place your hand on the place on your body where the pain is, and say bismill!h 3 times, and then say 7 times: A&thu bill!hi wa qudratihi min sharri ma ajidu wa u"!dhir. [I seek refuge in All!h and His complete power and ability from the evil of what I feel and am wary of.] (Muslim) In the time of sadness, worry, or distress, you say:
All!humma ra"mataka arju fala takilni ila nafsi 'arfata ayn, wa a$li" li shani kullah, la il!ha illa ant. [O All!h, I hope for Your mercy. Do not leave me to myself even for the blinking of an eye (i.e. a moment). Correct all of my affairs for me. There is none worthy of worship but You.] (Abu D!w'd)
La il!ha illa anta sub"!nak inni kuntu minal--!lim#n [There is absolutely no deity worthy of worship, except you, and verily I have been among those people who oppress.] Any Muslim asking All!h through this supplication will be answered. ()!kim)
La il!ha illAll!hul-A-#ml-,al#m, La il!ha illAll!h rabbl-arshl a-#m, La il!ha illAll!h rabblsam!w!ti wa rabbl-ar+i wa rabbl-arshl-kar#m. [None has the right to be worshipped except, the Tremendous One, the Forbearing. None has the right to be worshipped except All!h, the Lord of the tremendous Throne. None has the right to be worshipped except All!h, the Lord of the heavens, and the Lord of the earth, and the Lord of the honorable Throne.] (Bukh!ri)
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Upon encountering an enemy or transgressor, you say:
All!humma inna najaluka fi nu"&rihim wa na&dhu bika min shur&rihim. [O All!h, we place You before them and we take refuge in You from their evil.] (Abu D!w'd)
,asbunall!hu wa nimal-wak#l. [All!h is sufficient for us, and how fine a trustee (He is)]. (Bukh!ri) If there is something difficult for you to deal with, you say:
All!humma la sahla illa ma jaaltahu sahla, wa anta tajall-"azna idha shita sahla. [O All!h! There is nothing easy except what You make easy, and You make the difficult easy if it be Your Will.] (Ibn )ibb!n) If you are scared and feeling the presence of Shay '! n or jinn : Call the adh ! n
Say three times: A&dhu bill!hi minal-Shay'!nl-raj#m. [I seek refuge in All!h from the Satan, the outcast.] Then spit to your left. (Muslim) If you are in debt you say:
All!humma-kfini bi "al!lika an "ar!mik, waghnini bi fa+lika amman siw!k.
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[O All!h, make what is lawful enough for me, as opposed to what is unlawful, and spare me by Your grace, of need of others.] (Bukh!ri & Muslim) Upon a wind storm and hearing thunder you say:
All!humma inni asaluka khayraha wa a&dhu bika min sharriha. [O All!h, I ask You for its goodness and I take refuge with You from its evil.] (Abu D!w'd)
Sub"!nal-ladhi yusabbi"ul-radu bi "amdihi, wal-mal!ikatu min kh#fatih. [How perfect He is, (The One) Whom the thunder declares His perfection with His praise, as do the angles out of fear of Him.] (Muwa''a from Ibn al-Zubayr) If you go to a wedding you say to the newlywed:
B!rakall!hu lak, wa b!raka alayk, wa jamaa bayn kuma fi khayr. [May All!h bless for you (your spouse) and bless you, and may He unite both of you in goodness.] (Abu D!w'd) To offer condolences, you say:
Inna lill!hi ma akhadh, wa lahu ma a'a, wa kullu shayin indahu bi ajalin M&samma falta$bir wal ta"tasib. [Verily to All!h, belongs what He took and to Him belongs what He gave, and everything with Him has an appointed time and then he ordered for her to be patient and hope for All!hs reward.] (Bukh!ri & Muslim)
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When angry, you say:
A&dhu bill!hi minal-Shay'!nil-raj#m. [I take refuge with All!h from the accursed devil.] (Bukh!ri & Muslim) Upon seeing someone in trial or tribulation you say:
Al"amdulill!hil-ladhi !fani min ma-btalaka bih, wa fa++alani ala kath#rin min man khalaqa taf+#la. [All praise is for All!h Who saved me from that which He tested you with and Who most certainly favoured me over much of His creation.] (Tirmidhi) Upon the conclusion of a gathering you say:
Sub"!nakall!humma wa bi "amdik, ash-hadu an la il!ha illa ant, astaghfiruka wa at&bu ilayk. [How perfect You are O All!h, and I praise You. I bear witness that None has the right to be worshipped except You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.] (Abu D!w'd) You begin your $ al ! h with:
All!humma b!(d bayni wa bayna kha'!yaya kama b!adta baynal-mashriqi wal-maghrib, All!humma naqqini min kha'!yaya kama yunaqqal-thawbl abya+u minal-danas, All!hummaghsilni min kha'!yaya bil thalji wal-m!i wal barad. [O All!h, distance me from my sins just as You have distanced The East from The West, O All!h, purify me of my sins as a white robe is purified of filth, O All!h, cleanse me of my sins with snow, water, and ice.] (Bukh!ri & Muslim)
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Upon prostrating:
All!humma-ghfirli dhanbi kullahu diqqahu wa jillahu wa awwalahu wa !khirahu wa al! niyyatahu wa sirrahu Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) would say while prostrating, O All!h, forgive all of my sins, the small and the large, the first and the last, the public and private. (Muslim)
All!humma a&dhu bi ri+!ka min sakha'ika wa bi muaf!tika min uq&batika. Wa a&dhu bika minka la u"$i than!an alayka, anta kama athnayta ala nafsika. %ishah (ra+yAll!hu anha) reported, One night I missed the Prophet ($allall!hu alayhi wa sallam) from his bed. I looked for him and found him praying. He was prostrating, his feet were in an upright position and he was saying, O All!h, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger. I seek refuge in Your granting of well-being from Your punishment. I seek refuge in You from You. The praise I may do cannot encompass You; You are as You have praised Yourself. (Muslim) Upon starting the night prayer: Witr Prayer
All!humma rabba jibr!#l, wa m#k!#l, wa isr!f#l f!'irl-sam!w!ti wal-ar+, !liml-ghaybi walshah!dah, anta ta"kumu bayna ib!dika f#ma k!nu f#hi yakhtalif&n. Ihdini lima-khtulifa f#hi minal-"aqqi bi(dhnik, innaka tahdi man tash!u ila $ir!'in mustaq#m. [O All!h, Lord of Jibr!(l, M(k!(l and Isr!f(l (great angles), Creatorof the heavens and the Earth, Knower of the seenand the unseen. You are the arbitrator between Your servants in that which they have disputed. Guide me to the truth by Your leave, in that which they have differed, for verily You guide whom You will to a straight path.] (Muslim)
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Sub"!nal-M!likl-qudd&s (three times). [How perfect The King, The Holy One is.] on the third time he would raise his voice, elongate it and add: Rabbl-mal!ikati wal-r&". [Lord of the angels and the R&" (i.e. Jibr!(l)] (Nas!i).
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Activity | 21 Day Adhk ! r Challenge

It normally takes 21 days to build a habit. Choose at least three of the morning and evening adhk!r and challenge yourself to say them daily for 21 days, both in the morning and evening. You will be well on your way to permanently establishing dhikr as part of your daily routine! Morning dhikr starts from fajr adh!n until -uhr. Evening adhk!r start from a$r until ish!.
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Activity | Du ! List
Write down 5 things that you are going to pray for this weekend during all prayers, including witr prayer, before sleeping and in the morning and night. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Write down 5 people you will include in your prayer this weekend during all prayers, including witr prayer, before sleeping and in the morning and night. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Fiqh of Dua &amp; Adhkar

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Fiqh of Dua &amp; Adhkar

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Qabeelat Hosna | Student Notes September 2013

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

A c t i v i t y | How connected are you with All ! h?

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Chapter 1 | The Concept of Dhikr & Du ! in Islam

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

4) All!h praised the people who made dhikr.

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

7) Dhikr of All!h is the greatest thing.

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

24/7: Fiqh al-Du! & Dhikr Shaykh Waleed Basyouni

Qabeelat Hosna September 2013

Fiqh of Dua & Adhkar

Fiqh of Dua & Adhkar