09-28-2004, 01:48 AM
The Holy Prophet (sallallaho alaihe wasallam) said, "Those who are admitted into paradise will not regret over anything of this world, except the time spent without Zikr in their life."
Hadiths on the Virtues of Zikr
Juwayriyya bint al-Harith, one of the wives of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him), reported that one day the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) left her apartment in the morning as she was busy observing her dawn prayer in her place of worship. He came back in the forenoon and she was still sitting there. The Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said to her: "You have been in the same place since I left you?" She said: "Yes." Thereupon the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "I recited four words three times after I left you and if these are to be weighed against what you have recited since morning these would outweigh them, and these words are:
subhan allahi wa bi hamdihi `adada khalqihi wa rida nafsihi wa zinata `arshihi wa midada kalimatihi
"Glory to Allah and praise to Him to number of His creation and to the extent of His pleasure and to the extent of the weight of His Throne and to the extent of ink used in recording words for His Praise." (Muslim and Abu Dawud)
Ibn Mas`ud reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "If anyone recites the last two verses of Surat al- Baqara at night (2:285-286), they will suffice for him."
(Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim). That is, these two verses will bring him a reward equivalent to that of a night prayer, and will safeguard him from any hurt during that night. Ibn Khuzayma in his Sahih mentioned it under the chapter "The Recitation of the Qur'an Equivalent in Reward to a Night Prayer."
Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "There are two phrases that are light on the tongue but heavy on the scale of rewards and are dear to the Gracious One. These are: subhan Allah wa bi hamdihi, "Glorified is Allah with all praise to Him," and subhan Allah al-`azim, "Glorified is Allah, the Great."
(Narrated by Bukhari, Muslim, and Tirmidhi)
Abu Dharr reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "Shall I tell you the words that Allah loves the most?" I said: "Yes, tell me, O Messenger of Allah." He said: "The words dearest to Allah are: subhan Allah wa bi hamdihi "Glorified is Allah with all praise to Him."
(Narrated by Muslim and Tirmidhi)
Abu Hurayra also reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "I love repeating: subhan Allah, wa al-hamdu lillah, wa la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar: "Glorified is Allah, and Praise be to Allah, and There is no God but Allah, and Allah is most Great," more than all that the sun shines upon."
(Narrated by Muslim and Tirmidhi)
Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "When a servant of Allah utters the words la ilaha illallah (there is no god except Allah) sincerely, the doors of heaven open up for these words until they reach the Throne of Allah, so long as its utterer keeps away from the major sins."
(Narrated by Tirmidhi, who says it is hasan gharib. al-Mundhiri included in al-Targhib 2:414)
Abu Hurayra also reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him), peace be upon him, said, "Renew your faith." "How can we renew our faith?" they asked. The Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) replied: "Say always: la ilaha illallah."
(Narrated by Ahmad with a fair chain of authorities)
Jabir reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him), peace be upon him, said: "The best remembrance of Allah is to repeat la ilaha illallah and the best prayer (du'a) is al-hamdu lillah
(all praise belongs to Allah)."
(Narrated by Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and Hakim who declared its chain sound)
In Tirmidhi's version, we also find the following: "The words most dear to Allah which He has chosen for His angels are:
subhana rabbi wa bi hamdihi subhana rabbi wa bi hamdihi, "Glorified is my Lord with all praise to Him, Glorified is my Lord with all praise to Him!"
Jabir reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "Whoever says: "Glorified is Allah, the Great, with all praise to Him" will have a palm tree planted for him in Paradise."
(Narrated by Tirmidhi, who said it is hasan)
Abu Sa`id reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "Perform the enduring goods deeds (al-baqiyat al-salihat) more frequently." They asked, "What are these enduring good deeds?" The Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) replied:
Takbir [allahu akbar], Tahlil [la ilaha illallah], Tasbih [subhan allah], al-hamdu lillah, and la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah.
(Narrated Nasa'i and Hakim, who said its chain is sahih.)
`Abd Allah ibn Mas`ud reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "During the Night Journey I met Ibrahim who said to me: O Muhammad, convey my greetings to your Community, and tell them that the Paradise is of pure land, its water is sweet, and its expanse is vast, spacious and even. And its seedlings are:
subhan allah: Glory to Allah
wa al-hamdu lillah: and Praise to Allah
wa la ilaha illallah: and there is no god but Allah
wallahu akbar: and Allah is greatest.
(Narrated by Tirmidhi and Tabarani whose version adds: "There is no power nor strength save through Allah.")
Samura ibn Jundub reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "The dearest phrases to Allah are four: subhan Allah, wa al-hamdu lillah, wa la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar: "Glorified is Allah, and Praise be to Allah, and There is no God but Allah, and Allah is most Great," There is no harm in beginning them in any order you choose while remembering Allah."
(Narrated by Muslim)
Abu Sa`id al-Khudri narrated that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) asked: "Can anyone of you recite a third of the Qur'an during the night?" The Companions considered this difficult and they said: "Who among us can do so, O Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) of Allah?" Thereupon the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "Allah, the One, the Eternally-Besought [i.e. surat al-Ikhlas] is a third of the Qur'an."
(Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim)
Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "Whoever says: la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu al-mulku wa lahu al-hamd, wa huwa `ala kulli shay'in qadir -- There is no god but Allah, alone, without partner. His is the sovereignty, and His the praise, and He has power over everything -- a hundred times a day will have a reward equivalent to the reward for freeing ten slaves. In addition, a hundred good deeds will be recorded for him and a hundred bad deeds of his will be wiped off, and it will be a safeguard for him from Satan that day until evening, and no one will be better in deeds than such a person except he who does more than that."
(Narrated by Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i and Ibn Majah)
In the version of Muslim, Tirmidhi, and Nasa'i, we find this addition: "Whoever says: subhan Allah wa bi hamdihi -- Glorified is Allah with all praise to Him -- a hundred times during a day, will have all his sins wiped off even if they were as numerous as the foam on the surface of the sea."
Istighfar
Anas reported that he heard the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) saying that Allah says, "O son of Adam, whatever you asked Me and expect from Me I forgave -- respecting that which you owed to Me -- and I don't care (how great this was). O Son of Adam, even if your sins pile up to the sky and then you seek My forgiveness I will forgive you, and O son of Adam, even if you have an earthful of sins but you meet Me without associating any other thing with Me I will forgive you."
(Narrated by Tirmidhi who said it is hasan sahih.)
`Abd Allah ibn `Abbas said: "If one supplicates without fail for forgiveness from Allah, He finds a way out for him to get out of every distress and difficulty, and gives him sustenance through ways utterly unthought of."
(Narrated by Abu Dawud, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and Hakim, who said its chain of authorities is sound.)
Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) told them, "A servant of Allah said: ya rabbi laka al-hamdu kama yanbaghi li jalali wajhika wa li `azimi sultanik. My Lord! All praise belongs to You as much as befits Your Glory and Sublime Majesty. This was too much for the two angels to record. They did not know how to record it. So they soared to the heaven and said: Our Lord! Your servant has said something which we don't know how to record. Allah asked them -- and, of course, He knew what the servant had said: What did My servant say? They said: He said: My Lord! All praise belongs to You as much as befits Your Glory and Sublime Majesty. Allah said to them: Write it down as My servant has said until he should meet Me and I reward him for it.
" (Narrated by Ibn Majah)
Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn al-As said: "I saw the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) counting the glorifications of Allah on his right hand's fingers."
(Narrated by Tirmidhi who said hasan gharib, Nasa'i, Abu Dawud, and Ahmad.)
Yusayra bint Yasir reported that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) commanded them (the Emigrant women) to be regular in remembering Allah by saying tahlil (la ilaha illallah) and tasbih (subhan allah) and taqdis (allahu akbar) and never to be forgetful of Allah and His Mercy, and to count them on their fingers, for the fingers will be questioned and will speak.
(Narrated by Ahmad, Tirmidhi who said it is gharib, Abu Dawud, and al-Hakim. Shawkani in Nayl al-awtar 2:316 said that Suyuti declared sound (sahih) its chain of transmission.)
