“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘Whoever regularly prays two Rak’ah of Duha, his sins willbeforgiven even if they are like the foam of the sea.’”

“The Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) used to teach us Istikharah, just as he used to teach us aSurah of the Qur’an. He said: ‘If anyone of you is deliberatingabouta decision he has to make, then let him pray two Rak’ah ofnon-obligatory prayer, then say: Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi‘ilmika waastaqdiruka bi qudratika wa as’aluka minfadlikal-‘azim, fa innakataqdiru wa la aqdir, wa ta’lamu wa laa’lam, wa Anta ‘allamul-ghuyub.Allahumma in kunta ta’lamuhadhal-amra (then the matter should bementioned by name) ma kan minshay’in khairan li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa‘aqibati amri, awkhairanli fi ‘ajili amri wa ajilihi, faqdurhu li wayassirhu li wabarik li fihi. Wa in kunta ta’lamu [O Allah, I seekYour guidance(in making a choice) by virtue of Your knowledge, and Iseek abilityby virtue of Your power, and I ask You of Your greatbounty. You havepower, I have none. And You know, I know not. You arethe Knower ofhidden things. O Allah, if in Your knowledge, thismatter (then itshould be mentioned by name) is good for me in myreligion, mylivelihood and my affairs, or both in this world and inthe Hereafterthen ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless itfor me. Andif in Your knowledge]. Then saying similar to what he saidthe firsttime, except: Wa in kana sharran li fasrifhu ‘anni wasrifni‘anhuwaqdur li al-khair haithuma kana thumma raddini bihi (If it isbadfor me then turn it away from me and turn me away from it, andordainfor me the good wherever it may be and make me pleased withit).’”

“TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) came out to us and said: ‘Whoever has someneed from Allah or from any of His creation, let him perform ablutionand pray two Rak’ah, then let him say: La ilahaillallahul-Halimul-Karim. Subhan-Allahi Rabbil-‘arshil-‘azim.Al-hamdu LillahiRabbil-‘Alamin. Allahumma inni as’aluka mujibatrahmatika, wa ‘aza’imamaghfiratika, wal-ghanimata min kullibirrin, was-salamata min kulliithmnin. As’aluka alla tada’a lidhanban illa ghafartahu, wa la hammanilla farrajtahu, wa la hajahhiya laka ridan illa qadaitaha li (Nonehas the right to beworshipped but Allah, the Forbearing, the MostGenerous. Glory is toAllah, the Lord of the Mighty Throne. Praise isto Allah, the Lord ofthe worlds. O Allah, I ask You for the means ofYour mercy andforgiveness, the benefit of every good deed and safetyfrom all sins.I ask You not to leave any sin of mine but You forgiveit, or anydistress but You relieve it, or any need that is pleasingto You butYou meet it). Then he should ask Allah for whatever hewants in thisworld and in the Hereafter, for it is decreed.”

“Pray to Allah to heal me.” He said: “Ifyouwish to store your reward for the Hereafter, that is better, orif youwish, I will supplicate for you.” He said: “Supplicate.”So he toldhim to perform ablution and do it well, and to pray twoRak’ah, and tosay this supplication: “Allahumma inni as’alukawa atawajjahu ilaikabimuhammadin nabiyyir-rahmah. Ya Muhammadu inniqad tawajjahtu bikaila rabbi fi hajati hadhihi lituqda. Allahummafashaffi’hu fiya (OAllah, I ask of You and I turn my face towardsYou by virtue of theintercession of Muhammad the Prophet of mercy. OMuhammad, I haveturned to my Lord by virtue of your intercessionconcerning this needof mine so that it may be met. O Allah, accepthis intercessionconcerning me)”.

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)saidto ‘Abbas: ‘O uncle, shall I not give you a gift, shall I notbenefit you, shall I not uphold my ties of kinship with you?’ Hesaid:‘Of course, O Messenger of Allah.’ He said: ‘Pray fourRak’ah, andrecite in each Rak’ah the Opening of the Book(Al-Fatihah) and aSurah. When you have finished reciting, say:Subhan-Allah wal-hamduLillah wa la ilaha illallah wa Allahu Akbar(Glory is to Allah, praiseis to Allah, none has the right to beworshipped but Allah and Allahis the Most Great) fifteen timesbefore you bow in Ruku’. Then bow andsay it ten times; then raiseyour head and say it ten times; thenprostrate and say it ten times;then raise your head and say it tentimes; then prostrate and say itten times; then raise your head andsay it ten times before you standup. That wil be seventy-five timesin each Rak’ah and three hundredtimes in the four Rak’ah, and even ifyour sins are like the grainsof sand, Allah will forgive you forthem.’ He said: ‘O Messengerof Allah, what if someone cannot say itin one day?’ He said: ‘Thensay it once in a week; if you cannot, thensay it once in a month’until he said: ‘Once in a year.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)saidto ‘Abbas bin ‘Abdul-Muttalib: ‘O ‘Abbas, O my uncle, shall Inotgive you a gift, shall I not give you something, shall I not tellyouof something which, if you do it, will expiate for ten types ofsins?If you do them, Allah will forgive you your sins, the first andthelast of them, the old and the new, the unintentional and thedeliberate, the minor and the major, the secret and the open, tentypes of sin. Pray four Rak’ah, and recite in each Rak’ah theOpeningof the Book (Al-Fatihah) and a Surah. When you have finishedrecitingin the first Rak’ah, while you are standing, say:Subhan-Allah wal-hamdu Lillah wa la ilaha illallah wa Allahu Akbar(Glory if to Allah,praise is to Allah, none has the right to beworshipped but Allah andAllah is the Most Great) fifteen times. Thenbow and say it ten timeswhile you are bowing. Then raise your headfrom Ruku’ and say it tentimes. Then go into prostration and sayit ten times while you areprostrating. Then raise your head fromprostration and say it tentimes. Then prostrate and say it tentimes. Then raise your head fromprostration and say it ten times.That will be seventy-five times ineach Rak’ah. Do that in all fourRak’ah. If you can pray it once eachday then do so. If you cannot,then once each week; if you cannot,then once each month. If youcannot, then once in your lifetime.’”

“The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: ‘When it is the night of the middle of Sha’ban, spenditsnight in prayer and observe a fast on that day. For Allahdescends atsunset on that night to the lowest heaven and says: ‘Isthere no onewho will ask Me for forgiveness, that I may forgive him?Is there noone who will ask Me for provision, that I may provide forhim? Isthere no one who is afflicted by trouble, that I may relievehim?’ Andso on, until dawn comes.’”

“I missed the Prophet (ﷺ) onenight, so I went out looking for him. I found him at Al-Baqi’,raisinghis head towards the sky. He said: ‘O ‘Aishah, were youafraid thatAllah and His Messenger would wrong you?’” She said:“I said: ‘No, itis not that, but I thought that you had gone toone of your otherwives.’ He said: ‘Allah descends on the nightof the middle of Sha’banto the lowest heaven, and He forgives morethan the numbers of hairson the sheep of Banu Kalb.’”

“Allah looks down on the night of the middle of Sha’banandforgives all His creation, apart from the idolater and theMushahin.”Another chain from Abu Musa, from the Prophet (ﷺ) with similar wording.

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdullah bin Abu Awfa that the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) prayed two Rak’ah on the day when he was given the gladtidings of the head (death) of Abu Jahl.

It wasnarrated from Anas bin Malik that the Prophet (ﷺ) was givengladtidings that a need of his had been met, and he fell downprostrate.

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Ka’b bin Malik that his fathersaid that when Allah accepted his repentance, he fell down prostrate.

It wasnarrated from Abu Bakrah that when the Prophet (ﷺ) heardnews thatmade him happy, or for which one should be happy, he wouldfall downprostrate in gratitude to Allah, the Blessed and Exalted.

“If I heard a Hadithfromthe Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), Allah benefitted me with it as muchasHe willed, and if I heard it from anyone else, I would ask him toswear me an oath, then if he swore an oath I would believe him. AbuBakr told me and Abu Bakr spoke the truth that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: ‘There is no man who commits a sin then he performsablution and does it well, then he prays two Rak’ah,’ (one of thenarrators) Mis’ar said: ‘then performs prayer and seeks theforgiveness of Allah, but Allah will forgive him.’

“O Abu Ayyub,we have missed outon Jihad this year, and we were told that whoeverprays in the fourmosques will be forgiven his sins.” He said: “Oson of my brother,shall I not tell you of something easier thanthat? I heard theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘Whoever performsablution as he hasbeen commanded, and prays as he has beencommanded, will be forgivenhis previous (bad) deeds.’” He said:“(Did he not say it) like that, O‘Uqbah?” He said: “Yes.”

“I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘Do youthinkthat if there was a river in the courtyard of anyone of you, andhebathed in it five times each day, would there be any dirt left onhim?’ They said: ‘(There would be) nothing.’ He said: ‘Prayertakesaway sins like water takes away dirt.’”

“And perform theprayer, at the two ends of the day and in some hours of the night.Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds. That is a reminder forthe mindful.” [11:114] He said: “O Messenger of Allah, is thisonlyfor me?” He said: “It is for everyone who acts upon it.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘Allah enjoined fifty prayers upon my nation, and I came backwith that until I came to Musa. Musa said: ‘What has your Lordenjoined upon your nation?’ I said: ‘He has enjoined fiftyprayers on me.’ He said: ‘Go back to your Lord, for your nationwill not be able to do that.’ So I went back to my Lord, and Hereduced it by half. I went back to Musa and told him, and he said:‘Go back to your Lord, for your nation will not be able to dothat.’ So I went back to my Lord, and He said: ‘They are five andthey are fifty; My Word does not change.’ So I went back to Musaand he said: ‘Go back to your Lord.’ I said: ‘I feel shy beforemy Lord.’”

“Your Prophet (ﷺ) wasenjoinedto do fifty prayers but he returned to your Lord to make(i.e.,reduce) them to five prayers.”

“I heard the MessengerofAllah (ﷺ) say: ‘Five prayers that Allah has enjoined upon Hisslaves, so whoever does them, and does not omit anything out ofnegligence, on the Day of Resurrection Allah will make a covenantwithhim that He will admit him to Paradise. But whoever does thembutomits something from them out of negligence, will not have such acovenant with Allah; if He wills He will punish him, and if He wills,He will forgive him.’”