Supplications

كتاب الدعوات

Chapter 14: Prayer for Pardon, and Repentance - Section 2

Anas reported God’s messenger as stating that God has said, “Son of Adam, as long as you supplicate me and hope in me I will pardon you in spite of what you have done, and I do not care. Son of Adam, if your sins were so numerous as to reach the lofty regions of the sky, then you asked my forgiveness, I would forgive you, and I do not care. Son of Adam, if you were to meet me with enough sins to fill the earth, then met me not associating anything with me, I would bring you as much pardon as would fill the earth.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Ahmad and Darimi transmitted it from Abu Dharr. Tirmidhi said this is a hasan gharib tradition.

Abu Bakr as-Siddiq reported God's messenger as saying, “He who asks pardon is not a confirmed sinner, even if he returns to his sin seventy times a day.” Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Umar reported God’s messenger as saying, “God accepts a servant’s repentance till he gives up his spirit in death.”* *The Arabic is ma lam yugharghir, which might, be translated literally "as long as he has not died with the death rattle in his throat."Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Abu Dharr reported God’s messenger as stating that God most high says, “My servants, all of you are astray except him whom I have guided, but if you ask me for guidance I will guide you; all of you are poor except him whom I have enriched, but if you ask of me I will give you provision; all of you are sinners except him whom I have preserved [from sin], but if any of you knows that I have power to pardon and ask my pardon I will pardon him, and I do not care; if the first and the last of you, the living and the dead among you, those of you who are fresh and those of you who are withered, 3 had all hearts as pious as the heart of the most pious of my servants, that would not add as much as a gnat’s wing to my dominion; if the first and last of you, the living and the dead among you, those of you who are fresh and those of you who are withered, had all hearts as wretched as the heart of the most wretched of my servants, that would not diminish as much as a gnat’s wing from my dominion; if the first and last of you, the living and the dead among you, those of you who are fresh and those of you who are withered, were gathered in one plain, each one of you asking all he could hope for, and I were to grant the request of each of you who asked, that would cause no more diminution in my dominion than if one of you passed by the sea and, after dipping a needle in it, took it out, that being because I am generous and glorious, doing what I wish. My giving is speech and my punishment is speech. My command to a thing when I want it is just to say to it ‘Be’ and it comes into being.” [cf. Qur’an, xvi, 40; xxxvi, 82.]3. i.e., young and old.Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Anas reported that after the Prophet had recited, “He is entitled to be feared and He is entitled to grant pardon,” 2 he stated that their Lord has said, “I am entitled to be feared, and to him who fears me I am entitled to grant pardon.” 2. Qur’an, lxxiv, 56.Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Umar said

We counted that God’s messenger would say a hundred times during a meeting, “My Lord, forgive me and pardon me; Thou art the Pardoning and Forgiving One.” Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Bilal b. Yasar b. Zaid, the Prophet’s client,1 told on his father’s authority that his grandfather said he had heard God's messenger state that if anyone says, “I ask pardon of God than whom there is no god, the Living, the Eternal, and I turn to Him in repentance,” he will be pardoned, even if he has fled in time of battle. 1. The client was Zaid, Bilal’s grandfather.Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it; but Abu Dawud has Hilal b. Yasar, and Tirmidhi calls this a gharib tradition.

Chapter 15: Prayer for Pardon, and Repentance - Section 3

‘Abdallah b. ‘Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying, “A dead man in his grave is just like a drowning man calling for help, for he hopes that a supplication from a father, a mother, a brother, or a friend may reach him, and when it does it is dearer to him than the world and what it contains. God most high brings to those who are in the graves blessings several times as great as the size of the mountains because of the supplication of those who are on the earth. The gift of the living to the dead is to ask pardon for them.” Baihaqi transmitted it in Shu'ab al-iman.

‘Ali reported God’s messenger as saying, “God loves the believing servant who is severely tried and is penitent.”

Chapter 16: Chapter - Section 1

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “If the believer knew the punishment God has prepared, no one would hope for His paradise; and if the infidel knew the extent of His mercy, no one would despair of attaining His paradise.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Chapter 10: The Reward for Glorifying, Praising, Declaring God’s Unity and His Greatness - Section 1

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying that if anyone says a hundred times in a day, “There is no god but God alone who has no partner, to whom dominion belongs, to whom praise is due, who is omnipotent”, he will have a reward equivalent to that for emancipating ten slaves, a hundred blessings recorded for him, a hundred evil deeds obliterated from him; it will be a protection for him from the devil all that day till evening, and no one will bring anything more excellent than he brings, except a man who has done more than he has. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari said

Once when we accompanied God’s messenger on a journey and the people began to say aloud, “God is most great”, he said, “Restrain yourselves, people; you are not supplicating one who is deaf or absent, but are supplicating One who hears, sees and is with you. He whom you are supplicating is nearer to each of you than the neck of his riding-beast.” Abu Musa said: I was behind him saying within myself, “There is no might and no power except in God,” and he said, “‘Abdallah b. Qais,* would you like me to guide you to one of the treasures of paradise?” On my replying that I certainly would, he said that it was, “There is no might and no power except in God.”*This is Abu Musa’s name and his father's name. He is most commonly known by his kunya.and nisba as given at the beginning of the tradition.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

Chapter 11: The Reward for Glorifying, Praising, Declaring God’s Unity and His Greatness - Section 2

Jabir reported God’s messenger as saying that if anyone says “Glory be to God the Incomparably Great, and I begin with praise of Him,” a palm tree will be planted for him in paradise. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr reported God's messenger as saying that “Praise be to God” is the beginning of thanksgiving, for the man who does not praise God has not thanked Him.

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported God’s messenger as saying that Moses asked his Lord to teach him something with which to make mention of Him or to supplicate Him, and was told to say, “There is no god but God.” He replied to his Lord that all His servants said this, but he wanted something particularly for himself, and He said, “Moses, were the seven heavens and their inhabitants apart from me and the seven earths put in one side of a balance and ‘There is no god but God’ in the other, ‘There is no god but God’ would outweigh them.” It is transmitted in Shar as-sunna.

‘Amr b. Shu'aib, on his father’s authority, said that his grandfather reported God's messenger as saying, “If anyone glorifies God a hundred times in the morning and a hundred times in the evening, he will be like one who makes the Pilgrimage a hundred times; if anyone praises God a hundred times in the morning and a hundred times in the evening, he will be like one who provides a hundred horses, as mounts in God’s path; if anyone declares that God is the only God a hundred times in the morning and a hundred times in the evening, he will be like one who frees a hundred of the descendants of Ishmael who are slaves; if anyone declares God’s greatness a hundred times in the morning and a hundred times in the evening, no one will bring more than he does that day, except one who says the same as he did or more.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan gharib tradition.

‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr reported God’s messenger as saying that “Glory be to God” fills half the scale, “Praise be to God” fills it, and “There is no god but God” has no veil between it and God till it reaches Him.Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition whose isnad is not strong.

Ibn Mas'ud reported God's messenger as saying he met Abraham on the night he was taken up to heaven, and he said, “Convey my greeting to your people, Muhammad, and tell them that paradise has good soil and sweet water, that it consists of level, treeless plains, and that its plants are ‘Glory be to God’; ‘Praise be to God’; ‘There is no god but God’; and ‘God is most great’.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan tradition whose isnad is gharib.

Busaira, who was one of the women emigrants, told of God’s messenger saying to them, “Apply yourselves to glorifying God, saying there is no god but He, and declaring His holiness; and count them on your fingers, for they [i.e. the fingers] will be questioned and asked to speak; and do not be negligent and so be deprived of mercy.” Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Chapter 13: Prayer for Pardon, and Repentance - Section 1

Al-Agharr al-Muzani reported God’s messenger as saying, “My heart is invaded by unmindfulness, and I ask God’s pardon a hundred times in the day.” Muslim transmitted it.