The Book of Forgetfulness (In Prayer)

Muhammad ibn Shuja‘ al-Marwazi informed us; he said: Isma‘il ibn ‘Ulayyah narrated to us, from al-Hajjaj ibn Abi ‘Uthman, who said: Abu al-Zubayr narrated to me; he said: I heard ‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr address people from this pulpit, saying: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said the salutation, he would say: “There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner. To Him belongs sovereignty and praise, and He has power over all things. There is no might or power except through Allah. There is no god but Allah, and we worship none but Him. To Him belong blessing, bounty, and excellent praise. There is no god but Allah; we make our religion sincerely His, even if the disbelievers detest it.”

Ishaq ibn Ibrahim informed us; he said: ‘Abdah narrated to us; he said: Hisham ibn ‘Urwah narrated to us, from Abu al-Zubayr, who said: ‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr would proclaim Allah’s oneness after the prayer, saying: “There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner. To Him belongs sovereignty and praise, and He has power over all things. There is no god but Allah, and we worship none but Him. To Him belong blessing, bounty, and excellent praise. There is no god but Allah; we make our religion sincerely His, even if the disbelievers detest it.” Then Ibn al-Zubayr would say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would proclaim Allah’s oneness with these words after the prayer.

Muhammad ibn Mansur narrated to us, from Sufyan, who said: I heard it from ‘Abdah ibn Abi Lubabah, and I heard it from ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr; both heard it from Warrad, the scribe of al-Mughirah ibn Shu‘bah. He said: Mu‘awiyah wrote to al-Mughirah ibn Shu‘bah, “Tell me something you heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).” He said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) finished the prayer, he would say: “There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner. To Him belongs sovereignty and praise, and He has power over all things. O Allah, none can withhold what You give, and none can give what You withhold; and the wealth of the wealthy cannot avail him against You.”

Muhammad ibn Qudamah informed me; he said: Jarir narrated to us, from Mansur, from al-Musayyab Abu al-‘Ala’, from Warrad, who said: Al-Mughirah ibn Shu‘bah wrote to Mu‘awiyah that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said the salutation at the end of prayer, he would say: “There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner. To Him belongs sovereignty and praise, and He has power over all things. O Allah, none can withhold what You give, and none can give what You withhold; and the wealth of the wealthy cannot avail him against You.”

Al-Hasan ibn Isma‘il al-Majalidi informed us; he said: Hushaym narrated to us; he said: al-Mughirah informed us—and he mentioned another [narrator]—and [chain shift]; Ya‘qub ibn Ibrahim informed us; he said: Hushaym narrated to us; he said: more than one person informed us, among them al-Mughirah, from al-Sha‘bi, from Warrad, the scribe of al-Mughirah, that Mu‘awiyah wrote to al-Mughirah asking him to write to him a hadith he had heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Al-Mughirah wrote back: I heard him say, upon finishing the prayer: “There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner. To Him belongs sovereignty and praise, and He has power over all things”—three times.

Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Saghani informed us; he said: Abu Salamah al-Khuza‘i—Mansur ibn Salamah—narrated to us; he said: Khallad ibn Sulayman narrated to us. Abu Salamah said—and he was one of the fearful ones—from Khalid ibn Abi ‘Imran, from ‘Urwah, from ‘A’ishah, that whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sat in a gathering or prayed, he would say some words. ‘A’ishah asked him about them, and he said: “If he has spoken good, they seal it for him until the Day of Resurrection; and if he has spoken otherwise, they are an expiation for him: Glory and praise be to You, O Allah; I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.”

Ahmad ibn Sulayman informed us; he said: Ya‘la narrated to us; he said: Qudamah narrated to us, from Jasrah, who said: ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) told me: A Jewish woman came to me and said, “The punishment of the grave is caused by urine.” I said, “You lie.” She said, “Indeed, we scrape it from the skin and clothing.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out for prayer while our voices had risen. He said, “What is this?” I told him what she had said, and he said, “She has spoken the truth.” From that day onward, after every prayer he prayed, he would say: “Lord of Jibril, Mika’il, and Israfil, protect me from the heat of the Fire and the punishment of the grave.”

‘Amr ibn Sawwad ibn al-Aswad ibn ‘Amr informed us; he said: Ibn Wahb narrated to us; he said: Hafs ibn Maysarah informed me, from Musa ibn ‘Uqbah, from ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Marwan, from his father, that Ka‘b swore to him by Allah, who split the sea for Moses: “We find in the Torah that David, the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him), would say upon finishing his prayer: ‘O Allah, set right for me my religion, which You have made a protection for me, and set right for me my worldly life, in which You have placed my livelihood. O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger, in Your pardon from Your punishment, and in You from You. None can withhold what You give, none can give what You withhold, and the wealth of the wealthy cannot avail him against You.’” He said: Ka‘b also told me that Suhayb narrated to him that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would say these words when finishing his prayer.

‘Amr ibn ‘Ali informed us; he said: Yahya narrated to us, from ‘Uthman al-Shahham, from Muslim ibn Abi Bakrah, who said: My father would say after the prayer: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from disbelief, poverty, and the punishment of the grave.” I would say these words, and my father said, “My son, from whom did you learn this?” I said, “From you.” He said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would say them after the prayer.”

Yahya ibn Habib ibn ‘Arabi informed us; he said: Hammad narrated to us, from ‘Ata’ ibn al-Sa’ib, from his father, from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “There are two practices that no Muslim observes without entering Paradise. They are easy, yet few people act upon them.” He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “After each of the five prayers, one of you should glorify Allah ten times, praise Him ten times, and declare His greatness ten times. That makes one hundred and fifty on the tongue and one thousand five hundred on the Scale.” I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) count them on his hand. “And when one of you goes to his bed or resting place, he should glorify Allah thirty-three times, praise Him thirty-three times, and declare His greatness thirty-four times. That makes one hundred on the tongue and one thousand on the Scale.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Which of you commits two thousand five hundred sins every day and night?” It was said, “Messenger of Allah, how could we fail to keep count of them?” He said: “Satan comes to one of you while he is praying and says, ‘Remember this, remember that,’ and he comes to him when he goes to sleep and lulls him to sleep.”

Muhammad ibn Isma‘il ibn Samurah narrated to us, from Asbat, who said: ‘Amr ibn Qays narrated to us, from al-Hakam, from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from Ka‘b ibn ‘Ujrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Words repeated after prayer: whoever says them will not be disappointed—glorify Allah thirty-three times after every prayer, praise Him thirty-three times, and declare His greatness thirty-four times.”

Musa ibn Hizam al-Tirmidhi informed us; he said: Yahya ibn Adam narrated to us, from Ibn Idris, from Hisham ibn Hassan, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, from Kathir ibn Aflah, from Zayd ibn Thabit, who said: They were commanded to glorify Allah thirty-three times after every prayer, praise Him thirty-three times, and declare His greatness thirty-four times. Then, in a dream, a man from the Ansar was visited and told, “Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) command you to glorify Allah thirty-three times after every prayer, praise Him thirty-three times, and declare His greatness thirty-four times?” He said, “Yes.” The visitor said, “Make them twenty-five, and include the declaration of Allah’s oneness among them.” When morning came, the man went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and told him about it. He said, “Make them that way.”

‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Abd al-Karim Abu Zur‘ah al-Razi informed us; he said: Ahmad ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Yunus narrated to us; he said: ‘Ali ibn al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad narrated to me, from ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Abi Rawwad, from Nafi‘, from Ibn ‘Umar, that a man saw in a dream—like a sleeping person sees. He was asked, “What did your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) command you?” He said, “He commanded us to glorify Allah thirty-three times, praise Him thirty-three times, and declare His greatness thirty-four times; that makes one hundred.” The dream figure said, “Glorify Allah twenty-five times, praise Him twenty-five times, declare His greatness twenty-five times, and proclaim His oneness twenty-five times; that makes one hundred.” When morning came, he told the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Do as the Ansari said.”

Muhammad ibn Bashshar informed us; he said: Muhammad narrated to us; he said: Shu‘bah narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman, the freedman of the family of Talhah, who said: I heard Kurayb, from Ibn ‘Abbas, from Juwayriyah bint al-Harith, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by her while she was in the mosque supplicating. Then he passed by her near midday and said to her, “Have you remained as you were?” She said, “Yes.” He said, “Shall I teach you some words to say—namely: ‘Glory be to Allah as numerous as His creation’”—three times—“‘Glory be to Allah, as much as pleases Him’”—three times—“‘Glory be to Allah, equal to the weight of His Throne’”—three times—“‘Glory be to Allah, as plentiful as the ink of His words’”—three times.

‘Ali ibn Hujr informed us; he said: ‘Attab—namely, Ibn Bashir—narrated to us, from Khusayf, from ‘Ikrimah and Mujahid, from Ibn ‘Abbas, who said: The poor came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, “Messenger of Allah, the wealthy pray as we pray and fast as we fast, yet they have wealth with which they give charity and spend.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “When you have prayed, say ‘Glory be to Allah’ thirty-three times, ‘Praise be to Allah’ thirty-three times, ‘Allah is the Greatest’ thirty-three times, and ‘There is no god but Allah’ ten times. By doing that, you will catch up with those who preceded you and surpass those who come after you.”

Ahmad ibn Hafs ibn ‘Abdullah al-Naysaburi informed us; he said: My father narrated to me; he said: Ibrahim—meaning Ibn Tahman—narrated to me, from al-Hajjaj ibn al-Hajjaj, from Abu al-Zubayr, from Abu ‘Alqamah, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever glorifies Allah one hundred times and proclaims His oneness one hundred times after the dawn prayer will have his sins forgiven, even if they are like the foam of the sea.”

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-A‘la al-San‘ani and al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Dhari‘ informed us—the wording is his. They said: ‘Aththam ibn ‘Ali narrated to us; he said: al-A‘mash narrated to us, from ‘Ata’ ibn al-Sa’ib, from his father, from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr, who said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) counting the tasbih.

Qutaybah ibn Sa‘id informed us; he said: Bakr—namely, Ibn Mudar—narrated to us, from Ibn al-Had, from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, from Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman, from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would observe seclusion in the ten days in the middle of the month. When twenty nights had passed and the twenty-first began, he would return to his dwelling, and those who had observed seclusion with him would return as well. Then, in a month when he had observed seclusion, he stayed on that night when he would normally return. He addressed the people and instructed them as Allah willed, then said: “I used to observe seclusion during these ten days, but then I decided to observe seclusion during these last ten. Whoever has been performing retreat with me, let him remain in his place of retreat. I was shown this night, then made to forget it, so seek it among the last ten nights, on every odd-numbered night. I saw myself prostrating in water and mud.” Abu Sa‘id said: Rain fell on the night of the twenty-first, and water leaked into the mosque at the place where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed. I saw him after he finished the dawn prayer, with his face wet with mud and water.

Qutaybah ibn Sa‘id narrated to us; he said: Abu al-Ahwas narrated to us, from Simak, from Jabir ibn Samurah, who said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the dawn prayer, he would remain seated in his prayer place until the sun rose.

Ahmad ibn Sulayman informed us; he said: Yahya ibn Adam narrated to us; he said: Zuhayr narrated to us—and he mentioned another [transmitter]—from Simak ibn Harb, who said: I asked Jabir ibn Samurah, “Did you sit with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?” He said, “Yes. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the dawn prayer, he would sit in his prayer place until the sun rose. His Companions would talk, recalling stories from the pre-Islamic era, recite poetry, and laugh; he would smile.”