The Ruling on Specifying the Number of Dhikr and Istighfar
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner sent this question, saying: Honorable Shaykh, my question is about dhikr. I say Allahu Akbar a thousand times, Alhamdulillah a thousand times, and Subhan Allah a thousand times, and so on until I finish, because I find comfort in this dhikr. Does this fall under the category of artificiality and deviation?
Answer:
Dhikr and istighfar are of two types: du'a and istighfar, and the specified dhikr for which a text has come down specifying its number. One acts according to the text and the limit, such as the ten takbirs after Fajr and after Maghrib, such as Subhan Allah, Alhamdulillah, and La ilaha illa Allah, Subhan Allah, Alhamdulillah, and Allahu Akbar, thirty-three times each, and the completion of the hundred is La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah.
Lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-hamd wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir. And if it comes with the four phrases: Subhan Allah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illa Allah, and Allahu Akbar, then it is twenty-five of each phrase, totaling one hundred. So, what has come down with a specified number is a text to be acted upon. As for what has not come down with a specified number, a person remembers Allah as much as is easy for him, little or much, and the more one does, the better.
[Al-Ahzab 33:41-42] But what is specified is only by evidence. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
This questioner sent this question, saying: Honorable Shaykh, my question is about dhikr. I say Allahu Akbar a thousand times, Alhamdulillah a thousand times, and Subhan Allah a thousand times, and so on until I finish, because I find comfort in this dhikr. Does this fall under the category of artificiality and deviation?
Answer:
Dhikr and istighfar are of two types: du'a and istighfar, and the specified dhikr for which a text has come down specifying its number. One acts according to the text and the limit, such as the ten takbirs after Fajr and after Maghrib, such as Subhan Allah, Alhamdulillah, and La ilaha illa Allah, Subhan Allah, Alhamdulillah, and Allahu Akbar, thirty-three times each, and the completion of the hundred is La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah.
Lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-hamd wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir. And if it comes with the four phrases: Subhan Allah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illa Allah, and Allahu Akbar, then it is twenty-five of each phrase, totaling one hundred. So, what has come down with a specified number is a text to be acted upon. As for what has not come down with a specified number, a person remembers Allah as much as is easy for him, little or much, and the more one does, the better.
(41) O you who have believed, remember Allah with much remembrance (42) And exalt Him morning and afternoon.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ ذِكْرًا كَثِيرًا وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًاThe presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/222 — archive.org (7:05)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.