What is the ruling on counting tasbih with a misbaha?

Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. He says: I use a misbaha, and I have heard that it is a bid'ah (religious innovation), but I consider it merely a means of reminding myself. Whenever I have it with me, I find my tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah, and if I leave it, I abandon that practice. So, is there any sin on me for doing this? Does my practice in this way count as a bid'ah?

Answer:
It is permissible to use a misbaha for counting the tasbih, to assist in counting the tasbih, just as pebbles and fingers are used for that purpose. Counting the tasbih with the fingers is better, based on the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): "They are the ones that will be questioned about the fingers." If a person uses the misbaha merely for counting, then it is permissible. However, if he uses it on the belief that there is a virtue in it, then it is not permissible, because there is no virtue in it, as the Sufis and those who follow them claim. All of this is from the beginning: the belief that there is a virtue in the misbaha, and that tasbih with it is better, is a superstitious belief and a bid'ah, with no evidence for it.
As for the one who takes a misbaha to assist in counting the tasbih, and does not believe that there is a virtue in it, but rather takes it from the category of permissible things, like counting the tasbih with pebbles or with the fingers, then this is permissible. Yes.