The recommendation to maintain the Shari'ah-prescribed manner of dhikr
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The third question of Fatwa No. ( 7821 ):
Q3: The substance of the question concerns the ruling on counting general dhikr by number, and how to reconcile the impermissibility of doing so with the hadith
Whoever sends blessings upon me once on Friday, Allah sends blessings upon him ten times, and whoever sends blessings upon me ten times, Allah sends blessings upon him a hundred times
من صلى عليّ في يوم الجمعة مرة واحدة صلى الله عليه عشرًا، ومن صلى عليّ عشرًا صلى الله عليه مائةAbu Hurairah narrates that: The Mesenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever says: ‘There is none worthy of worship except Allah, Alone, without partner, to Him belongs all that exists and to Him belongs the praise, He gives life and causes death, and He is Powerful over all things, (Lā ilāha illallāh, waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-ḥamdu, yuḥyī wa yumītu, wa huwa `alā kulli shay’in qadīr)’ a hundred times in a day, it will be for him the equivalent of freeing ten slaves, and there shall be written for him a hundred good deeds, and a hundred bad deeds shall be wiped out for him, and it will be a protection for him from Shaitan on that day, until he reaches the evening. And none has brought better than it, except for one who has done more than that.” And with this chain, from the Prophet (ﷺ), that he said: “Whoever says: ‘Glory is to Allah, and with His Praise (Subḥān Allāh, wa biḥamdih)’ a hundred times, his sins are forgiven, even if they were more than the foam of the sea.”
من قال: لا إله إلاَّ الله وحده لا شريك له له الملك وله الحمد يحيي ويميت وهو على كل شيء قدير في اليوم مائة مرة كان كمن أعتق ألف نسمة من ولد إسماعيل...A3: It is recommended to maintain what has been specified by the Shari'ah regarding the number it has determined. As for dhikr that is prescribed without a specific number being set, it is prescribed to recite it without adhering to a specific count. In this way, one reconciles the hadiths you mentioned and the validity of the first two hadiths. The first, as narrated by Muslim :
He who blesses me once, Allah would bless him ten times.
من صلى عليّ واحدة صلى الله عليه عشرًاif 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.
من قال: لا إله إلاَّ الله وحده لا شريك له له الملك وله الحمد وهو على كل شيء قدير في يوم مائة مرة كانت له عدل عشر رقاب، وكتبت له مائة حسنة، ومحيت عنه مائة سيئة، وكانت له حرزًا من الشيطان يومه ذلك حتى يمسي، ولم يأت أحد بأفضل مما جاء به إلاَّ رجل عمل أكثر منهand he who utters:" Exalted is Allah (He is free from imperfection), and all praise is due to Him," one hundred times a day, his sins are obliterated even if they are equal to the extent of the foam of the ocean.
ومن قال: سبحان الله وبحمده في يومه مائة مرة حطت خطاياه ولو كانت مثل زبد البحرHe who utters ten times: 'La ilaha illallahu, wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahulmulku wa lahulhamdu, wa Huwa 'ala kulli sha'in Qadir (there is no true god except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him. His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent),' he will have a reward equal to that for freeing four slaves from the progeny of Prophet Isma'il.
من قال: لا إله إلاَّ الله وحده لا شريك له له الملك وله الحمد وهو على كل شيء قدير عشر مرات كان كمن أعتق أربعة أنفس من ولد إسماعيل...
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.