What is the ruling on the misbaha in Islam, including the mention of valid evidence and the tracing of its hadiths?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : What is the ruling on the misbaha in Islam, including the mention of valid evidence in the tracing of the hadiths, and may Allah reward you all with good?
The Shaykh : By the misbaha, the questioner means the beads strung on a cord in a specific number, by which a person counts the dhikr, tasbih, istighfar, and other things he says. This is permissible and there is nothing wrong with it, but with conditions: that it not lead the user to riya' (showing off in worship), that is, to seeking the attention of people, as some people do who make themselves misbahas with a thousand beads and then wear them as necklaces, as if saying to people: "Look at us, we are reciting tasbih to the extent of this misbaha" or something similar.
The second condition: that it not be adopted in a way that imitates the people of innovation who have introduced into the religion of Allah what He has not prescribed, whether in verbal dhikr or physical movements, because whoever imitates a people is one of them. And with that, we say that tasbih with the fingers is better, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to that and said: meaning they will testify on the Day of Resurrection to what occurred.
So it is better for a person to do tasbih with the fingers for three reasons. The first: that this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to.
The second: that it is closer to the presence of the heart, because a person must necessarily keep in mind the number he is counting with his fingers, unlike the one who does tasbih with a misbaha, who may pass his hand over these beads while his heart is heedless and distracted.
The third: that it is further from riya' (showing off in worship), as we mentioned earlier. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. This questioner, who used the initials S, A, D for his name, says: O honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh : By the misbaha, the questioner means the beads strung on a cord in a specific number, by which a person counts the dhikr, tasbih, istighfar, and other things he says. This is permissible and there is nothing wrong with it, but with conditions: that it not lead the user to riya' (showing off in worship), that is, to seeking the attention of people, as some people do who make themselves misbahas with a thousand beads and then wear them as necklaces, as if saying to people: "Look at us, we are reciting tasbih to the extent of this misbaha" or something similar.
The second condition: that it not be adopted in a way that imitates the people of innovation who have introduced into the religion of Allah what He has not prescribed, whether in verbal dhikr or physical movements, because whoever imitates a people is one of them. And with that, we say that tasbih with the fingers is better, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to that and said:
Tie them with your fingers, for they are the ones that will be questioned.
اعقدن بالأنامل فإنهن مستنطقاتSo it is better for a person to do tasbih with the fingers for three reasons. The first: that this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to.
The second: that it is closer to the presence of the heart, because a person must necessarily keep in mind the number he is counting with his fingers, unlike the one who does tasbih with a misbaha, who may pass his hand over these beads while his heart is heedless and distracted.
The third: that it is further from riya' (showing off in worship), as we mentioned earlier. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. This questioner, who used the initials S, A, D for his name, says: O honorable Shaykh.