Anas reported that he heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying that Allah says, “O son of Adam, whatever you asked Me and expect from Me I forgave - respecting that which you owed to Me - and I don’t care [how great this was]. O Son of Adam, even if your sins pile up to the sky and then you seek My forgiveness I will forgive you, and O son of Adam, even if you have an earth full of sins but you meet Me without associating any other thing with Me I will forgive you.’ (Reported by Tirmizhi, who considers it a hasan sahih hadith)
Abdallah b. ‘Abbas said, “If one supplicates without fail for forgiveness from Allah, He finds a way out for him to get out of every distress and difficulty, and gives him sustenance through ways utterly unthought-of of.’’ (Reported by Abu Daw’ud, Nasa’i, Ibn Majah, and Al-Hakim, who says its chain of authorities is sound.)
Some Comprehensive Forms of Zhikr
Juwairiyah (One of the wives of the Prophet, peace be upon him) reported that one day the Prophet, peace be upon him, left her apartment in the morning as she was busy observing her dawn prayer in her place of worship. He came back in the forenoon and she was still sitting there. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to her, “You have been in the same place since I left you?” She said, “Yes.” Thereupon the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “I recited four words three times after I left you and if these were to be weighed against what you have recited since morning these would outweigh them, and these words are: Subhanallah wa bihamdihi ‘adada khalqihi wa rida’ nafsihi wa zinata ‘arshihi wa midada kalimatihi (hallowed be Allah and praise is due to Him to the extent of the number of His creation and to the extent of His pleasure and to the extent of the weight of His Throne and to the extent of ink used in recording words for His Praise).’’ (Reported by Muslim and Abu Daw’ud)
Sa’d ibn Abu Waqqas reported that once the Prophet, peace be upon him, saw a woman who had some date-stones or pebbles which she was using as beads to glorify Allah. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to her, “Let me tell you something which would be easier and more excellent for you than that.” So he told her to say instead Subhan-Allah ‘adada ma khalaqa fil-ard wa subhan Allah ‘adada ma khalaqa bayna zhalika wa subhan-Allah ‘adada ma huwa khaliq wa Allahu akhar mithla zhalik wa la ilaha IllaAllahu mithla zhalik wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa mithla zhalik (Glory be to Allah as many times as the number of what He has created in Heaven, Glory be to Allah as many times as the number of what He has created on Earth, Glory be to Allah as many times as the number of what He has created between them, Glory be to Allah as many times as the number of that which He is creating, Allah is the most great a similar number of times, praise be to Allah a similar number of times, and There is no god but Allah a similar number of times, and there is no might and no power except with Allah a similar number of times).’’ (Reported by the Compilers of the Sunan and Al-Hakim, who says it is a sound hadith according to the criterion of Muslim)
Ibn ‘Umar reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, told them, “A servant of Allah said ‘My Lord! All praise is for You as much as Your Glory and Sublime Majesty rightly deserve. ‘This was too much for the two angels to record. They did not know how to record it. So they soared to the heaven and said, ‘Our Lord! Your servant has said something which we don’t know how to record?’ Allah asked them-- and, of course, He knew what the servant had said--’What did My servant say?’ They said, ‘He has said, “My Lord! All praise is for You as much as Your Glory and Sublime Majesty rightly deserve.” Allah said to them, ‘ Write it down as My servant has said until he should meet Me and I reward him for it’.’ (Reported by Ahmad and Ibn Majah)
Counting on One’s Fingers is Better than Counting Beads
Yusairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, commanded them (the emigrant women) to be regular in remembering Allah by saying, “Allah is the most great,” “Glory be to Allah, the Holy,” and “There is no God but Allah,” and never to be forgetful of Allah and His Mercy, and to count them on their fingers, for the fingers will be questioned and will speak. (Reported in the Sunan and by Al-Hakim with a sound chain of authorities) Abdallah b. ‘Amr b. al-’As reported, “I saw the Prophet, peace be upon him, counting the glorifications of Allah on his right hand’s fingers.’’ (Reported in the Sunan)
Warning Against Sitting in Company Where Allah is Not Mentioned and Blessings on His Prophet are Not Invoked
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “If people sit in an assembly in which they do not remember Allah nor invoke a blessing on the Prophet, it will be a cause of grief for them on the Day of Judgment.” This is reported by Tirmizhi, who says it is a sound hadith.
In the version of Ahmad, however, we read, “If people sit in an assembly in which they do not remember Allah, it will be a cause of sorrow for them, and if a man is walking and does not remember Allah, it will be a cause of sorrow for him, and if a man lies down on his bed and does not remember Allah, it will be a cause of sorrow for him.” Another version says, “It will be a sorrow for them, even if they are given Paradise in reward.”
The author of Fath al-’Allam says, “This hadith proves that it is incumbent on one to remember Allah and invoke blessings on the Prophet while sitting in an assembly, for whether we take the words ‘cause of grief or sorrow’ to mean torment of fire or any other chastisement, obviously a punishment is incurred only when an obligatory act is neglected or a forbidden act is committed, and here it is both the remembrance of Allah and the invoking of blessings on His Prophet that are apparently incumbent.”
Atonement for Sitting in an Assembly
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “If anyone sits in an assembly where there is much clamor and says before getting up to leave, Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ashadu an-la illaha illa-anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayka (Glory be to You, O Allah, and I begin with declaring all praise is due to You, I testify that there is no god but You; I ask Your pardon and turn to You in repentance), he will be forgiven any sin that he might have committed while in that assembly. (Tirmizhi and Al-Baihaqi, (Kitab ad-D’wat Al-kabir))
Atonement for Backbiting
It is related that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “The atonement for backbiting [and slander] is to pray for forgiveness of the person who was slandered and to say, ‘O Allah, forgive us and him’.” The preferable course in this regard is to pray for forgiveness of the person who was the target of the slander and to mention his good qualities. This will wipe off the effects of such backbiting, and it is not necessary to announce such a thing.
To be continued
