The Mindful Messenger ﷺ

C om p il ed b y

S h ay k h A hm a d B ad aw i Tayyib a l -Asm a

Tra n sla ted b y Hamza Yusuf and Asad Tarsin

“Our Lord, please accept my supplication. Our Lord, forgive me, and my parents, and the believers when the day of reckoning is observed.”

Say: “Had it not been for your supplication, your Lord would have no concern for you.” Qur’an 25:77

The Messenger of God s remembered God in every occasion. Muslim

the mindful messenger occasional prayers of the prophet muhammad

s

Copyright © Zaytuna College, 2022

Published in the United States

Translators: Hamza Yusuf and Asad Tarsin

Project Manager: Aisha Subhani

Editors: Uzma F. Husaini and Yusuf Mullick

Layout Design and Arabic Editor: Ismael Nass

For audio recordings of the prayers in Arabic, please scan the QR code below, or visit zaytuna.edu/prayers

contents

the mindful messenger s ix when going to bed 1 when waking from sleep 2 when entering the lavatory 3 when leaving the lavatory 3 when performing wuū’ 4 at the completion of wuū’ 5 when leaving home 6 upon returning home 7 when heading to the masjid 8 upon entering the masjid 9 upon leaving the masjid 9 when in the masjid 10 while hearing the adhān 11 after hearing the maghrib adhān 12

after hearing the adhān 13 upon undressing for a bath, sleep, or the like 14 upon intending intimacy with one’s spouse 14 upon awakening frightened from sleep 15 visions and dreams 16 at the onset of the prayer 17 during prostration 18 between the two prostrations 18 between the tashahhud and the salām 19 the enduring righteous prayers 20 invocations and prayers that the noble prophet s emphasized greatly 25 prayers for distress, anxiety, and sorrow 30 when satan insinuates 33 when overwhelmed by debt 35 the greatest name of god 36 should one’s livelihood become burdensome 37

when afflicted by demonic suggestions 38 spiritual treatments (ruqā) 39 when torrential winds blow 44 upon hearing thunder 44 upon seeing the new crescent 45 upon bidding farewell to a traveler 46 traveler’s response to one bidding farewell 46 when using any mode of transportation 47 when traveling by sea 48 at the outset of a meal or nosh 49 upon completion of a meal or nosh 49 after drinking milk 50 praying for the host of a meal 51 should one sneeze 52 when feeling angry 53 upon seeing an afflicted person 54

when seeing one’s reflection 55 should one’s ear ring 56 whenever one enters the marketplace 57 protection from the evil eye 58 recompensing an act of kindness 58 blessing newlyweds 59 oft-recited prayers of the prophet s 60 the prayer of istikhārah 69 when visiting a cemetery 72

the mindful messenger s

The Qur’an emphatically states, “I have only created sprites and humans to serve Me” (51:56). “Serve Me” in this verse, according to the early great Qur’anic exegete Ibn ‘Abbās (d. 688), means “know Me.” To truly arrive at knowledge (ma‘rifah) of God requires sincere commitment; attentiveness; understanding; and, most importantly, time. Our lives comprise the time that we have been given to know the Divine. One of the Qur’anic names for God, al-Ĥaqq, denotes the Real. Every prophet from God taught that all human beings possess the potential to know God. Hence, believers are dedicated to the proposition that all humans can indeed know and experience reality. To realize this end involves an engagement in constant, consistent, and sound prophetic practice. For Muslims, that practice essentially entails emulating, as best as one can, the final Messenger of God, Muhammad s. The closer one approximates the Prophet s, the closer one comes to being enveloped in divine love and forgiveness: “Say, ‘If you love God, then follow me; God will love you and forgive your sins; for God is most forgiving, most merciful’” (Qur’an 3:31).

Emulating the Prophet s comprises obligatory as well as voluntary practices. The obligatory aspects are easily known through the books of jurisprudence and sacred law. The Prophet’s voluntary, or supererogatory, practices, however, are myriad, and include feeding the hungry,

caring for widows, raising orphans, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, burying the dead, and countless other acts of mercy. Performing such voluntary acts in emulation of God’s beloved s draws us closer to knowing God. However, of all the practices performed by the Prophet s, the central pillar of Islam that holds up the entire religion is prayer—what the Prophet s referred to as “the main pillar of the faith.” The Prophet s augmented the obligatory five daily prayers with numerous voluntary (nawāfil) prayers performed throughout the day and night. These prayers entail the entire body as the believers stand, bow, prostrate, and sit in the presence of God.

In addition to performing these prayers, the Prophet s devoted himself to a stunning series of daily mindful supplications for every intentional act he performed. Throughout the day, the mindful Messenger s supplicated with these “occasional prayers,” expressing his gratitude for the continual flow of divine blessings—large and small, inward and outward—to ensure a constant remembrance of the Bestower of blessings and an increase in those very blessings. God says, “If you are grateful, I will grant you increase” (Qur’an 14:7). Such occasional supplications and reminders cultivate a vigilance and an awareness that enable the practitioner to be continually conscious of his or her states. The sacred monotony of rituals and remembrances of God eventually engenders in the believer a tranquility of heart and mind, as the human heart remains restless until it rests in the remembrance of God:

“Oh, it is by remembrance of God that hearts are satisfied!” (Qur’an 13:28).

Only recently have many in the West begun to discover what ancient traditions have known for millennia: conscious spiritual practices enhance well-being, enrich experiences, imbue life with meaning, and mitigate or even eradicate stress and distractibility. Many recent studies show the benefits of being mindful. However, the preachers and proponents of such mindfulness use the term loosely to mean simply being present and aware of one’s state. Rarely do they broach the question of what we should be mindful of, other than a nebulous nod to “the now.” But what is “the now?” In both Muslim and Christian scholastic traditions, God is known as the “Eternal Now”—in Arabic, al-Ān al-Dā’im; and in Latin, the Nunc Stans. Imam al-Jurjānī (d. 1078) states that when God says in a hadith qudsī, “Do not curse time (dahr), for I am Time,” the meaning of dahr is “the Eternal Now.” For God, there is neither past nor future because God exists in the eternal present tense.

For believers, as it was for our Prophet s, being present has a higher purpose than simply an awareness of our worldly state and surroundings: it requires cultivating awareness of the presence of God, the Eternal Now. All is contained in the knowledge of God. When we enter into the divine presence, we find not just peace and tranquility, but sanctification. The Qur’an says, “Oh, yes! For the friends of God there

is no fear, and they will not sorrow” (10:62). Fear is the anticipation of a future danger; sorrow is a regret from the past. The verse explains that believers in God live in the present, neither bemoaning the past nor fearing the future. This does not obviate our need to pursue a plan but encourages us to understand that while we may control our own efforts, the results are in the Hands of God. Man proposes; God disposes. So how then do we seek a state of God-consciousness, of continually entering into the present, especially during the times outside our canonical or voluntary prayers? We can follow the prophetic practice of occasional supplications, beginning with the very first occasion of the day when we open our eyes after sleep: “Praise be to God, Who brought us back to life after causing us to die, and unto God is the final return.” This prayer reminds us that sleep, as the Qur’an indicates, is a little death: “God takes souls at their death, or in their sleep if they aren’t dead, keeping them sentenced to death, and sending the rest to their definite term. Surely there are signs in that for people who reflect” (39:42). Hence, the act of waking every day resembles the resurrection of the dead; “and unto God is the final return” (Qur’an 11:4).

Similarly, when sitting down for a meal, saying grace reminds us of the blessing of satiating our hunger, of the goodness and taste of the food, and of its nourishing benefits. Each of these prayers infuses our diurnal acts with purposeful meaning, and instills in us gratitude for, and

remembrance of, our Creator. In a nihilistic age that rejects religious beliefs and moral principles, and leads many to much despair and disaffection, these supplications take on greater urgency than in previous times. In the absence of a socially reinforced decorum that our ancestors had, these daily prophetic prayers help us to live a God-centered life fortified by the power of permanent truth.

The Qur’an states, Believers, remember God with much remembrance, and praise God morning and evening. God is the one who blesses you, as do God’s angels, to bring you out of the darknesses into the light; for God is merciful to the believers: their greeting on the day they meet God will be “Peace,” and God has arranged a generous reward for them. (33:41–44)

This small book represents a humble effort to condense the contents of many larger works by some of the greatest scholars of Islam, such as Imams al-Nawawī (d. 1277), Ibn al-Jazarī (d. 1429), and al-Shawkānī (d. 1834), not to mention countless other scholars who wrote short collections in hopes of obtaining some of the reward of those who use the prayers to remember God. As the Prophet s said, “The one who points to a good deed has the reward of one who does it, without diminishing the reward of the doer of the action.” This short but powerful prayer

book was written by my teacher and mentor, the Sudanese scholar of hadith (muĥaddith) Shaykh Ahmad Badawi Tayyib al-Asma, who was from the city of Omdurman near Khartoum. During my studies in the Emirates in the eighties, I was fortunate to read the Muwaţţā’ and other works with him. He wrote this book during my studies with him and gifted it to me, and I later read it in the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina with a Mauritanian scholar. In his foreword to the book, Shaykh Ahmad expressed that his intention in writing it was to benefit believers with a concise and easily practiced work, so they may add these to the canonical prayers five times a day, and to some voluntary prayers, and be among those who remember God much.

When I told my mentor and master, the reviver of the Islamic sciences in our time, Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, what Shaykh Ahmad had said, Shaykh Abdallah informed me that his father, the great Mauritanian master jurist and mystic, Shaykhna Mahfudh bin Bayyah said, “Whoever practices the occasional prayers on a regular basis will be written and raised among those who remember God much.”

May this collection of prophetic reminders of our Lord be a source of our continued mindfulness, and may it lead us to be among those who remember God much.

Hamza Yusuf Hanson

Rabi al-Awwal 1444

“And your Lord says, Call on Me, and I will answer you .” Qur’an 40:60

Your name I lay my body down, and by You I rise. Should You take my soul, show it mercy. But if You release it, protect it with that with which You protect Your righteous servants.” Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

“All praise is due to God Who brought us back to life after causing us to die, and unto Him is the final return.”

Al-Bukhārī

When he woke up for praying night vigil (tahajjud), the Prophet s would look at the stars and recite the last ten verses of Sura Āl ‘Imrān, beginning with, “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the day and night, there are signs for people of reason” (3:190).

“I bear witness that none is worthy of worship save God, without any partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is God’s servant and Messenger.

O God, make me among the penitent and those who purify themselves. Glory be to You, O God, and to You belongs all praise; I bear witness that none is worthy of worship save You; I seek Your forgiveness and turn in repentance to You.” Muslim

“O God, I ask You for the best entrance and the best departure; in God’s name, we enter; and in God’s name, we depart; and it is in God, our Lord, that we place our trust.”

Then, one greets one’s family. Abū Dāwūd

“O God, place light in my heart, and light upon my tongue, and light in my hearing, and light in my sight; place light behind me and light before me; place light above me and light below me—O my God, grant me light!”1 Muslim

1 Another related hadith reads, “O God, magnify my light, give me light, and make me light (ij‘alnī nūrā).”

God, open for me the doors of Your mercy.” Then, enter with the right foot first. Muslim

upon leaving the masjid

“O God, I ask of You Your bounty.” Then, exit with the left foot first. Al-Nasā’ī

Whoever enters the masjid and cannot perform the salutatory prayer of the masjid for any reason should say four times, “Glory be to God; all praise is due to God; there is none worthy of worship save God; and God is the Greatest.”2

Muslim

2

This can also be recited to substitute for the prostration of Qur’anic recitation (sajdah tilāwah) if one cannot perform the prostration; e.g., if driving, etc.

while hearing the adhān ،ءادلنا متعمس اذإ« »نذؤملا لوقي ام لثم اولوقف ملسمو يراخلبا

“When you hear the muezzin calling, repeat after him.”3

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

3 One should repeat each phrase after the muezzin save “ĥayya ‘alā al-śalāh” and “ĥayya ‘alā al-falāĥ,” after which one says, “lā ĥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh” (there is no ability or power save by God) each time.

“O God, now is the arrival of your night, the departure of your day, and the sound of your callers, so forgive me.” Abū Dāwūd

Lord of this perfect call and established prayer, grant our master Muhammad the pinnacle of paradise and highest of degrees, and resurrect him in the Praised Station that You have promised him.”4 Al-Bukhārī

4 Although the original hadith does not include the phrase “our master” (sayyidanā), for centuries, it has been the widespread practice of Muslims to add this title of respect.

“I seek refuge in God’s perfect words from God’s wrath and the evil of God’s servants and from the goading of demons and their presence.”

Dāwūd

The Prophet s said, “Visions are from God, while nightmares are from Satan. So if one of you sees something unsettling, upon waking, he should utter “tfu” thrice to his left shoulder, and seek God’s refuge from its evil, for it will not, God willing, harm him.”5

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

5 In this hadith, the word, ru’yā, translated here as “visions,” denotes true dreams, while the word, ĥulm, translated as “nightmares,” refers to false and disturbing sights the sleeper experiences—thus the command to seek refuge in God. In English, we would say “true dreams” and “nightmares.” As for “tfu,” it is a low-key blowing with slight spittle without the spit. This act is found in many cultures, including the Jewish, Russian, and Greek. It symbolizes a rejection of the devil’s insinuations or a means to ward off the evil eye. Here, it is an expression of disgust with Iblīs.

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

“O God, make the distance between me and my sins as the distance You placed between the East and the West.

O God, purify me of my sins as a white garment is cleansed from soiling.

O God, wash away my sins with ice, water, and hail.”

I have oft wronged myself, and none forgives sins save You, so grant me from Your presence a complete forgiveness, and grace me, for surely You are the Forgiving, the Gracious.” Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

“There is none worthy of worship save God, without any partner. All dominion belongs to God; all praise is due to God; and God alone has power over all things.

O God, none can withhold what You grant, and none can grant what You withhold, and no one’s prosperity will avail him from You.”

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

God, verily, I seek refuge in You from timidity and stinginess, from being reduced to the feeblest stage of life,6 from the trials of this world, and from the punishment of the grave.” Al-Bukhārī

6 The “feeblest stage of life” refers to being reverted back to an infant-like state of complete helplessness, with no control over our bodily functions and no ability to speak or reason sufficiently.

“There is none worthy of worship save God, without any partner. All dominion belongs to God; all praise is due to God; and God has power over all things.

There is no ability and no power except by God. There is none worthy of worship save God, and we worship none but God alone. All bounty and grace, all praise and glory belong to God.

There is none worthy of worship save God; we worship God sincerely, though the ingrates detest it.”

Muslim

“Whoever says after each prayer, ‘Glory be to God’ thirty-three times, ‘All praise is due to God’ thirty-three times, and ‘God is the Greatest’ thirty-three times, and then completes the full hundred by saying, ‘There is none worthy of worship save God; all dominion belongs to God; all praise is due to God; and God has power over all things,’ his or her sins will be forgiven, even if they be as abundant as the foam of the sea.”

Muslim

Prophet s emphasized and stated the merits of these invocations and prayers. For some, the Prophet s specified the number of times to recite them; for others, he left for the individual to determine.

“There is none worthy of worship save God, without any partner. All dominion belongs to God; all praise is due to God; and God has power over all things.” (100 times daily) Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

“Glory and praise be to God. Glory be to God, the Almighty.” Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

is no power and strength except with God.”

“Glory and praise be to God by the number of God’s creation, as would please God, by the weight of the throne and the multitude of God’s words.”

Muslim

The Prophet s said, “That I should say, ‘Glory be to God; all praise is due to God; there is none worthy of worship save God; and God is the Greatest,’ is more delightful to me than everything the sun shines upon.”

Muslim

The Prophet s said, “I met Abraham e on the Night Journey, and he said to me, ‘O Muhammad, convey my greetings to your nation and inform them that Paradise contains pure soil and sweet water: it is a flat plain, the seedlings of which are ‘Glory be to God; all praise is due to God; there is none worthy of worship save God; and God is the Greatest.’” Al-Tirmidhī

“O God, I am Your servant, the son of Your servant and Your maidservant; my forelock is in Your hand. Your decree for me will come to pass, and what You have ordained for me is just. I ask You by every name that is Yours—whether a name You have called Yourself, revealed in Your scripture, taught one of Your servants, or retained for Yourself in hidden knowledge—to make the magnificent Qur’an the spring of my heart, the light of my breast, the dispeller of my grief, and remover of my anxiety and my sorrow.”

Aĥmad b. Ĥanbal

“There is none worthy of worship save God, the Mighty, the Clement; there is none worthy of worship save God, Lord of the vast throne; there is none worthy of worship save God, Lord of the heavens, Lord of earth, and Lord of the magnificent throne.” Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

“O God, it is Your mercy alone I hope for, so do not abandon me to my self, even for the blink of an eye, and rectify all my affairs, for there is none worthy of worship save You.” Abū Dāwūd

if any evil suggestion from Satan should be suggested to you, then take refuge in God, for God is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.”

Qur’an 41:36

Reciting the Qur’an protects from Satan. “And when you read the Recital, We place a hidden barrier between you and those who do not believe in the hereafter.”

Qur’an 17:45

“There is no god but the God, the Living, the Self-Existent, whom neither slumber nor sleep can overtake. To God belongs what is in the heavens and what is on earth. Who intercedes with God, except by divine permission? God knows what is before them, and what is after them; but they do not encompass anything of that knowledge, except as God wills. The throne of God extends over the heavens and the earth, whose maintenance does not weary God, who is the Exalted, the Powerful.”

b. Abī Ţālib g said, “Shall I teach you words taught to me by the Prophet s by which, even if you were to owe a mountain’s worth, God would discharge the debt for you? Say, ‘O God, suffice me with the lawful from the forbidden, and grant me favor from You by which I have no need of any other.’” Al-Tirmidhī

God, nothing is smooth and easy except what You make smooth and easy, and, should You will, even the rough is made smooth and easy.” Abū Bakr al-Sunnī

The Messenger of God s heard a man supplicating, “O God, I ask You by the virtue of my bearing witness that there is none worthy of worship save You, the Unique, the One Besought,

Who begets not nor was begotten, and none is comparable to God,” and then the Prophet s said, “By the One in Whose hand my soul lies, he asked God by the greatest divine name, the one by which if God is called upon, God responds and if petitioned grants.”

Ibn Ĥibbān

“I proclaim God’s name upon myself, my wealth, and my religion. O God, make me content with what You have decreed, and bless for me what You have allotted, such that I desire not to quicken what You have delayed, nor to delay that which You have quickened.”

Abū Bakr al-Sunnī

The Messenger of God s said, “Satan will come to a person and ask, ‘Who created this, and who created that,’ until he queries, ‘Who created your Lord?’

Should it reach that point, the person should seek refuge in God and desist.”

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

The Prophet s would provide healing comfort to an unwell wife by passing his right hand over the afflicted area and reciting, “O God, Lord of humanity, remove the affliction, and grant a healing, for You are the Healer; there is no true healing save Your healing, a healing which leaves no trace of illness.”

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

The Messenger of God s used to recite over al-Ĥasan and al-Ĥusayn, “I place you in the protection of God’s perfect words against every demon and viper, and every envious evil eye.” He would say, “Your forefather Abraham used to recite this over Ishmael and Isaac.”

Al-Bukhārī

A man complained to the Prophet s of a pain he was experiencing in his body, and the Prophet s said to him, “Place your hand on the part of your body which hurts, and say three times, ‘In the name of God’; then say seven times, ‘I seek refuge in the glory and power of God from the harm I find and guard against.’”

Muslim

The Prophet s said, “If one visits a sick person—the fate of whom has not been sealed—and recites seven times, ‘I ask God the Almighty, Lord of the vast throne, to heal you,’ as a result, God will restore the sick person to well-being.”

Abū Dāwūd

“If a person complained of a boil or wound, the Prophet s would place his finger like this.” At this point, the hadith transmitter Sufyān b. ‘Uyaynah placed his finger on the earth and then raised it. He continued, “Then the Prophet s would say, ‘In the name of God, by the soil of our land, and the spittle of our righteous, our sick are healed by the permission of our Lord.’”7

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

7 The Prophet s would place his right forefinger on the tip of his tongue and moisten it. Then he would touch the earth, bringing the moisture and the soil together, and then place his blessed finger over the wound and supplicate as mentioned.

is the Greatest. O God, make this crescent usher in a month of security, faith, soundness, submission, and success in all that You love and are pleased with.” Then, addressing the crescent, say, “My Lord and your Lord is God.” Al-Tirmidhī

Whenever the Prophet s set out on a journey, after settling upon his mount, he would thrice say, “God is the Greatest,” and then say, “Glory be to the One Who subjugated this for us, for we could never have done so ourselves. Surely, to our Lord we are returning. O God, we ask You to grant us righteousness, piety, and deeds that are pleasing to You on our journey. O God, You are our companion on the journey and remain guardian over our family. O God, I seek refuge in You from the hardships of travel, bad states and depressing sights, and an unfortunate return to our family, wealth, and children.”

Muslim

Upon returning, he would recite the above and then add, “We are returning contrite, worshipful, and full of praise for our Lord.” Muslim

traveling by sea

The Prophet s said, “My nation will be protected from drowning when embarking on a sea journey if they recite, ‘With God’s name, as it moves and when it moors; surely, my Lord is most forgiving and merciful’; and ‘They have no grasp of God’s true measure’” (Qur’an 11:41, 39:67). Abū Bakr al-Sunnī

“O God, bless it for us, and increase us from it,” for nothing quenches both thirst and hunger except milk.

Dāwūd

“May the fasters break their fasts at your table; may the righteous always eat your food; may the angels bless you; and may God remember you among those in the divine presence.”

Abū Dāwūd

The Prophet s said, “If one of you should sneeze, let him say, ‘All praise is due to God.’

His brother or companion should then respond, ‘God have mercy upon you.’

If he does say, ‘God have mercy upon you,’ then he, in turn, replies, ‘May God guide you and give you peace of mind.’”

Al-Bukhārī

The Messenger of God s saw a man enraged and said, “I will teach you a phrase that if recited will remove such a state as his: ‘I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan.’”

Al-Bukhārī

The Prophet s said, “If one of you sees someone in tribulation, he should say, ‘All praise is due to God Who has protected me from that which God tried you with, and has clearly privileged me over much of God’s creation.’”8

Al-Tirmidhī

8 This prayer should be recited inaudibly.

praise is due to God, Who fashioned my form and proportioned it, ennobled my face and beautified it, and made me one of the Muslims.”

Bakr al-Sunnī

The Prophet s said, “Should one of you experience a ringing in the ear, let him think of me, say a prayer for me, and then say, ‘May God mention the good of the one who mentioned me.’”

Abū Bakr al-Sunnī

“There is none worthy of worship save God, without any partner. All dominion and all praise belong to God; God, Who is Living and cannot die, gives life and delivers death, and is possessor of all goodness and over all things powerful.”

Al-Tirmidhī

grant for you and shower upon you all blessings, and unite you both in goodness.”

“I seek refuge in God from the turmoil of tribulation, the depths of despair, the downturns of decree, and the gloating of enemies.” Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

“O God, forgive me, have mercy on me, make me whole, and provide for me.” Muslim

“O God, Transformer of Hearts, turn our hearts toward Your obedience.”

Muslim

“O God, Turner of Hearts, make firm my heart in the religion You provided.”

Muslim

“O God, rectify my religious life, the safeguard of my affairs; my worldly life, the source of my sustenance; and my afterlife, the place of my final homecoming. Make my life an accrual of every good, and my death a repose from every evil.”

Muslim

“O God, I seek refuge in You from inability, sloth, timidity, decrepitude, and stinginess; I seek refuge in You from the torment of the grave; and I seek refuge in You from the trials of life and death, the burden of debt, and the domination of men.”

Muslim

“O God, forgive my sinfulness, ignorance, extravagance, and that of which You are more aware. O God, forgive what I have done in earnest and in jest, willfully and unwittingly—I have done all of that.

O God, forgive my sins, past and future, secret and open, and that of which You are more aware. You put forward; You relegate; and over all things, You have power.”

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done and the evil of what I have failed to do.” Muslim

God, I seek refuge in You from any loss of blessings, worsening of health, suddenness of affliction, and any divine displeasure.”

Muslim

God, I seek refuge in You from inability, sloth, stinginess, decrepitude, and the torment of the grave;

O God, inspire my soul to piety, and purify it; You are the best of those who purify; You are its guardian and protector.

O God, I seek refuge in You from useless knowledge, an impious heart, an unsatisfied soul, and unanswered prayers.”

Muslim

“O God, to You I submit, in You I trust, to You I turn, in Your name

I defend, and to You I defer judgment. Forgive my sins—past and future, secret and open—for You advance some and relegate others; there is none worthy of worship save You.”

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim

ةلاص

the prayer of istikhārah

The Prophet s taught his companions this prayer, as he would teach them a chapter of the Qur’an; in other words, this prayer has a central importance to the religion. The Prophet s would perform this prayer in order to seek God’s guidance before pursuing a plan of action or new endeavor.

The essence of the prayer is asking God to choose for oneself. It is obviously done only for permissible affairs, but one does not wait for a sign, although a sign may come. Rather, one should pursue one’s purpose with the prayer performed.

Should anything turn out badly, one can trust that in it is good for him or her because the prayer would ensure that. If, however, one does not perform the prayer and something turns out badly, one has only oneself to blame.

Jābir b. ‘Abd Allāh g said, “The Prophet s would instruct us to pray for guidance in all of our concerns, just as he would teach us a chapter from the Qur’an. ‘If any of you intends to undertake a matter, he or she should pray two rak‘ahs of nāfilah prayer and supplicate with the following prayer:

O God, I seek Your counsel from Your omniscience, and strength from Your omnipotence, and I ask You from Your boundless grace. For verily, You are capable, whereas I am not; and You are aware, whereas I am not; and surely You know all that is unseen.

O God, if You know that this matter [you may specify it here] benefits me in my religion, provision, and final affair, then decree it for me.

And if You know this matter [you may specify it here] will harm me in matters of my religion, provision, and final affair, then divert it from me, and divert me from it, and decree the beneficial for me wherever it may be, and satisfy me with it.’”

Al-Bukhārī

“Peace be upon you, people of the graveyard, believers and Muslims. Surely, God willing, we will follow after you.

We ask God to grant us all well-being.”

Muslim

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