Salāt At-Tasbeeh: Ten things, if you say them, Allah will forgive your sins, the first of them and the last of them, the older sins and the newer sins, the unintentional ones and the deliberate ones, the minor sins and the major ones. The Tasbeeh Prayer and its Regulations

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In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all creation, and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and all his Companions.

Introductory comment:

A Hadeeth itself is proof for the people once they know its authenticity. So, differing and opinions are put to one side when we know that a Hadeeth is saheeh. Imām Ahmad (rahimahullāh, d. 241H) said: “I am amazed at a people who know the chain of narration (isnād) of a hadeeth and its authenticity yet they still resort to the opinion of Sufyān!” Referring here to the great scholar, Sufyan Ath-Thawri (rahimahullāh, d. 161H). Meaning, once a Hadeeth is shown to be authentic, then one is not permitted to resort to the opinions of men. The Hadeeth below is authentic according to a number of Muhadditheen as you will see from the references that follow.

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās narrated that the Messenger of Allah (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said to Al-‘Abbās ibn ‘Abdul-Muttalib (radiyallāhu ‘anhu):

يَا عَبَّاسُ يَا عَمَّاهُ أَلاَ أُعْطِيكَ أَلاَ أَمْنَحُكَ أَلاَ أَحْبُوكَ أَلاَ أَفْعَلُ بِكَ عَشْرَ خِصَالٍ إِذَا أَنْتَ فَعَلْتَ ذَلِكَ غَفَرَ اللَّهُ لَكَ ذَنْبَكَ أَوَّلَهُ وَآخِرَهُ قَدِيمَهُ وَحَدِيثَهُ خَطَأَهُ وَعَمْدَهُ صَغِيرَهُ وَكَبِيرَهُ سِرَّهُ وَعَلاَنِيَتَهُ

“Abbās, my uncle! Shall I not give you something, bestow upon you something and grant it to you? Shall I inform you of ten things that if you do them, Allah will forgive your sins, the first of them and the last of them, the older sins and the newer sins, the unintentional ones and the deliberate ones, the smaller sins and major sins, the hidden ones and public ones?

عَشْرَ خِصَالٍ أَنْ تُصَلِّيَ أَرْبَعَ رَكَعَاتٍ تَقْرَأُ فِي كُلِّ رَكْعَةٍ فَاتِحَةَ الْكِتَابِ وَسُورَةً فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ مِنَ الْقِرَاءَةِ فِي أَوَّلِ رَكْعَةٍ وَأَنْتَ قَائِمٌ قُلْتَ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَلاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ خَمْسَ عَشْرَةَ مَرَّةً ثُمَّ تَرْكَعُ فَتَقُولُهَا وَأَنْتَ رَاكِعٌ عَشْرًا ثُمَّ تَرْفَعُ رَأْسَكَ مِنَ الرُّكُوعِ فَتَقُولُهَا عَشْرًا ثُمَّ تَهْوِي سَاجِدًا فَتَقُولُهَا وَأَنْتَ سَاجِدٌ عَشْرًا ثُمَّ تَرْفَعُ رَأْسَكَ مِنَ السُّجُودِ فَتَقُولُهَا عَشْرًا ثُمَّ تَسْجُدُ فَتَقُولُهَا عَشْرًا ثُمَّ تَرْفَعُ رَأْسَكَ فَتَقُولُهَا عَشْرًا فَذَلِكَ خَمْسٌ وَسَبْعُونَ فِي كُلِّ رَكْعَةٍ تَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ فِي أَرْبَعِ رَكَعَاتٍ إِنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ أَنْ تُصَلِّيَهَا فِي كُلِّ يَوْمٍ مَرَّةً فَافْعَلْ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ فَفِي كُلِّ جُمُعَةٍ مَرَّةً فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ فَفِي كُلِّ شَهْرٍ مَرَّةً فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ فَفِي كُلِّ سَنَةٍ مَرَّةً فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ فَفِي عُمُرِكَ مَرَّةً

There are ten things: you should pray four Rak’ahs, reciting in each one Surah Al-Fātihah and then another Surah. When you finish the recitation, you should recite fifteen times while standing: Subhānallāh wal-hamdulillāh wa lā ilāha illallāh wallāhu akbar (how perfect is Allah, free from all imperfections, and praise be to Allah, none has the right to be worshipped except Allāh, and Allāh is greater than all besides Him). Then you should bow (Rukoo’) and say it again ten times while in Rukoo’. Then you should raise your head after Rukoo’ and say it again ten times. Then you should kneel down in prostration (Sajdah) and say it ten times while prostrating yourself. Then you should raise your head from prostration and say it ten times (between the two Sajdahs). Then you should prostrate yourself again and say it ten times. Then raise your head after the second Sajdah and say it again ten times. That is 75 times for each Rak’ah, and you should do that in each of the four Rak’ahs. If you are able to pray it once a day, then do it. If not, then pray it once every Friday. If not, then once a month. If not, then once a year. If not, then at least once in your lifetime.”

Authenticity: Reported by Abu Dawood in his Sunan, no. 1297 from Ibn ‘Abbās; no. 1298 from Abul-Jawzā from Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr; no. 1299 from ‘Urwah ibn Ruwaim from an Ansāri Companion―and graded saheeh, hasan and saheeh respectively by Shaikh Al-Albāni (rahimahullāh). Also reported by Ibn Mājah no. 1386. A group of scholars have verified and authenticated this hadeeth, such as Abu Bakr Al-Ājurri, Abul-Hasan Al-Maqdisi, Al-Bayhaqi, Ibn Al-Mubārak, An-Nawawi, Tāj As-Subki, Ibn Hajr, As-Suyooti, As-Sindi, Az-Zubaydi, Muhammad bin Abdur-Rahmān Al-Mubārakfūri (author of Tuhfatul-Ahwadhi bi Sharhi Jāmi’ At-Tirmidhi), ‘Ubaydullāh Ar-Rahmāni Al-Mubārakfūri (author of Mar’āt Al-Mafātīh Sharh Mishkāt Al-Masābīh), Ahmad Shākir and Al-Albāni among others.

Benefits and notes:

1. This hadeeth is a mercy for the people and an escape from despair for their sins, a great opportunity to attain forgiveness from their Lord.
2. This hadeeth encompasses all the believers even though the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) was addressing his uncle. That is because the statements of the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) address the whole Ummah unless there is proof for specificity.
3. One does not solely rely on this hadeeth and imagine that he can embark upon sins and transgression freely because this prayer will protect him from punishment for his wrongdoing and oppression. Allah has stated:

وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَآ ءَاتَوا۟ وَّقُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ رَٰجِعُونَ
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ يُسَـٰرِعُونَ فِى ٱلْخَيْرَٰتِ وَهُمْ لَهَا سَـٰبِقُونَ

“And they who give what they give while their hearts are fearful (that it may not be accepted) because they will be returning to their Lord. It is these who hasten in the good deeds, and they are foremost in performing them.” (Al-Mu’minoon: 60-61)
4. As for the sins that are connected to the rights of the people and transgressions done against them, then this hadeeth does not encompass them. A person is under the threat of Allah’s punishment until the rights of people have been restored, such as returning what has been stolen to its owner (or compensating him), or apologising to the one you have wronged and seeking his pardon, or correcting the slander of the one you have slandered and praising the one you wrongfully maligned in the same gatherings you spoke ill of him, etc., or at the very least supplicating for their guidance and that Allah shows them mercy and forgives them. This is needed if one wants his repentance to be complete. Al-Hasan (d. 110H, rahimahullāh) said: “We met a people (i.e. Sahābah) who were more fearful that their good deeds would not be accepted than you are of being punished for your sins.” (Al-Qutubi in Al-Jāmi’ 12/132). So the Salātut-Tasbeeh is a good deed and the believer should be fearful that it may not be accepted, and he should know that deeds are accepted in accordance with one’s sincerity, truthfulness and humility to Allah, yearning and hoping for His acceptance and reward.
5. There is no specified Surah that needs to be recited after Al-Fātihah, rather a person can recite whatever is easy for them―and likewise there is no time restriction as to when it can be prayed (except that you should avoid the forbidden times such as sunrise up until the sun has arisen, the late afternoon before sunset, at sunset until the sun has fully set, and midday).
6. The adhkār (the ten praises and glorification) in Rukoo’, in Sujood, etc., are to be recited after the obligatory recitations that are normally said in these places. So in Rukoo’, they are recited after saying Subḥāna Rabbīyal-ʿadhīm. Standing from Rukoo’, they are recited after saying Samiʾ Allāhu liman ḥamidah Rabbanā wa lakal-ḥamd. In Sajdah, after reciting Subḥāna Rabbīyal-Aʾlá, etc.
7. If someone makes a mistake that requires Sujood as-Sahw, then he does not make the ten remembrances of glorification and praise in those prostrations of forgetfulness.

And all praise is for Allah.
Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid.

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17 Comments

  1. Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. Regarding the mode of praying these 4 raka’aat, do we return to the asl which is that the prayers are done in pairs, or do we pray them consecutively? Baarak Allaahu feek for this tremendous benefit.

  2. JazaakAllahu khayran Ustādh

    Beautiful instruction and reminder of so many ways to attain Allāh‘s mercy & forgiveness.

  3. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

    Does the “subhānallāh wal-hamdulillāh wa lā ilāha illallāh wallāhu akbar” to be recited before or after the tashahud?

  4. Asalamu alaikum.
    I was in the understanding that this salat was not authentic and I left it out for many years. My mum used to pray this and I used to say this is not sunnah.
    But jazaakallahu khairan.

  5. Asalamualaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatahu. I shared this article with family and found that some scholars differed in salat tasbeeh….

    What would your advice be regarding this?

    Jazak’Allaah Khairan.

    • Wa-alaikumus-salām-wa-rahmatullāhi-wa-barakātuhu

      The hadeeth itself is a proof for the people once they know its authenticity. Differing is put to one side when we know that a hadeeth is saheeh. Imām Ahmad (rahimahullāh, d. 241H) said: “I am amazed at a people who know the chain of narration (isnād) of a hadeeth and its authenticity (sihhah) yet they still resort to the opinion of Sufyān!” Referring here to the great scholar, Sufyan Ath-Thawri (rahimahullāh, d. 161H).

  6. Jazaakum Allaahu khayran.. May all your effort be heavy on your scales of good deeds in the Hereafter ameen!
    Always my first go-to site for knowledge Alhamdulillaah.

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