The Virtues of Dhikr: Why Remembrance of Allah Transforms the Heart

Dhikr is the remembrance of Allah in words. Tasbih is one form of it — the counted repetition of short formulas — and the counter on this site exists to serve that. This page is about what dhikr is for and what the sources actually attach to it.

The Basic Formulas

Four short phrases carry most of the reported virtue:

SubhanAllah — glory be to Allah. Alhamdulillah — praise be to Allah. La ilaha illa Allah — there is no god but Allah. Allahu akbar — Allah is greatest.

The Prophet said the most beloved speech to Allah is four: subhanAllah, alhamdulillah, la ilaha illa Allah, and Allahu akbar; it does not matter with which of them you begin. Recorded in Muslim.

To these are usually added astaghfirullah — I seek Allah's forgiveness — and la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah, there is no might nor power except with Allah, which the Prophet called a treasure from the treasures of Paradise.

The Tasbih After Prayer

The Prophet taught: whoever glorifies Allah thirty-three times after every prayer, praises Him thirty-three times, and magnifies Him thirty-three times — that is ninety-nine — and completes the hundred with la ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu'l-mulk wa lahu'l-hamd wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadir, his sins will be forgiven even if they were like the foam of the sea. Recorded in Muslim.

This is the single best-attested counted dhikr and it takes about two minutes. It is a better place to start than any longer regimen.

The Poor Companions and the Rich

A report in al-Bukhari and Muslim gives the practice its context. The poor among the companions came to the Prophet saying the wealthy had taken all the reward — they prayed as we pray and fasted as we fast, but they give charity from their surplus and we cannot. He told them the tasbih after prayer would let them catch up. Then the wealthy heard, and did it too, and the poor returned to complain again. He said: that is the bounty of Allah, He gives it to whom He wills.

The point of the report is that dhikr is the one act of worship that requires nothing — no health, no money, no time, no place. That is why it is prescribed so heavily.

On Counting

Counting on the fingers is the transmitted practice: the Prophet was seen counting tasbih on his right hand, in Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi.

Counting with beads or a digital counter is a later convenience that the great majority of scholars have permitted, since the counting is a means rather than an act of worship in itself. Some early scholars disliked it as an addition; the mainstream position treats the tool as neutral.

What the tool cannot supply is presence. A hundred repetitions said while thinking about something else are worth less than ten said with attention, and no counter measures that.

What Dhikr Is Actually For

The Quran states the effect directly: verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.

That is the claim being made, and it is a claim about the state of the person rather than about outcomes in the world. The reports do not promise that dhikr will produce a specific salary or a specific spouse; they promise forgiveness, weight on the scale, and a settled heart.

The Prophet also described a general form of it: the likeness of the one who remembers his Lord and the one who does not is the likeness of the living and the dead. In al-Bukhari.

Building a Habit

Take the ninety-nine after the obligatory prayers and nothing else, for a month. It attaches dhikr to something you are already doing five times a day, which is why it survives.

Then add the morning and evening remembrance if you want more. Adding a long daily litany before the short one has become automatic is the ordinary way these habits fail.

Keep the Count

The dhikr counter holds the thirty-three after each prayer and the day's total, which is the habit this page argues for.