Fatwa ID: 08040

Answered by: Maulana Yusuf Badshah

Question:

I have a question that in Quran it is directed to read Istighfaar alot in Surat Nooh 71 : 11 and verses after it.

And Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) adviced to read darood:

tirmidhi:2457 – Hannād > Qabīṣah > Sufyān > ʿAbdullāh b. Muḥammad b. ʿAqīl > al-Ṭufayl b. Ubay b. Kaʿb from his father

“When a third of the night had passed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood and said: ‘O you people! Remember Allah! Remember Allah! The Rajifah is coming, followed by the Radifah, death and what it brings is coming, death and what it brings is coming!'”

Ubay said that I said, “O Messenger of Allah! I send a lot of Ṣalāt upon you. How much of my Ṣalāt should I make for you?” He said, “As you wish.” I said, “˹How about˺ a fourth?” He said, “As you wish, but if do more, it would be better for you.” I said, “˹How about˺ one-half?” He said, “As you wish, but if you do more, it would be better for you.” I said, “Then ˹how about˺ two-thirds?” He said, “As you wish, but if you do more, it would be better for you.”

I said: “Should I make all of my ˹duʿāʾ as˺ Ṣalāt for you?” He said, “˹If you do this˺ it would be sufficient for your concerns and it would be forgiveness for your sins.”

So my question is that what this Hadees is trying to teach, either it is saying to leave other adhkars or just read more darood.

And secondly, if a person has to choose one to read maximum times, while reading other zikr a few times let say 100 times, then what you suggest to read more. Or can we strike a balance among these two and get benefits of both. Like reading astaghfaar on few days of the week and darood on the rest.

Moreover, saying only salallahu alayhi wasalam is enough as darood or not.

Thanks

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Answer:

Wa alaykum assalaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

The Hadith narrated should not be taken to mean one should devote all of their time to reciting Durood and abandon all other Azhkar and Ibadat. That would go against the practice and teachings of the Prophet s.a.w himself, who would recite and taught the Sahabah to recite a multitude of Azhkar and supplications throughout the day, as demonstrated in a multitude of Ahadith which are too many to enumerate here [1].

It has been suggested that what is intended here by the inquiry of Ubay r.a is with regards to substituting the time he would otherwise have generally allocated to personal Du’a with Durood, with the implication being that by dedicating one’s Du’as to supplication for the Prophet s.a.w, Allah s.w.t will suffice them with regards to their personal needs that they could have used that time to ask for instead. Thus, this should be taken as encouragement to spend more time reciting Durood, not an advice to abandon every other good deed.

Durood is the best Zhikr to recite on a Friday. However, each Zhikr holds a different role with differing benefits and rewards. Thus, reciting a variety of Azhkar provides a multitude of rewards, and one who seeks to recite Azhkar with sincerity should choose Azhkar as appropriate to the situation and change the Zhikr they are reciting once they have reached a meaningful quota or when they begin to lose concentration. Additionally, the best deeds are those which is performed regularly, so even on a Friday one should make time to recite their regular Azhkar [2].

Istighfar should be recited when one commits a sin if it is to be forgiven. Even if one were free of sin as the Prophet s.a.w was, to perform Istighfar regularly as he used to do is a greatly rewarded Sunnah [3].

So in accordance with the Sunnah, one should seek to recite Durood the most on a Friday, recite Istighfar at least 100 times each day alongside the various Sunnah Azhkar narrated in the Ahadith, and then spend their remaining free time throughout the week engaged in a variety of Azhkar and Du’a as per one’s personal preference, current situation and state of mind.

Lastly, you are correct in that the shortest Durood one can recite is “Sallallahu Alayhi wa Sallam” [4].

And only Allah s.w.t knows best.

Written by Maulana Yusuf Badshah

Checked and approved by Mufti Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

[1] Sahih Muslim 2689:

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ حَاتِمِ بْنِ مَيْمُونٍ، حَدَّثَنَا بَهْزٌ، حَدَّثَنَا وُهَيْبٌ، حَدَّثَنَا سُهَيْلٌ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ “‏ إِنَّ لِلَّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى مَلاَئِكَةً سَيَّارَةً فُضْلاً يَتَبَّعُونَ مَجَالِسَ الذِّكْرِ فَإِذَا وَجَدُوا مَجْلِسًا فِيهِ ذِكْرٌ قَعَدُوا مَعَهُمْ وَحَفَّ بَعْضُهُمْ بَعْضًا بِأَجْنِحَتِهِمْ حَتَّى يَمْلَئُوا مَا بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ الدُّنْيَا فَإِذَا تَفَرَّقُوا عَرَجُوا وَصَعِدُوا إِلَى السَّمَاءِ – قَالَ – فَيَسْأَلُهُمُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ مِنْ أَيْنَ جِئْتُمْ فَيَقُولُونَ جِئْنَا مِنْ عِنْدِ عِبَادٍ لَكَ فِي الأَرْضِ يُسَبِّحُونَكَ وَيُكَبِّرُونَكَ وَيُهَلِّلُونَكَ وَيَحْمَدُونَكَ وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ ‏.‏ قَالَ وَمَاذَا يَسْأَلُونِي قَالُوا يَسْأَلُونَكَ جَنَّتَكَ ‏.‏ قَالَ وَهَلْ رَأَوْا جَنَّتِي قَالُوا لاَ أَىْ رَبِّ ‏.‏ قَالَ فَكَيْفَ لَوْ رَأَوْا جَنَّتِي قَالُوا وَيَسْتَجِيرُونَكَ ‏.‏ قَالَ وَمِمَّ يَسْتَجِيرُونَنِي قَالُوا مِنْ نَارِكَ يَا رَبِّ ‏.‏ قَالَ وَهَلْ رَأَوْا نَارِي قَالُوا لاَ ‏.‏ قَالَ فَكَيْفَ لَوْ رَأَوْا نَارِي قَالُوا وَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَكَ – قَالَ – فَيَقُولُ قَدْ غَفَرْتُ لَهُمْ فَأَعْطَيْتُهُمْ مَا سَأَلُوا وَأَجَرْتُهُمْ مِمَّا اسْتَجَارُوا – قَالَ – فَيَقُولُونَ رَبِّ فِيهِمْ فُلاَنٌ عَبْدٌ خَطَّاءٌ إِنَّمَا مَرَّ فَجَلَسَ مَعَهُمْ قَالَ فَيَقُولُ وَلَهُ غَفَرْتُ هُمُ الْقَوْمُ لاَ يَشْقَى بِهِمْ جَلِيسُهُمْ ‏”‏‏

[2] Sunan Abi Dawud 1047:

حَدَّثَنَا هَارُونُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، حَدَّثَنَا حُسَيْنُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ بْنِ جَابِرٍ، عَنْ أَبِي الأَشْعَثِ الصَّنْعَانِيِّ، عَنْ أَوْسِ بْنِ أَوْسٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ إِنَّ مِنْ أَفْضَلِ أَيَّامِكُمْ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ فِيهِ خُلِقَ آدَمُ وَفِيهِ قُبِضَ وَفِيهِ النَّفْخَةُ وَفِيهِ الصَّعْقَةُ فَأَكْثِرُوا عَلَىَّ مِنَ الصَّلاَةِ فِيهِ فَإِنَّ صَلاَتَكُمْ مَعْرُوضَةٌ عَلَىَّ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَكَيْفَ تُعْرَضُ صَلاَتُنَا عَلَيْكَ وَقَدْ أَرِمْتَ يَقُولُونَ بَلِيتَ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ ‏”‏ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حَرَّمَ عَلَى الأَرْضِ أَجْسَادَ الأَنْبِيَاءِ ‏”‏‏

Sahih Al-Bukhari 6464:

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ، عَنْ مُوسَى بْنِ عُقْبَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ “‏ سَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا، وَاعْلَمُوا أَنْ لَنْ يُدْخِلَ أَحَدَكُمْ عَمَلُهُ الْجَنَّةَ، وَأَنَّ أَحَبَّ الأَعْمَالِ أَدْوَمُهَا إِلَى اللَّهِ، وَإِنْ قَلَّ ‏”‏

[3] Sahih Muslim 2702:

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا غُنْدَرٌ، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ مُرَّةَ، عَنْ أَبِي، بُرْدَةَ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ الأَغَرَّ، وَكَانَ، مِنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُحَدِّثُ ابْنَ عُمَرَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ فَإِنِّي أَتُوبُ فِي الْيَوْمِ إِلَيْهِ مِائَةَ مَرَّةٍ ‏”

[4] Surah Al-Ahzab 56:

{ إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا ۞}