Tasbeehaat

Tasbeeh means to glorify Allah Ta'ala. One glorifies Allah Ta'ala by acknowledging His greatness and by declaring Him above all shortcomings and errors. For example, the formula 'Subhanallah' means "I declare that Allah Ta'ala is beyond / above all defects and all that which indicates imperfection." When a person says 'Alhamdulillah', it means that Allah Ta'ala alone deserves appreciation. And 'Allahu Akbar' means that Allah Ta'ala is the greatest of all.

Nabi (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) taught us to recite these three Tasbeeh after each Salah. That is, 33 times Subhanallah, 33 times Alhamdulillah and 34 times Allahu Akbar. Its reward is tremendous. It erases sins that are equivalent to the amount of foam that there is in the sea. According to another Hadith, Allah Ta'ala grows a tree in Jannah for each Tasbeeh that a person does.

A facility

As a facility, one can keep a Tasbeeh in one's pocket. From time to time, it will remind one of Zikrullah. Contrary to what a small group is propagating, making Zikrullah with Tasbeeh is a very good practice and it is very profitable. There is nothing in the Shari'ah that prevents it. The majority of previous scholars used the Tasbeeh to make Zikrullah. The only difference was that they did not have a threaded Tasbeeh. For example, Hazrat Abu Hurairah (Radiyallahu Anhu) used the pits of dates which he kept in a bag to make Zikrullah. Allaamah Jalaaluddin As-Suyuti (Rahmatullahi alayh) compiled a book on this subject whereby he mentioned several Hadith to prove its permissibility. According to Tirmizi, Hazrat Safiyyah (Radiyallahu Anha) had 4000 pits of dates which she was using to do Zikrullah. Yet Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) did not prevent her. According to a Hadith reported by Hazrat Sa'ad Bin Waqqaas (Radiyallahu Anhu) which is found in Nisa'i, Tirmizi, Ibn Majah and Mustadrak of Al-Hakim, Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) had seen a woman who was using pits of dates or small pebbles to do Zikrullah and he did not prevent her. All of this shows that it is a fully permissible and approved practice.

The fact that the Tasbeeh of today is a collection of threaded beads; makes no difference in regards to its permissibility. To try to point out something permissible as forbidden is adding something to Deen which is very reprehensible.

 [English version of "Tasbeehaat" – Al Jamiat – Vol. 5 No.13]