Fiqh-us-Sunnah - 4.103

Hadith 4.103.1

Excellence of Tasbih, Tahmid, Tahlil, Takbir and Other Supplications

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "There are two phrases that are light on the tongue but heavy on the scale of rewards and are dear to (Allah) the Gracious One. These are, subhanallah wa bi-hamdihi (All Glory is to Allah and all Praise to Him), and subhanallah al-azim (Glorified is Allah, the Great).'' (Muslim, Bukhari, and Tirmidhi) Abu Hurairah also reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "I love repeating subhanallah, wal-hamdulillah, wa la-ilaha ill-Allah, wa-Allahu akbar (Glorified is Allah, all praise is due to Allah, and there is no God but Allah, Allah is the greatest) more than all that the sun shines upon.'' (Muslim and Tirmidhi) Abu Dharr reported, "the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, 'Shall I tell you the words that Allah loves the most?' I said, 'Yes, tell me, O Messenger of Allah.' He said, 'The words most dear to Allah are subhan-Allah wa bihamdihi (Glorified is Allah with all praise due to Him)'." This is narrated by Muslim and Tirmidhi. In Tirmidhi's version, we also find the following: "The words most dear to Allah which He has chosen for His angels are subhana Rabbi wa bihamdihi, subhana Rabbi wa bihamdihi (Glorified is my Lord with all praise due to Him, Glorified is my Lord with all praise due to Him)."
Jabir reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Whoever says Subhan-Allah-al-Azim wa bihamdihi (Glorified is Allah, the Great, with all praise due to Him), will have a palm tree planted for him in Paradise.'' (Reported by Tirmidhi who considers it a sound hadith.) Abu Sa'id reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Perform the enduring goods deeds more frequently."
The asked, "What are these enduring deeds?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, replied, At-Takbir, (Saying Allahu akbar i.e., Allah is the greatest) At-Tahlil, (Saying la ilaha ill-Allah, i.e., there is no god but Allah) At-Tasbih, (Saying subhan-Allah meaning, Exalted and far removed is Allah from any weakness) al-hamdu 1i-Allah, (This means: All praise belongs to Allah alone) and la hawla wala quwwata illa billah. (There is no power nor any authority except with the permission of Allah) This is reported by An-Nasa'i and Al-Hakim, who consider its chain of authorities sound.
Abdallah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "During the Night Journey I met Ibrahim who said to me, 'O Muhammad, convey my greetings to your ummah, and tell them that the Paradise is of pure land, its water is sweet, and its expanse is vast, spacious and even. And its plants are Subhan-Allah, wal-hamdulillah, wala ilah illallah, wa-Allahu akbar'.'' Samura ibn Jundab reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "The dearest phrases to Allah are four: Subhan Allah, (Glorified is Allah), al-Hamdulillah (All praise be to Allah), Wa la ilaha ill-Allah (There is no God but Allah), and Allah-o-Akbar (Allah is the Greatest). There is no harm in beginning them in any order you choose while remembering Allah.'' (Muslim) Abu Mas'ud reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "If anyone recites the last two verses of Surat al-Baqarah, they will suffice for him,'' (Bukhariand Muslim) that is, these two verses will bring him a reward equivalent to that of a night prayer, and will safeguard him from any hurt during that night. Ibn Khuzaimah in his Sahih has also mentioned it under the chapter "The Recitation of the Qur'an Equivalent in Reward to a Night Prayer."
Abu Sa'id reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, asked, "Can anyone of you recite a third of the Qur'an during the night?" The Companions considered this rather difficult and they said, "Who among us can do so, O Prophet of Allah?" Thereupon the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "(Say:) He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is he begotten; and there is none like unto Him.'' (The reference here is to recitation of Surah 112 (Suratul Ikhlas) of the Qur'an, which the Prophet, peace be upon him, described as equivalent to reciting one-third of the Qur'an. This hadith is reported by Bukhari, Muslim, and Nasa'i) Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Whoever says, 'La llaha illa-Allahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamd wa huwa 'ala kulli shai'in qadir' a hundred times during a day will have a reward equivalent to the reward for freeing ten slaves. Besides, a hundred good deeds will be recorded for him and a hundred bad deeds of his will be wiped off, and it will be a safeguard for him from Satan that day until evening, and no one will be better in deeds than such a person except he who does more than that.'' (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah) In the version of Muslim, Tirmidhi, and Nasa'i, we find this addition: "And whoever says subhan Allah wa bi-hamdihi a hundred times during a day, will have all his sins wiped off even if they were as numerous as the foam on the surface of the sea."