Advice of Shaikh al-Albani regarding saying zikr after prayer.

Shaikh al-Albani once gave an advice to those people who hurry in their saying of the zikr after prayers.

He said that he noticed the people saying the tasbih (subhanallah), tahmid (alhamdulillah) and takbir (allahu akbar) according to the hadith in Sahih Muslim, that one says tasbih 33 times, tahmid 33 times, takbir 33 times, and complete the number with "Laa ilaaha illallaahu wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahu l-mulku wa lahu l-hamdu wa huwa 'alaa kulli shai'in qadeer", and all his (minor) sins will be forgiven even if they are as much as the foam of the sea. But, they say these zikr very fast to the extent that all you hear are words making no sense. Example: "Subhanallahu" when said hurriedly, the words that you hear are:

"Subhanallasubhanallasubhanallah"

which the shaikh referred to as "as-Sabsabah". Will this way of zikr earn the rewards mentioned in the hadith? No!

So the shaikh advised these people to follow another hadith, which was related by an-Nasaa'ee in his Sunan with two authentic chains:

عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ قَالَ أُمِرُوا أَنْ يُسَبِّحُوا دُبُرَ كُلِّ صَلَاةٍ ثَلَاثًا وَثَلَاثِينَ وَيَحْمَدُوا ثَلَاثًا وَثَلَاثِينَ وَيُكَبِّرُوا أَرْبَعًا وَثَلَاثِينَ فَأُتِيَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ الْأَنْصَارِ فِي مَنَامِهِ فَقِيلَ لَهُ أَمَرَكُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنْ تُسَبِّحُوا دُبُرَ كُلِّ صَلَاةٍ ثَلَاثًا وَثَلَاثِينَ وَتَحْمَدُوا ثَلَاثًا وَثَلَاثِينَ وَتُكَبِّرُوا أَرْبَعًا وَثَلَاثِينَ قَالَ نَعَمْ قَالَ فَاجْعَلُوهَا خَمْسًا وَعِشْرِينَ وَاجْعَلُوا فِيهَا التَّهْلِيلَ فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحَ أَتَى النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَذَكَرَ ذَلِكَ لَهُ فَقَالَ اجْعَلُوهَا كَذَلِكَ

On the authority of Zaid bin Thabit: (The companions) were instructed to say, after prayer (solat), the tasbih 33 times, tahmid 33 times, takbir 34 times. So a man from the Ansar dreamt of being asked by a man: "The messenger of Allah commanded you to say tasbih 33 times, tahmid 33 times and takbir 34 times after prayer?" The companion replied: "Yes". (The man) said: "Make them (zikr) 25 times, and add tahlil (Laa ilaaha illallaah)." So, next morning he approached the prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam) and mentioned (the dream) to him. He replied (sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam): "Make it likewise!"

[Sahih - an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmizhee, al-Haakim, ad-Daarimee, Ibn Hibban, Ibn Khuzaimah and Ahmad]

So, the shaikh advised those who say the zikr hurriedly to follow the zikr mentioned in this hadith, ie. to say: "Subhanallahu wal-hamdulillah wa laa ilaaha illallaahu wallaahu akbar" 25 times. According to the Shaikh, this zikr would be better so as not to fall into the same error as detailed above.

The shaikh raised a question: Does the hadith above abrogate the hadith regarding the zikr 33 times?

He replied: "No, it is not abrogration, but merely stating which is better. Someone praying and says the zikr 33 times (as above), there is no obstacle to do that. But it is better to "Subhanallahu wal-hamdulillah wa laa ilaaha illallaahu wallaahu akbar" 25 times compared to the earlier hadith.

[Abridged from Silsilatul-Huda wan-Nur, cassette no. 190, 21 min.]

Allahu a'lam.