Salatul Tasbih: four rakat, three hundred tasbih, a discipline of remembrance.

Salatul Tasbih is a four rakat prayer with three hundred tasbih embedded inside it, woven across the standing, the bowing, the rising, the prostrating, and the sitting. The structure is deliberate, every position becomes an act of remembrance, not just a transition. Performed once, it leaves the body settled and the heart unusually quiet. Performed weekly, it becomes a small discipline that reshapes a year.

What is Salatul Tasbih?

Salatul Tasbih, in Arabic salat al-tasbih, is a four rakat voluntary prayer in which the worshipper recites a specific tasbih formula seventy-five times in each rakat, totaling three hundred across the whole prayer. The tasbih is placed inside the standard postures of any prayer, so the structure is familiar, only fuller. Each rakat takes about five to seven minutes if recited at a moderate pace, so the entire prayer runs twenty to thirty minutes.

The intention behind Salatul Tasbih is dense remembrance. Three hundred declarations of glory, praise, oneness, and greatness, packed into the bones of a single prayer. The Prophet ﷺ described it as a prayer that wipes away sins, and the wording in the hadith is striking: old sins, new sins, hidden sins, open sins, intentional and unintentional, small and great.

The hadith and its grading, honestly

We owe you an honest account of where this prayer comes from and what the scholars said about it. There is no point hiding the debate, because the debate is part of how this prayer has been understood for centuries.

The main narration is in Sunan Abi Dawud 1297, on the authority of Ikrimah from Ibn Abbas. The Prophet ﷺ said to his uncle, al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (RA):

"O uncle, shall I not give you a gift, shall I not grant you something, shall I not show you something which, if you do it, Allah will forgive you your sins, the first and the last, the old and the new, those done unintentionally and those done intentionally, the small and the great, the hidden and the open?"

He then described the prayer: four rakat with seventy-five tasbih in each. The narration is also recorded with variations in Tirmidhi 482, Ibn Majah 1387, and al-Bayhaqi.

Scholars who accepted it. Imam al-Tirmidhi recorded it and noted that more than one of the people of knowledge had related from Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak the recommendation to pray it. Al-Hakim included it in his Mustadrak and considered it sound. Many of the early Sufi and Hanafi authorities, including al-Suyuti, defended it.

Scholars who graded it weak. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, when asked, did not accept it as established. Imam al-Nawawi noted the chain had weakness. Ibn al-Jawzi placed it in his collection of fabricated and weak hadiths. Sheikh al-Albani's view shifted over time, in his later research he leaned toward grading it hasan because of the multiple supporting chains.

The practical position. The middle path that most contemporary scholars take is this: the act itself, four rakat with abundant tasbih, contains nothing forbidden and is built entirely out of authentic forms of dhikr and worship. Even if the specific structure is debated, the components are sound. If you pray it, you are doing dhikr inside the form of prayer, and dhikr is praised across the Qur'an and sahih hadith without any debate. So you may pray Salatul Tasbih in the form described, hoping for the reward described, while being honest that the chain of the specific hadith is contested.

What we would not recommend is pressuring others to pray it as if it were sunnah muakkadah. The grading does not support that. But for personal practice, with an honest heart, it is a beautiful and weight-bearing prayer.

The tasbih formula

The four-part formula recited in this prayer is:

SubhanAllah, wal-hamdulillah, wa la ilaha illa Allah, wa Allahu Akbar.

"Glory to Allah, all praise is for Allah, there is no god but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest."

These four phrases are sometimes called al-baqiyat al-salihat, "the everlasting good deeds," based on Quran 18:46. The Prophet ﷺ said in Sahih Muslim 2695 that the most beloved words to Allah are four: these exact phrases. So even outside of Salatul Tasbih, these four phrases are independently authenticated as superior dhikr.

The 75 per rakat, distributed

The seventy-five tasbih are not all recited at once. They are placed across the seven positions of the rakat. Here is the standard breakdown from the Abu Dawud hadith:

Four rakat at seventy-five each gives the total of three hundred. The pattern repeats identically in each rakat.

A second valid version, recorded in some narrations, places the fifteen after the standing but before the Al-Fatihah and surah. Both arrangements are practiced; the difference is minor and either is acceptable.

How to pray Salatul Tasbih step by step

1. Niyyat. Intend in your heart, "Four rakat of Salatul Tasbih, for the sake of Allah." This is one prayer of four continuous rakat, with one tashahhud at the end and one salam. Some scholars also permit praying it as two sets of two rakat each, with a salam in between.
2. Takbiratul ihram. Hands up, Allahu Akbar. Begin.
3. Standing in rakat 1. Recite the opening du'a (thana), then ta'awwudh, then Bismillah, then Al-Fatihah, then a surah. After the surah but before going into ruku, recite the tasbih formula fifteen times.
4. Ruku. Go into ruku. Recite the usual Subhana Rabbiyal Azim three times. Then recite the tasbih formula ten times.
5. Rising from ruku. Stand up, say Sami Allahu liman hamidah, Rabbana wa lakal-hamd. Then recite the tasbih formula ten times while standing.
6. First sujood. Go into sujood. Recite the usual Subhana Rabbiyal A'la three times. Then recite the tasbih formula ten times.
7. Sitting between the sujoods. Sit up. Recite the tasbih formula ten times.
8. Second sujood. Go back down to sujood. Recite the usual sujood tasbih three times. Then the formula ten times.
9. Sitting before standing. This is the unusual position. Before standing for the next rakat, sit up briefly (called jalsat al-istiraha) and recite the formula ten times. This is what makes Salatul Tasbih different from a regular rakat.
10. Stand for rakat 2. Repeat the entire pattern. After the fourth and final rakat, finish with the tashahhud, salawat, and salam.

The total recitation count per rakat: 15 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 75. Across four rakat: 300.

The virtues mentioned in the hadith

The Abu Dawud narration describes the spiritual fruit in unusual terms. Allah forgives:

• The first sins and the last.
• The old sins and the new.
• The unintentional and the intentional.
• The small and the great.
• The hidden and the open.

It is the most comprehensive forgiveness language attached to any single prayer in the hadith literature. This is one of the reasons the prayer became beloved in many regions, even with the debate over the chain. The wording mirrors the breadth of the dhikr inside the prayer.

Whatever your view on the chain, the underlying truth is sound: abundant dhikr brings forgiveness. The Prophet ﷺ said in Sahih Muslim 233 that wudu alone wipes away minor sins, and dhikr after wudu adds to that. Salatul Tasbih is dhikr inside a prayer of four rakat with wudu before it. The components are unmistakably aligned with established sunnah.

How often to pray it

The Prophet ﷺ closed the conversation with al-Abbas by saying:

"If you can pray it every day, then do so. If not, then once a week. If not, then once a month. If not, then once a year. If not, then at least once in your lifetime."

This sentence has shaped how the prayer is treated across the Muslim world. Most scholars suggest at least once a week, often on Friday night. Some communities have a tradition of praying it on the 15th of Sha'ban or in the last ten nights of Ramadan. The point is to find a rhythm you can keep, not to perform it once with intensity and never again.

If once a year is what you can manage, then once a year. If once in a lifetime, the hadith makes space even for that. What matters is sincerity, not frequency.

A small note on counting

Three hundred tasbih across an unfamiliar structure is hard to count without losing your place. Three practical methods:

Finger counting. The Prophet ﷺ counted dhikr on the joints of his fingers (Abu Dawud 1502). Use the joints of one hand for the 10s, and a small mental marker for the 15. This is the closest to the sunnah method.

A misbaha (tasbih beads). Hold a 33 or 100 bead misbaha and use it to count. Some scholars accept this; others prefer fingers. Neither is forbidden; the bead string is just a tool.

A small pebble for each position. Some scholars, when teaching beginners, suggested holding small pebbles or beads of different colors to mark the 15 versus the 10s. Move the marker as you switch. After a few times praying it, you will not need any aid.

Do not let the counting consume the prayer. If you lose count, estimate and continue. The intent is dhikr, not perfect arithmetic.

FAQ

Can I pray Salatul Tasbih in two sets of two rakat?

Some scholars permitted this, with a salam between rakat two and three. Others held the prayer should be four continuous rakat with one final tashahhud. Both are practiced. Choose the form your local madhab follows.

What if I forget the seventy-five in one rakat?

If you remember during the next position, add the missed tasbih there. If you remember at the end of the prayer, recite the missed count after the salam. If you forget entirely, the prayer is still valid as a four rakat nafl, and you can intend Salatul Tasbih more carefully next time.

Can I pray it on behalf of someone who has died?

The general principle in Sunni fiqh is that voluntary acts of worship can transfer reward to the deceased. Pray with the intention that the reward of the prayer reach a parent, teacher, or spouse who has passed. This is widely practiced across madhabs.

Is there a specific time for Salatul Tasbih?

It can be prayed at any permissible time. Many people pray it before sleep, after Isha, or in the last third of the night. Avoid the three prohibited windows (sunrise, true noon, sunset).

Should I tell my family about my Salatul Tasbih?

Voluntary worship is best kept private when sincerity is at risk. The Prophet ﷺ praised "a man who gives charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has spent" (Bukhari 660). Teach the prayer when asked. Do not boast.