Tasbih

Across the Ottoman influenced world, and most evidently in Turkey, the congregational prayer performed in the mosque has a distinctly ceremonial air. Prior to the prayer, the sanctity of the forthcoming event is indicated by the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, performed with majestic mellifluousness. After the prayer, the congregation is led in remembrance by the muezzin, followed by a communal supplication, further Qur’anic recitation, and the opportunity for those who have prayed to greet the imam and each other. The honour in which the prayer is held instills a sense of awe in the worshipper, and, as a spectacle, imparts a sense of the sacred that penetrates the rest of her day.

Part of the ritual that follows the prayer is the celebrated tasbih Fatimi, which consists of the recitation of subhanAllah (glory be to God) 33 times, Alhamdulilah (all praise is due to God) 33 times, and Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) 34 times, followed by La ila ha il Allah, wahdahu la shareekala, lahul mulk, wa lahul hamd, wa Huwa ala quli shayin Qadir (There is nothing worthy of worship but God, who is unique and without partner. His is the dominion, His is the praise, and He is powerful over all things). It is reported that during a period of extreme hardship, the Prophet’s ﷺ blessed daughter Fatima approached her father seeking a servant to help ease the challenges she was facing. The Prophet ﷺ informed his daughter that he would provide her with something better than a servant, and in fact better than the world and everything in it. He instructed her to read the aforementioned combination of phrases, assuring her that the one who recites it would never experience misery. The explicit instruction to recite it after the ritual prayer is narrated by Imam Muslim, who reports that the Prophet ﷺ informed the people that whoever recites this combination after the ritual prayers will have their sins forgiven, even if they were equivilant to the ‘foam on the sea’, an idiomatic expression meaning great in number.

Hence, the recitation of the tasbih Fatimi after the ritual prayer is a widespread practice across the Muslim world, and its spiritual benefits have been recognised by the knowers of God to such an extent that they have been incorporated into the daily spiritual practices of many sufi orders. The people of the spiritual path aim to move beyond the superficial performance of rituals motivated by reward or otherworldly gains, and desire instead to employ the spiritual practices assigned by the Prophet ﷺ as a tool to facilitate the clarity of understanding necessary for ihsan (spiritual perfection). So what are the meanings of the phrases assigned by the Prophet ﷺ, and what should the spiritual aspirant focus upon while reciting them? Prior to exploring these questions, it is important to note that the reality and true impact of these terms are known only to The One, and while the seeker has a responsibility to cognitively reorganise her understanding of the world according to her capacity, all success is exclusively by Allah’s leave. These phrases exert a powerful impact on the soul in the unseen realm, and while there may be similarities between the remembrance of Allah and the affirmations or mantras (in the modern sense of the word) promoted by cognitive psychology, the spiritual practices assigned by the Prophet ﷺ operate to restore the tarnished primordiality that dwells within all of us, and therefore operate on an entirely different plane of existence.

SubhanAllah (Glory be to God)

This phrase is a statement of awe-filled bewilderment, used as an indication of the believer’s incapacity to comprehend the resplendent workings of the Almighty in her life. In common usage, the term indicates an individual’s amazement at the unfolding circumstances. The awakened being views each experience as an astonishing manifestation of the Divine Glory, regardless of whether the moment tastes sweet or bitter. The inconceivable number of occurrences that have coalesced to grant the present moment to the believer renders her dazed by the benevolence of God, and leaves her with no option but to utter her astonishment. Furthermore, the awakened being acknowledges that any success in this world has occurred despite her inherent incapacity to manage her life, rather than as a product of her ingenuity, and that in the face of her seemingly endless missteps and ill-informed action, The Almighty has gifted her this blessed moment and permitted her to witness Him. The term therefore combines amazement, humility, and gratitude. The phrase is also an acknowledgement of the wisdom with which He has designed our lives to teach us all that we need to know, and incorporates a recognition that in the future, His Mercy and Wisdom will continue to envelop our lives as it has up to now, leaving us free of the need for fear or anxiety. The repetition of this phrase reminds the believer of the miraculous nature of existence, the ever-present shadow of the Divine Mercy that is cast across her life, and the unaccountable magnificence of each moment, working to counter the cynical, jaded character of the ego.

Alhamdulilah (All Praise is due to God)

This phrase is an indication of the gratitude that overflows from the soul of the individual who witnesses Reality. The magnitude of the blessings contained in this moment are inconceivable, and even in seemingly challenging times, one’s life is akin to an island of curse in an ocean of blessings. The awakened being knows that the circumstances she faces have been tailor-made by her Creator in order to facilitate the evolution of her understanding, and her knowledge that that which she has been assigned perfectly complements her nature renders her tranquil and deeply content. She looks back at the sticky, seemingly unsolvable situations she has faced and is overwhelmed with gratitude that He cleared her path, enabling her to grow in the process. She considers her health, her wealth, her provision, her loved ones, the beautiful memories that constitute her life, the lessons she has learnt, the people she has met, and above all else her faith and outlook, and is overcome by the beauty of His Creation. In an age of complaint, criticism, and disaffection, she agitates against the zeitgeist by giving thanks for the smallest of blessings, realising that discontent is a prison that snares even the most privileged of people, destroying the sweetness of their blessings, and fuelling the fire of angst within.

Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)

This statement articulates total submission to the all-encompassing power of the Almighty. It acknowledges that above our desires, our fears, our weaknesses, and our strengths is The One. He is powerful over all things, and He creates in our interests from His Mercy. In the moments that, due to our inherent forgetfulness, we inevitably succumb to inaccurate perception, this phrase is a potent dose of Reality, a reminder that we need not feel overcome by terror at the size of the universe that faces us, for God is greatest. Every circumstance exists entirely by His design, and everything that faces us is but the nourishing breath of the All-Merciful. By its repetition, this phrase helps us to combat the prevalent belief that the universe is arbitrary in its organisation, and that our existence can be explained in its entirety as a series of collisions between atoms. In Reality, there is not a leaf that falls but by His Will, and due to His compassionate design, the universe should be considered our ally, not our enemy. There is nothing that is beyond His Control, and therefore our interactions with the creation are but messages to us, containing lessons that, once decoded, hold the secret to our spiritual progression. The suffering caused by angst and fear of the future is attacked by this term, reminding our soul who its Master is, and that harm cannot reach us so long as we witness His Grace in all matters.

This formula of remembrance, presented to us by the most awakened of human beings and the most perfect manifestation of human excellence ﷺ, is a priceless vehicle by which the seeker may travel towards her objective. That which bears fruit usually endures. It is hoped that through deep engagement, reflection, and repeated practice of this prescription as per the advice of the Prophet ﷺ our perspective will be shifted, our vision sharpened, and our primordial knowledge of The One strengthened sufficiently to permit us to see Truth as Truth. And all success is from God, Al Fatiha.