The prayer the Prophet ﷺ taught his uncle al-Abbas for the forgiveness of every kind of sin. Learn the tasbih, where each count goes, both methods, and what to do if you lose count.
سُبْحَانَ اللهِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، وَلَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، وَاللهُ أَكْبَرُ
Ibn Abbas reports that the Prophet ﷺ said to al-Abbas: “O Abbas, my uncle, shall I not give you something, shall I not grant you something?” He then taught him four rakats in which the words of glorification are said 75 times in every rakat, and said that if he prayed them, Allah would forgive his sins: the first and the last, the old and the new, the mistaken and the deliberate, the small and the great, the hidden and the open (Abu Dawud 1297, Ibn Majah 1387).
Then he made it easy to keep: pray it every day if you can; if not, every Friday; if not, once a month; if not, once a year; and if not, once in your life.
The prayer is called Salatul Tasbeeh (also written Salat al-Tasbih, Salatul Tasbih or Tasbeeh Namaz) because of the tasbih at its heart: Subhanallah, walhamdulillah, wa la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar. These are the four phrases the Prophet ﷺ called the most beloved words to Allah (Muslim 2137).
There are two well-known ways to place the 75 tasbih. Both add up to 75 in each rakat and 300 in all. Pick the one your teacher or madhhab follows and keep to it.
| Position | Hadith methodAbu Dawud 1297 | Ibn al-Mubarak methodTirmidhi · Hanafi |
|---|---|---|
| Standing, before Al-Fatihah | — | 15 |
| Standing, after Al-Fatihah and a surah | 15 | 10 |
| Ruku (after Subhana Rabbiyal Azim) | 10 | 10 |
| Standing up from ruku | 10 | 10 |
| First sujood (after Subhana Rabbiyal Ala) | 10 | 10 |
| Sitting between the sujood | 10 | 10 |
| Second sujood | 10 | 10 |
| Sitting after the second sujood | 10 | — |
| Each rakat · four rakats | 75 · 300 | 75 · 300 |
Pray in a clean place at a time when voluntary prayer is allowed. Set your intention in the heart: four rakats of Salatul Tasbeeh for Allah.
Raise your hands, say the opening takbir and recite the thana as in any prayer.
Recite Al-Fatihah and any surah. Say the tasbih 15 times while standing (in the Hanafi method, 15 before Al-Fatihah and 10 after the surah).
In ruku, after "Subhana Rabbiyal Azim", say it 10 times. Stand up, say "Rabbana lakal hamd", then 10 more.
In each sujood, after "Subhana Rabbiyal Ala", say it 10 times. Sitting between them, say it 10 times.
In the hadith method, sit after the second sujood and say it 10 times before you stand. That makes 75 in the rakat.
Pray the second rakat the same way, sit for the tashahhud, then pray the third and fourth. By day pray all four with one salam; at night many pray them as two and two.
After salam, ask Allah to forgive your sins: the first and the last, the old and the new, the mistaken and the deliberate, the small and the great, the hidden and the open.
Pick a method and tap once for every tasbih. The counter moves you to the next position and the next rakat on its own. Use it to learn the order. In the prayer itself, count quietly on your fingers.
After Al-Fatihah and a surah, before you bow, say the tasbih 15 times.
Do not count aloud or hold beads in the prayer. A simple way: gently press each finger in turn, from the little finger of the right hand across to the little finger of the left. Ten presses, ten tasbih. For the 15, go across once and add five.
Make up the missing number in the next position. Do not add it while standing after ruku or sitting between the sujood; add it in the following sujood instead. Missing a count does not need sajdah sahw, and the tasbih is not said in sajdah sahw.
Any time voluntary prayer is allowed. Avoid the three disliked times: after Fajr until sunrise, when the sun is at its height before Dhuhr, and after Asr until sunset. Friday, Ramadan nights and the last ten nights are favourite times.
Any surah you know after Al-Fatihah. Some scholars suggested At-Takathur, Al-Asr, Al-Kafirun and Al-Ikhlas, one per rakat. Short, well-known surahs keep your mind free for the count.
فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَٱسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ تَوَّابًۢا
Then exalt [Him] with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.Quran 110:3
فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَكُن مِّنَ ٱلسَّٰجِدِينَ
So exalt [Allah] with praise of your Lord and be of those who prostrate [to Him].Quran 15:98
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ذِكْرًۭا كَثِيرًۭا ﴿41﴾ وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةًۭ وَأَصِيلًا ﴿42﴾
(41) O you who have believed, remember Allah with much remembrance (42) And exalt Him morning and afternoon.Quran 33:41-42
تُسَبِّحُ لَهُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتُ ٱلسَّبْعُ وَٱلْأَرْضُ وَمَن فِيهِنَّ ۚ وَإِن مِّن شَىْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِۦ وَلَٰكِن لَّا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ ۗ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ حَلِيمًا غَفُورًۭا
The seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allah] by His praise, but you do not understand their [way of] exalting. Indeed, He is ever Forbearing and Forgiving.Quran 17:44
The hadith of Salatul Tasbeeh is reported by Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Tirmidhi, Ibn Khuzaymah and al-Hakim through several chains. Many hadith scholars accepted it as hasan (good) or sahih, among them Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and, in recent times, Shaykh al-Albani. Imam Tirmidhi notes that Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak and other scholars held it to be a virtuous prayer, and the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools recommend it.
Other scholars disagreed, among them Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah, and they considered the narrations weak. Follow the scholars you trust. Either way, the prayer is made of voluntary rakats and the four most beloved words to Allah, and those are good in themselves. What has no basis is tying it to one special night or treating any fixed set of surahs as required.
Tap a card to turn it over.
"It can only be prayed on Shab-e-Barat or the 27th night."
Turn over ↻The hadith says daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or once in a lifetime. No night is required.
"If I miss one count, the whole prayer is invalid."
Turn over ↻The tasbih is an addition to the prayer, not one of its pillars. No sajdah sahw is needed for it.
"I must count on a tasbih (prayer beads) or my phone."
Turn over ↻Holding beads or looking at a screen distracts from the prayer. Practise beforehand, then use your fingers.
"Special surahs are compulsory."
Turn over ↻Some scholars suggested particular surahs as a good choice. None is a condition of the prayer.
"It must be prayed in congregation at the mosque."
Turn over ↻Most scholars treat it as an individual voluntary prayer.
"Once I pray it, all my sins are gone, whatever I do next."
Turn over ↻Major sins need sincere repentance: stopping, regret, and resolving not to return.
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Salatul Tasbeeh (Salat al-Tasbih, "the prayer of glorification") is a voluntary prayer of four rakats in which you say "Subhanallah, walhamdulillah, wa la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar" 75 times in each rakat, 300 times in all. The Prophet ﷺ taught it to his uncle al-Abbas as a means of having all kinds of sins forgiven (Abu Dawud 1297, Ibn Majah 1387).
Make wudu and intend four rakats. In every rakat recite Al-Fatihah and a surah, then say the tasbih 15 times standing, 10 in ruku, 10 after rising, 10 in the first sujood, 10 sitting between the sujood, 10 in the second sujood and 10 sitting after it. That is 75 a rakat. Pray four rakats the same way, then finish with tashahhud, salawat and salam.
Four rakats. By day they are usually prayed with one salam, like the four sunnah before Dhuhr. At night many scholars preferred two rakats, salam, then two more.
"Subhanallahi, walhamdulillahi, wa la ilaha illallahu, wallahu akbar": Glory be to Allah, all praise is for Allah, there is no god but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest. Some scholars add "wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahil aliyyil azim" at the end, but the four phrases are what the hadith gives.
75 times in each rakat: 15 once and 10 six times. Over four rakats that is 300 times.
Hanafis usually follow the method narrated by Tirmidhi from Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak: 15 times after the thana and before Al-Fatihah, 10 after the surah, 10 in ruku, 10 after rising, 10 in each sujood and 10 between them. There is no count while sitting after the second sujood; you stand straight up. It is still 75 a rakat. Both methods are valid, so follow the one your teacher or madhhab teaches.
Make up the missing number in the next position. Scholars say not to make it up while standing after ruku or sitting between the sujood, because those are short, so a count missed in ruku is added in the first sujood instead. Forgetting some counts does not require the prostration of forgetfulness (sajdah sahw), and if you do make sajdah sahw you do not say the tasbih in it.
Do not count aloud or hold prayer beads. Keep count quietly on your fingers, for example by gently pressing one finger for each tasbih. Practising with the counter on this page before you pray makes the order natural, so you can focus on the meaning.
Any time voluntary prayer is allowed, which means outside the disliked times: from after Fajr until the sun has risen, when the sun is at its highest before Dhuhr, and from after Asr until sunset. Many people pray it on Friday, and in Ramadan, on the last ten nights and on Laylatul Qadr.
The Prophet ﷺ told al-Abbas: pray it every day if you can; if not, every Friday; if not, once a month; if not, once a year; and if not, once in your life. Choose what you can keep up.
Any surahs you know. Some scholars suggested Surah At-Takathur, Al-Asr, Al-Kafirun and Al-Ikhlas, one in each rakat, but nothing particular is required.
Scholars have differed. Many hadith scholars accepted it as hasan (good) or sahih, including Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and, in recent times, Shaykh al-Albani, and the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools recommend the prayer. Others, such as Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah, considered the narrations weak. Follow the view of the scholars you trust. Either way, it is made of voluntary prayer and dhikr, which are good in themselves.
Yes, whenever they are able to pray. During menstruation a woman does not pray, but she can still say the tasbih and make dua.
It is normally prayed alone. Some communities pray it together on special nights; most scholars say praying it individually is better, and that people should not treat congregation as part of the prayer.
At Virtual Quran Center a teacher teaches Salatul Tasbeeh live, one to one on video. They show you each position, help you say the tasbih and the prayer's Arabic correctly, and teach you how to keep count. Lessons are in English, and many teachers also speak Urdu or Arabic. Your first lesson is free.
If you already pray the five daily prayers, one or two lessons are usually enough to learn the order and the tasbih. If you are still learning Namaz, your teacher builds it in once the daily prayer is comfortable.
Yes. Children who already pray can learn it with a teacher, and many enjoy the counting. Our teachers keep it short and patient, and parents can sit in on the lesson.
Salatul Tasbeeh is a four-rakat prayer with 300 tasbih, taught for the forgiveness of all kinds of sins. "Salatul Najat" (the prayer of rescue) is two rakats of repentance or need followed by the rescue duas. See our guide to Salatul Najat for that prayer.
Looking for the prayer of rescue? Read our guide to Salatul Najat, or learn Namaz online with a teacher.
One or two live lessons are usually enough to pray it with confidence. The first lesson is free.
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