33 tasbih counter
Set to 33, with a double vibration when you get there. Tap anywhere on the screen, or press space on a computer.
Where 33 comes from
33 each of SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah and Allahu Akbar makes 99. A closing tahlil takes it to 100. Sahih Muslim 597a gives the sequence and names the hundred, which is why the number is 33 and not a round 30 or 50.
You'll also meet 34. That's a separate narration, from Ka'b ibn 'Ujrah in Sahih Muslim 596a, where the takbir is 34 and the hundred completes without a closing phrase. Both are narrated. Neither replaces the other.
Pages that present one as correct and the other as a mistake are getting it wrong in a specific way: they're treating two companions' reports as a single hadith with a disputed number.
The double tick at 33
A real misbaha has a larger bead at the thirds. It isn't decoration. It's there so your thumb knows a set closed without your eyes leaving where they were.
This counter does the same thing with haptics: a single short tick on each count, and a distinct double tick when you reach 33. You can turn either off separately in settings.
Counting all three sets
If you want the whole sequence rather than one set of 33, the guided version runs it in order and advances on its own: istighfar, the salam formula, the three sets of 33, then the closing tahlil.
It's on the post-salah page, with the narration for each step shown as you go.
Common questions
- Why is tasbih counted 33 times?
- Because 33 each of SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah and Allahu Akbar comes to 99, and a closing tahlil completes 100. Sahih Muslim 597a gives that sequence and states the hundred explicitly. The number isn't arbitrary; it's what makes the set add up.
- Which dhikr do I say 33 times?
- SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah and Allahu Akbar, in that order, after every fard prayer. All three are in Sahih Muslim 597a.
- Is it 33-33-33 or 33-33-34?
- Both are narrated. The 33-33-33 form with a closing tahlil is Abu Hurayrah's narration in Sahih Muslim 597a. The 33-33-34 form is Ka'b ibn 'Ujrah's, in Sahih Muslim 596a. They're different narrations, not a disagreement to resolve.
- How do I know I hit 33 without looking?
- The phone gives a double tick at 33, a different pattern from the single tick on each count. That's the digital version of the larger separator bead on a misbaha, which exists so your hand knows where it is without your eyes.