Salatul Tasbih · 2 min read
What is Salatul Tasbih?
Salatul Tasbih is a voluntary prayer of four rak'ahs. Inside it, a single phrase of glorification is repeated seventy-five times in each rak'ah — three hundred in total.
That count is what gives the prayer its name.
It is not one of the five daily prayers, and it is not obligatory. It is also the one voluntary prayer that scholars genuinely disagree about, and any honest page has to say so early.
The basic shape
Four rak'ahs, prayed like any other voluntary prayer, with one addition.
At fixed points in each rak'ah you pause and repeat the phrase a set number of times.
The additions total seventy-five per rak'ah, so the whole prayer carries three hundred.
- Four rak'ahs.
- 75 repetitions in each rak'ah.
- 300 in the complete prayer.
- The phrase: SubhanAllah, wal-hamdu lillah, wa la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar.
Where it comes from
The prayer rests on a group of narrations. The best known is the report of Ibn Abbas recorded by Abu Dawud, hadith 1297.
In it the Prophet ﷺ teaches the prayer to his uncle, al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
The report also gives a graduated schedule: if you can, pray it daily; if not, weekly; if not, monthly; if not, yearly; and if not that, once in your life.
Why it is disputed
The disagreement is about the hadith, not about the phrase.
Nobody argues that praising Allah three hundred times is objectionable.
The question is whether this particular report is strong enough to establish a prayer with a fixed number of rak'ahs and a fixed count.
Imam Ahmad and others judged it too weak. Ibn Hajar and others accepted it through its multiple routes.
Each position, with who held it, is on is Salatul Tasbih authentic.
What this site holds
This site follows the Hanafi school, and the Hanafi position is that Salatul Tasbih is mustahab — recommended.
That is stated as a school's position, not as a settled fact about the hadith.
If your school judged the report too weak to act on, that view has serious scholars behind it.
Is it the same as tasbih?
No, and the names cause constant confusion.
Tasbih is the act of glorifying Allah, and also the bead strand used to count it.
Salatul Tasbih is a specific prayer named after how much tasbih is said inside it.
The word itself is covered on tasbih meaning in English.
Where to go next
For the method itself, see how to pray Salatul Tasbih.
For when it may be prayed, see when to pray Salatul Tasbih.
For its category as an act of worship, see is Salatul Tasbih sunnah, nafl or bid'ah.