Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Hazrat Mu'adh narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There is no deed of the son of Adam that saves him more from Hell than the remembrance of Allah. The companions asked: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Not even striving in the path of Allah? He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: Not even striving in the path of Allah, unless you strike with your sword until it breaks, then strike with your sword until it breaks, then strike with your sword until it breaks.

Hazrat Abdullah bin Busr narrates that a Bedouin came to the service of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Indeed, the commands of Islam are many. So tell me of an act which I may hold firmly to. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Let your tongue remain moist with the remembrance of Allah at all times.

Hazrat Abu Ayyub Ansari narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Whoever recites these words ten times: There is no deity except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner, His is the dominion and for Him is all praise. All kinds of goodness are in His control, and He has power over everything. Then these words will be equal for him to freeing ten slaves.

Hazrat Bara bin Azib narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Whoever recites these words: There is no deity except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner, His is the dominion and for Him is all praise, and He is powerful over everything, then this is in reward like freeing a slave.

Hazrat Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Remembering Allah morning and evening is a deed greater than breaking swords in the path of Allah and continuously spending wealth.

Hazrat Muadh bin Jabal narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Whoever likes that he should eat and drink from the gardens of Paradise, then he should engage abundantly in the remembrance of Allah.

Hazrat Ibn Sabit narrates that Hazrat Mu'adh said: "For me to remember Allah, the Lord of Majesty, from morning until the sun rises is more beloved to me than to ride on a mount in Allah's path for jihad from morning until the sun rises."

Hazrat Jubair bin Nafeer narrates that Hazrat Abu Darda said: Certainly, those people whose tongues remain moist with the remembrance of Allah at all times will enter Paradise smiling.

Hazrat Rabi’ bin Khuthaym narrates that Hazrat Abdullah said: Whoever recites these words ten times: There is no deity except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner, His is the dominion and for Him is all praise, and He is powerful over everything — then the reward for these words will be equal to freeing four slaves. The narrator says: I think he said: slaves from the descendants of Ismail.

Hazrat Hilal narrates that Hazrat Umm Darda said: Whoever recites these words one hundred (100) times in the morning and one hundred times in the evening—"There is no deity except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner, His is the dominion and for Him is all praise, and He is powerful over everything"—then no one will come on the Day of Judgment with a deed equal to his, except for the person who has recited these words as many times or more than him.

Hazrat Saeed bin Al-Musayyib narrates that Hazrat Muadh bin Jabal said: If there are two men, one of whom mounts a horse to fight in the way of Allah and the other remembers Allah, then the one who remembers Allah will be considered superior or will attain a greater reward.

Hazrat Ka'b narrates that Hazrat Musa said: O my Lord! Guide me towards such an action that when I perform it, it will be considered as my gratitude to You for all the favors You have bestowed upon me. Allah, the Lord of Majesty, said: O Musa! Recite these words! There is no deity except Allah, or He said: There is no deity except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner, His is the dominion and for Him is all praise, and He has power over everything. Hazrat Ka'b says: It is as if Hazrat Musa was seeking such an action that whatever was commanded would greatly tire his body. Hazrat Ka'b says: Then Allah said to him: O Musa! If the seven heavens and the seven earths were placed on one side of the scale and the Kalima Tayyiba (There is no deity except Allah) was placed on the other side, the side with the Kalima would outweigh the other.

Hazrat Salim narrates that Hazrat Abu Darda was informed that Abu Sa’d bin Munabbih had freed one hundred slaves from his wealth. Hazrat Abu Darda said, “One hundred slaves is a lot, but shall I tell you something better than that? It is that you keep your tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah day and night with faith.”

Hazrat Suwaid bin Juheil said: Whoever recites these words after Asr: There is no deity except Allah, all praise is for Him, and He is powerful over everything, then the angels defend the one who recites these words until the same time the next day.

The same instruction as mentioned previously is also narrated through this chain from Hazrat Suwaid bin Juhail, who was among the companions of Hazrat Umar.

Hazrat Saad bin Ibrahim narrates that Hazrat Abu Ubaidah said: Whoever remembers Allah is in the state of prayer.

Hazrat Salim narrates that Hazrat Masruq Tabi'i said: The person whose heart continuously remembers Allah is in a state of prayer, even if he is in the marketplace.

Hazrat Hilal narrates that Hazrat Abu Ubaidah said: The person whose heart continuously remembers Allah is in a state of prayer even if he is in the marketplace. And if he moves his lips while remembering, then this is the most virtuous act.

Hazrat Abu Saeed Al-Khudri narrates that Hazrat Muawiyah came to a circle in the mosque, then said: What has made you sit here? The people replied: We are remembering Allah and praising Him because He has guided us to Islam and has bestowed His favor upon us through Islam. Hazrat Muawiyah said: By Allah! Is it really for this purpose that you are sitting here? The people said: By Allah! We are sitting only for this reason. So Hazrat Muawiyah said: In any case, I did not make you swear an oath because of any accusation, and not a single one among you is less in status than me regarding the matter of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. And indeed, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came to a circle of the companions, then said: What has made you sit here? The companions replied: We are sitting and remembering Allah and praising Him because Allah has granted us guidance to Islam and has bestowed His favor upon us through it. He, peace and blessings be upon him, said: By Allah! Is it really for this reason that you are sitting? The companions replied: By Allah! We are sitting only for this reason. Then he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Indeed, I did not make you swear an oath because of any accusation. But Jibreel came to me, and he informed me that Allah, Lord of Might and Majesty, is boasting of you before the angels because of you.

Hazrat Muhammad bin Ibrahim narrates that Hazrat Ubadah bin Samit said: I prefer to sit among those people who remember Allah from the morning prayer until the sun rises, more than riding on horseback in the path of Allah until the sun rises. And I prefer to remain among such people who remember Allah from the afternoon prayer until the sun sets, more than riding on horseback in the path of Allah until the sun sets.

Hazrat Abu Uthman narrates that Hazrat Salman said: If a person spends the night freeing slaves and bondwomen, and another person spends the night reciting the Holy Qur'an or remembering Allah, then in my opinion, this person, or he said: the one who remembers Allah, is superior.

Hazrat Abu Al-Wazi’ Jabir Al-Rasabi narrates that Hazrat Abu Barzah said: If there are two men, one of whom has dinars in his lap which he is giving to people, and the other is remembering Allah, then the one who is remembering Allah will be considered superior.

Hazrat Amr bin Saeed narrates that Hazrat Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If there are two men, one of whom has come from the east and the other from the west, and one of them has gold which he spends only on rightful causes, and the other person remembers Allah until they both meet on the way, then the one who remembers Allah will be considered superior among the two.

Hazrat Muhammad bin Abdur Rahman narrates that Hazrat Abu Ja'far said: Nothing is more beloved to Allah than expressing gratitude and remembrance of Him.

Hazrat Abu Huraira and Hazrat Abu Saeed bear witness regarding the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Whenever a group of Muslims sits in a gathering and remembers Allah, the angels surround them, mercy covers them, tranquility descends upon them, and Allah mentions them in the assembly of angels.

Hazrat Abu Hurairah narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Whoever recites these words one hundred times during the day: "There is no deity except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner, His is the dominion and for Him is all praise, and He is powerful over everything," then it is equivalent for him to freeing ten slaves, and one hundred good deeds are written for him, and one hundred of his sins are erased, and these words are a means of protection for him from Satan for the whole day until night. And no one will bring a deed better than this on the Day of Resurrection except the one who recited these words more times than him.

Hazrat Suhail bin Hanzala Al-Abshami narrates that no group of people ever remembers Allah except that a caller (angel) from the heavens announces: Stand up, you are forgiven; surely your sins have been replaced with good deeds.

Hazrat Hilal bin Yasaf narrates that there was a woman from the tribe of Hamdan who used to glorify Allah and would count on pebbles or seeds. She passed by Hazrat Abdullah, and it was told to him that this woman recites tasbih and counts it on pebbles or seeds. So Hazrat Abdullah called that woman and asked her: Are you the one who recites tasbih and counts it? She replied: Yes! I do so. Then Hazrat Abdullah said: Shall I not guide you to a better act than this? You should remember Allah in this way: Allah is the Greatest, and all abundant praise is for Allah, and morning and evening Allah is free from every defect.

Hazrat Abu Huraira narrates that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) conveyed a Hadith Qudsi: Allah says! Whoever remembers Me in his heart, I also remember him in My heart, and whoever remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in a gathering better and purer than that.

Hazrat Abu Uthman narrates that Hazrat Sulaiman said: When a servant remembers Allah in a state of happiness and praises Him in a state of ease, then if any hardship befalls him and he supplicates to Allah, the angels say, "It is the familiar voice of a weak servant," and then they intercede for that servant before Allah. But when a servant does not remember Allah in a state of happiness nor praises Him in a state of ease, and then some hardship befalls him and he supplicates to Allah, the angels say, "It is a bad voice."

Hazrat Khalid bin Ma'dan says that Allah, the Lord of Majesty, bestows charity every day. Allah has never bestowed charity upon any of His servants better than the charity of His remembrance.

Hazrat Abdullah bin Masood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Whoever recites these words during the day: There is no deity except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner, His is the dominion and for Him is all praise, and He is powerful over everything, then these words are equal for him to freeing four slaves from among the descendants of Ismail whom he has set free.

Hazrat Bara bin Azib narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Whoever recites these words ten times: There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner, His is the dominion and for Him is all praise, and He is powerful over everything, then its reward will be equal to the number of all creatures.

Hazrat Abu Rifa’ah, who is an Ansari, narrates that Hazrat Abu Darda said: Whoever recites these words one hundred times during the day—There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner, His is the dominion and for Him is all praise, and He has power over all things—then among the people of the world, no one will have a deed superior to his except the one who recites these words more times than him.