❖ Inserting Self-Composed Phrases into Masnoon Duas
Some individuals include additional, unauthorized words into the prescribed (masnoon) supplication after the Adhan. These additions are not established from the Prophet ﷺ and have unfortunately gained popularity due to their appearance in some widely circulated books on prayer.
❖ Details of the Added Words
In the masnoon dua after Adhan, some people:
➤ Add “وَالدَّرَجَۃَ الرَّفِیْعَۃَ“ after “وَالْفَضِیْلَۃَ“.
➤ Add “وَارْزُقْنَا شَفَاعَتَہُ یَوْمَ الْقِیَامَۃِ“ after “وَعَدْتَّهُ“.
➤ End the dua with “یَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِیْنَ“.
All of these are additions to the authentic supplication taught by the Prophet ﷺ, and none are proven from him.
❖ A Grave Question: Was the Prophet’s ﷺ Taught Supplication Incomplete?
Such actions raise a serious concern—as if to imply (God forbid) that the Prophet’s ﷺ taught duas were incomplete, and later generations needed to “correct” or “complete” them.
➤ This mindset is extremely dangerous.
➤ True believers must tremble at even the thought of altering the Prophet’s ﷺ teachings.
❖ Example: The Prophet ﷺ Corrected a Change in a Taught Phrase
The Prophet ﷺ once taught Sayyiduna Bara’ bin ‘Azib رضي الله عنه a supplication to recite before sleeping. When Bara’ repeated the dua, he said “بِرَسُوْلِكَ“ instead of “بِنَبِیِّكَ“.
The Prophet ﷺ immediately corrected him:
“Do not say ‘بِرَسُوْلِكَ’, but say ‘بِنَبِیِّكَ’ instead.”
(Bukhari, Al-Wudu’, Chapter: Virtue of Sleeping with Wudu’, Hadith 247; Muslim, Al-Dhikr wa al-Du‘a’, Chapter: What to Say Before Sleeping, Hadith 2710)
✔ Even minor changes to prophetic wordings were not tolerated.
✔ This highlights the importance of precise adherence.
❖ The Status of Masnoon Duas and Azkar
Masnoon supplications and remembrances are Tawqīfī (i.e., determined by Allah and conveyed through His Messenger ﷺ).
✔ They hold the status of acts of worship, and therefore:
➤ Additions or omissions are impermissible.
➤ Changing the grammatical form is also discouraged.
For example:
✘ Changing the singular form (“I”) to plural (“we”) in dua is incorrect.
✔ Rather, one should recite the singular form as taught, and intend the prayer for oneself and others collectively.
❖ Composing and Regularizing Unauthentic Duas and Salawat
When authentic prophetic duas and salawat already exist, then:
✘ Inventing personal Arabic supplications, litanies (wazā’if), and salawat
✘ and making them a daily routine is not acceptable.
Especially if:
➤ They include elements of shirk, kufr, or bid‘ah,
➤ Then such phrases become absolutely prohibited (harām).
❖ Examples of Commonly Recited, Non-Authentic Salawat
Some individuals habitually recite the following, despite lack of authentic basis:
✘ Durood Taj
✘ Durood Lakhi
✘ Durood Hazari, etc.
✔ These are not from the authentic Sunnah and should not be treated as regular acts of devotion.
❖ Du‘a for Guidance
May Allah ﷻ grant all of us the ability to remain firm upon the Straight Path. Āmīn.
