❖ Correct Way of Reciting the Āyah Karīmah and Ruling on Innovated Practices ❖
Source: Aḥkām wa Masāʾil fī Ḍawʾ al-Qurʾān wal-Ḥadīth, Vol. 1, p. 488
✿ Question:
In our area, a practice has become common. When someone is afflicted with a calamity, around 50 or 60 women are gathered. The afflicted person himself goes around inviting them, saying that they must come to his house to recite the Āyah Karīmah.
A sheet or mat is spread out, and in the middle castor seeds or some other grains are placed for counting. The women sit in a circle and together recite the following verse about 125,000 times:
﴿لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ﴾
[al-Anbiyāʾ 21:87]
After this, they supplicate that the person’s calamity may be removed.
My questions are:
① Is the Āyah Karīmah to be recited only for relief from calamity, or can it also be recited with the intention that Allah fulfills other needs?
② Is it permissible to have others recite it on one’s behalf?
③ Is the prevalent method described above correct?
④ Is reciting it 125,000 times established from any ḥadīth? What number is mentioned in Qur’an or ḥadīth?
⑤ Is this prevalent practice a bidʿah? If yes, please mention the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ about the deeds of innovators.
⑥ What is the correct way of reciting the Āyah Karīmah?
✿ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd:
① The Āyah Karīmah ﴿لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ﴾ was recited by Prophet Yūnus (عليه السلام) at the time of distress. Allah says:
﴿وَذَا النُّونِ إِذْ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَنْ لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ فَنَادَىٰ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ أَنْ لَّا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ * فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْغَمِّ وَكَذٰلِكَ نُنجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾
[al-Anbiyāʾ 21:87–88]
Translation: “And remember Dhun-Nūn (Yūnus), when he went off in anger and thought that We would not constrain him, then he cried out in the darkness: ‘There is no deity but You; Glory be to You! Indeed, I was of the wrongdoers.’ So We answered his call and delivered him from distress. Thus We deliver the believers.”
Hence, this duʿāʾ is beneficial for relief from distress, and a believer may also recite it seeking other needs from Allah.
② Prophet Yūnus (عليه السلام) himself recited this supplication. He did not request others to do so.
③ The prevalent method in your area (gathering women, using seeds for counting, and assigning 125,000 repetitions) is not from the practice of Yūnus (عليه السلام) nor is it established from the Prophet ﷺ.
④ Neither the Qur’an nor the ḥadīth specify a set number for reciting this verse. Only a single recitation is authentically reported from Prophet Yūnus (عليه السلام).
⑤ The method you described has no basis in Qur’an or Sunnah, therefore it is incorrect and falls under bidʿah (innovation). The Prophet ﷺ said:
«من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو رد»
“Whoever introduces into this matter of ours (Islam) that which is not from it, it will be rejected.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī & Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
⑥ The correct way of reciting the Āyah Karīmah is as Allah mentioned in the Qur’an: with humility and sincerity, seeking forgiveness and relief, as Prophet Yūnus (عليه السلام) did.
Conclusion:- The Āyah Karīmah is a powerful supplication for distress, but it may also be recited for other needs.
- Asking others to recite it, fixing a number like 125,000, and gathering people in the described manner has no basis in Sharīʿah.
- The correct way is to recite it personally, sincerely, as Prophet Yūnus (عليه السلام) did, without attaching innovated practices to it.
