Are Prayer Beads allowed? I have heard its a bida'h.
Keeping a Tasbeeh (Rosary) and Counting with the Joints of the Fingers
By Hakimul Ummat Hadhrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Quddisa Sirruhoo)
Two methods of keeping count of Tasbeeh (saying Subhaanallah), Tahmeed (saying Alhamdulillah) and Takbeer (saying Allahu Akbar) are generally employed. They are:
1) Tasbeeh or Rosary
2) Joints of the fingers
It is necessary to show that these two methods are Masnoon (in conformity with the Sunnat of Rasulullah–sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and to explain the manner of counting with the joints of the fingers.
Let it be known that Abu Dawood, Tirmithi, Nasaai, Ibn Hibbaan and Haakim have narrated from Hadhrat Sa'd Bin Abi Waqqaas that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) noticed some date-stones or pebbles placed infront of o*ne his wives with which she was making Tasbeeh. (The Hadith continues.)
Abu Dawood and Haakim have narrated from Hadhrat Safiyya (radhiyallahu anha) that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) came to her while she had heaped infront of her 4,000 date-stones. She was reciting Tasbeeh (Zikr) with the date-stones.
The author of Mirqat (A Hadith Commentary) and the author of Raddul Mahtaar (an authoritative work o*n Hanafi Fiqh) have stated (in exposition of the aforementioned Hadith) that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) did not prohibit (Hadhrat Safiyya–radhiyallahu anha–from using date-stones to count) after noticing this.
Therefore the validity of the popular tasbeeh (rosary) emerges from a Hadith-e-Taqreeri (a Hadith in which Rasulullah–sallallahu alayhi wasallam–corroborates a statement or action of a Sahaabi / Sahaabiya by his silence). The reason for this validity is that there is no significant difference between date-stones (which is mentioned in the Hadith) and the popular tasbeeh besides o*ne being stringed and the other loose. This difference is no cause for prohibition. Thus, the view of o*ne who says it is a bid'at is unacceptable.
The Honourable Mashaa-ikh (Qaddasaallaahu Sirruhum) have called the tasbeeh 'Taaziyanah-e-Shaitaan' or a 'Whip for Shaitaan'.
Someone saw Hadhrat Junaid Baghdaadi (rahmatullah alayh) with a tasbeeh in his hand and queried:
"What is the need for it (the tasbeeh) when you have ascended to the limits of spiritual progress?"
Hadhrat Junaid (rahmatullah alayh) replied:
"How can we abandon something by virtue of which we have reached Allah?"
The Great Saints of Islam have given it the title Muzakkirah or The Reminder, since having it in the hand reminds o*ne to recite something or the other.
THE JOINTS OF THE FINGERS
To count with the joints of the fingers is likewise Masnoon and this is established through a Hadith-e-Qowli (saying of Rasulullah–sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and Fe'li (deed of Rasulullah–sallallahu alayhi wasallam).
Tirmithi narrates from Hadhrat Yaseera (radhiyallahu anha) that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) told women: "Engage in tasebeeh, tahleel and taqdees (i.e. engage in various forms of Zikr) and keep count with the joints of the fingers. o*n the Day of Qiyaamah these fingers will be questioned and they will be made to speak."
Abu Dawood narrates from Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Amr Bin al-'Aas (radhiyallahu anhu):
"I saw Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) used to keep count of tasbeeh by closing the fingers."
Ibn Qudaama, o*ne of the narrators in the chain, explains:
"That is, with his (Rasulullah's–sallallahu alayhi wasallam) right hand."
However, literally, counting with the finger has a broad meaning. Hence the author of Hirz states:
"Whether o*ne opens and closes the fingers, or fingers are pressed, or the thumb is placed along the tips of the fingers."
In other words, in whichever manner o*ne counts with the fingers the actual Sunnat is obtained. Determining any particular method is not stipulated. Despite this, it is understood from the Ahaadith that in the time of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) the manner of keeping count with the fingers was indeed fixed.
Now the zaakir (one who engages in Zikr) has the option, whether to keep a tasbeeh (rosary) in view of the ease in it, or he may count with the fingers since the virtue is greater. Then again he has the option of counting with the finger in the abovementioned (in the kitaab 'Aqd-e-Anaamil) method or any other method which has reached him via his Mashaa-ikh.
The actual purpose is to ward off negligence as stated towards the end of the Hadith on counting with the fingers. The gist of which is:
"Do not be neglectful! Otherwise you will be driven away from (the) Mercy (of Allah Ta'ala)."
By Hakimul Ummat Hadhrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Quddisa Sirruhoo)
Two methods of keeping count of Tasbeeh (saying Subhaanallah), Tahmeed (saying Alhamdulillah) and Takbeer (saying Allahu Akbar) are generally employed. They are:
1) Tasbeeh or Rosary
2) Joints of the fingers
It is necessary to show that these two methods are Masnoon (in conformity with the Sunnat of Rasulullah–sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and to explain the manner of counting with the joints of the fingers.
Let it be known that Abu Dawood, Tirmithi, Nasaai, Ibn Hibbaan and Haakim have narrated from Hadhrat Sa'd Bin Abi Waqqaas that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) noticed some date-stones or pebbles placed infront of o*ne his wives with which she was making Tasbeeh. (The Hadith continues.)
Abu Dawood and Haakim have narrated from Hadhrat Safiyya (radhiyallahu anha) that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) came to her while she had heaped infront of her 4,000 date-stones. She was reciting Tasbeeh (Zikr) with the date-stones.
The author of Mirqat (A Hadith Commentary) and the author of Raddul Mahtaar (an authoritative work o*n Hanafi Fiqh) have stated (in exposition of the aforementioned Hadith) that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) did not prohibit (Hadhrat Safiyya–radhiyallahu anha–from using date-stones to count) after noticing this.
Therefore the validity of the popular tasbeeh (rosary) emerges from a Hadith-e-Taqreeri (a Hadith in which Rasulullah–sallallahu alayhi wasallam–corroborates a statement or action of a Sahaabi / Sahaabiya by his silence). The reason for this validity is that there is no significant difference between date-stones (which is mentioned in the Hadith) and the popular tasbeeh besides o*ne being stringed and the other loose. This difference is no cause for prohibition. Thus, the view of o*ne who says it is a bid'at is unacceptable.
The Honourable Mashaa-ikh (Qaddasaallaahu Sirruhum) have called the tasbeeh 'Taaziyanah-e-Shaitaan' or a 'Whip for Shaitaan'.
Someone saw Hadhrat Junaid Baghdaadi (rahmatullah alayh) with a tasbeeh in his hand and queried:
"What is the need for it (the tasbeeh) when you have ascended to the limits of spiritual progress?"
Hadhrat Junaid (rahmatullah alayh) replied:
"How can we abandon something by virtue of which we have reached Allah?"
The Great Saints of Islam have given it the title Muzakkirah or The Reminder, since having it in the hand reminds o*ne to recite something or the other.
THE JOINTS OF THE FINGERS
To count with the joints of the fingers is likewise Masnoon and this is established through a Hadith-e-Qowli (saying of Rasulullah–sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and Fe'li (deed of Rasulullah–sallallahu alayhi wasallam).
Tirmithi narrates from Hadhrat Yaseera (radhiyallahu anha) that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) told women: "Engage in tasebeeh, tahleel and taqdees (i.e. engage in various forms of Zikr) and keep count with the joints of the fingers. o*n the Day of Qiyaamah these fingers will be questioned and they will be made to speak."
Abu Dawood narrates from Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Amr Bin al-'Aas (radhiyallahu anhu):
"I saw Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) used to keep count of tasbeeh by closing the fingers."
Ibn Qudaama, o*ne of the narrators in the chain, explains:
"That is, with his (Rasulullah's–sallallahu alayhi wasallam) right hand."
However, literally, counting with the finger has a broad meaning. Hence the author of Hirz states:
"Whether o*ne opens and closes the fingers, or fingers are pressed, or the thumb is placed along the tips of the fingers."
In other words, in whichever manner o*ne counts with the fingers the actual Sunnat is obtained. Determining any particular method is not stipulated. Despite this, it is understood from the Ahaadith that in the time of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) the manner of keeping count with the fingers was indeed fixed.
Now the zaakir (one who engages in Zikr) has the option, whether to keep a tasbeeh (rosary) in view of the ease in it, or he may count with the fingers since the virtue is greater. Then again he has the option of counting with the finger in the abovementioned (in the kitaab 'Aqd-e-Anaamil) method or any other method which has reached him via his Mashaa-ikh.
The actual purpose is to ward off negligence as stated towards the end of the Hadith on counting with the fingers. The gist of which is:
"Do not be neglectful! Otherwise you will be driven away from (the) Mercy (of Allah Ta'ala)."
Shaykh Hajj Gibril:
Imâm al-Suyûtî recounted in one of his fatwas entitled al-Minha fîl-Sibha (“The Profit In Dhikr-Beads”) the story of ‘Ikrima, who asked his teacher ‘Umar al-Mâlikî about dhikr-beads. The latter replied that he had also asked about it his teacher al-Hasan al-Basrî who replied: “Something we have used at the beginning of the road we are not desirous to leave at the end. I love to remember Allâh with my heart, my hand, and my tongue.” Al-Suyûtî comments: “And how should it be otherwise, when the dhikr-beads remind one of Allâh Most High, and a person seldom sees dhikr-beads except he remembers Allâh, which is among the greatest of its benefits.” [1] [1]Abû Hurayra possessed a thread with two thousand knots and would not sleep until he had used it all for dhikr. [2] [2]He said: “Verily, I make glorification (tasbîh) of Allâh Almighty everyday according to my ransom (qadardiyyatî), twelve thousand times.” [3] [3]
Sidi Faraz Rabbani:
The tasbih is a means to do dhikr. One should do dhikr in the way that is most conducive to actually doing dhikr, and to maintaining one’s presence of heart with Allah. The generally accepted fiqh principle is that, “Means take the ruling of their ends.” Interestingly, even Wahhabis (such as Shaykh Uthaymin (Allah have mercy on him)) apply this in some spheres.
The position of some Wahhabis that using prayer beads is a bida is a bid`a in itself. All the schools of Sunni Islam allow it. The greatest hadith experts, including giants like Imam al-Nawawi, Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Imam Badr al-Din al-`Ayni, and others all explicitly permitted the use of prayer beads. The same applies to great Qur’anic exegetes. If these people did not understand the Qur’an and Sunna, then who did?
The prayer bead’s permissibility is explicitly mentioned in Imam al-Haskafi’s Durr al-Mukhtar, and in the Hashiyas of Imam al-Tahtawi and Ibn Abidin. Imam Abd al-Hayy al-Lakhnawi has an excellent treatise on it, based on a shorter work by Imam al-Suyuti.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani
[1] [1]Al-Suyûtî, al-Hâwî lîl-Fatâwâ. Cf. section on dhikr-beads in al-Shawkânî’s Nayl al-Awtâr (2:316-317) and Zakariyyâ al-Kandihlawî’s Hayât al-Sahâba. Albânî’s astounding claim that whoever carries dhikr-beads in his hand to remember Allâh is misguided and innovating was refuted in Mahmûd Mamdûh’s Wusûl al-Tahânî bi Ithbât Sunniyyat al-Sibha wal-Radd ‘alâ al-Albânî (“The Alighting of Mutual Benefit and the Confirmation that Dhikr-Beads are a Sunna in Refutation of Albânî”). Another refutation was published by Hâmid Mirzâ Khân al-Firghânî al-Namnakânî in the seventh of his al-Masâ’il al-Tis‘ (Madîna: Maktabat al-Îmân, 1985) p. 44-48.
[2] [2]Narrated by Abû Nu‘aym in the Hilya (1:383) and al-Dhahabî in the Siyar (Risâla ed. 2:623) and Tadhkira (1:35)
[3] [3]Narrated by Abû Nu‘aym in the Hilya (1:383), al-Bayhaqî in the Sunan (8:79), Ibn Hazm in al-Muh.allâ (10:396), Ibn al-Jawzî in Sifat al-Safwa (1:691), al-Dhahabî in the Siyar (Risâla ed. 2:610) and Tadhkirat al-Huffâz. (1:35), Ibn Rajab in Jâmi‘ al-‘Ulûm wal-Hikam, and Ibn Hajar in the Isâba (7:442) where he said that Ibn Sa‘d narrates it with a sound chain in his Tabaqât.
Imâm al-Suyûtî recounted in one of his fatwas entitled al-Minha fîl-Sibha (“The Profit In Dhikr-Beads”) the story of ‘Ikrima, who asked his teacher ‘Umar al-Mâlikî about dhikr-beads. The latter replied that he had also asked about it his teacher al-Hasan al-Basrî who replied: “Something we have used at the beginning of the road we are not desirous to leave at the end. I love to remember Allâh with my heart, my hand, and my tongue.” Al-Suyûtî comments: “And how should it be otherwise, when the dhikr-beads remind one of Allâh Most High, and a person seldom sees dhikr-beads except he remembers Allâh, which is among the greatest of its benefits.” [1] [1]Abû Hurayra possessed a thread with two thousand knots and would not sleep until he had used it all for dhikr. [2] [2]He said: “Verily, I make glorification (tasbîh) of Allâh Almighty everyday according to my ransom (qadardiyyatî), twelve thousand times.” [3] [3]
Sidi Faraz Rabbani:
The tasbih is a means to do dhikr. One should do dhikr in the way that is most conducive to actually doing dhikr, and to maintaining one’s presence of heart with Allah. The generally accepted fiqh principle is that, “Means take the ruling of their ends.” Interestingly, even Wahhabis (such as Shaykh Uthaymin (Allah have mercy on him)) apply this in some spheres.
The position of some Wahhabis that using prayer beads is a bida is a bid`a in itself. All the schools of Sunni Islam allow it. The greatest hadith experts, including giants like Imam al-Nawawi, Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Imam Badr al-Din al-`Ayni, and others all explicitly permitted the use of prayer beads. The same applies to great Qur’anic exegetes. If these people did not understand the Qur’an and Sunna, then who did?
The prayer bead’s permissibility is explicitly mentioned in Imam al-Haskafi’s Durr al-Mukhtar, and in the Hashiyas of Imam al-Tahtawi and Ibn Abidin. Imam Abd al-Hayy al-Lakhnawi has an excellent treatise on it, based on a shorter work by Imam al-Suyuti.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani
[1] [1]Al-Suyûtî, al-Hâwî lîl-Fatâwâ. Cf. section on dhikr-beads in al-Shawkânî’s Nayl al-Awtâr (2:316-317) and Zakariyyâ al-Kandihlawî’s Hayât al-Sahâba. Albânî’s astounding claim that whoever carries dhikr-beads in his hand to remember Allâh is misguided and innovating was refuted in Mahmûd Mamdûh’s Wusûl al-Tahânî bi Ithbât Sunniyyat al-Sibha wal-Radd ‘alâ al-Albânî (“The Alighting of Mutual Benefit and the Confirmation that Dhikr-Beads are a Sunna in Refutation of Albânî”). Another refutation was published by Hâmid Mirzâ Khân al-Firghânî al-Namnakânî in the seventh of his al-Masâ’il al-Tis‘ (Madîna: Maktabat al-Îmân, 1985) p. 44-48.
[2] [2]Narrated by Abû Nu‘aym in the Hilya (1:383) and al-Dhahabî in the Siyar (Risâla ed. 2:623) and Tadhkira (1:35)
[3] [3]Narrated by Abû Nu‘aym in the Hilya (1:383), al-Bayhaqî in the Sunan (8:79), Ibn Hazm in al-Muh.allâ (10:396), Ibn al-Jawzî in Sifat al-Safwa (1:691), al-Dhahabî in the Siyar (Risâla ed. 2:610) and Tadhkirat al-Huffâz. (1:35), Ibn Rajab in Jâmi‘ al-‘Ulûm wal-Hikam, and Ibn Hajar in the Isâba (7:442) where he said that Ibn Sa‘d narrates it with a sound chain in his Tabaqât.