A guide to understand dhikr — the remembrance of Allah in the Muslim tradition — and to practice tasbih, the morning and evening adhkâr, the Tasbih of Fāṭima, and the 99 names of Allah. Written in Sukūn’s tone: sober, sourced, with no padding.
Dhikr, in two sentences
Dhikr (ذِكْر) is the remembrance of Allah — by the tongue, by the heart, or both. It is among the most universal Islamic practices: present in the Qur’ān, in the prophetic Sunna, and in the spiritual life of every believer, beginner and scholar alike.
In practice, dhikr takes the form of brief, precise formulas — SubḥānAllāh, Alḥamdulillāh, Allāhu Akbar, Lā ilāha illa-llāh, Astaghfirullāh — repeated with presence of the heart (khushūʿ). The count matters, but it is not the point. The point is to remember.
Why dhikr is central
The Qur’ān calls for the remembrance of Allah in many places. Sūrat al-Aḥzāb (33:41–42) commands the believers to remember Allah abundantly, morning and evening. Sūrat ar-Raʿd (13:28) declares that it is in the remembrance of Allah that hearts find rest. Sūrat al-Baqara (2:152) offers an exchange: “Remember Me, I will remember you” — a verse cited almost verbatim across the spiritual literature.
In the prophetic Sunna, dhikr is described as light on the tongue but heavy on the scale of deeds. A celebrated ḥadīth reported by al-Bukhārī (6682) commends two formulas — SubḥānAllāhi wa-biḥamdihi and SubḥānAllāhi-l-ʿAẓīm — as beloved to the Most Merciful. The invitation is clear: fill the empty time of the day — walking, commuting, waiting — with a quiet thread of dhikr.
The essential formulas
Five formulas make up the everyday core of dhikr:
- سُبْحَانَ اللَّه — SubḥānAllāh — “Glory be to Allah”; affirming that He is free from every imperfection.
- الْحَمْدُ لِلَّه — Alḥamdulillāh — “Praise be to Allah”; recognizing that all praise belongs to Him.
- اللَّهُ أَكْبَر — Allāhu Akbar — “Allah is the greatest”; recognizing that He is above all.
- لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّه — Lā ilāha illa-llāh — “There is no god but Allah”; the attestation of divine oneness.
- أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّه — Astaghfirullāh — “I seek Allah’s forgiveness”; the continuous request for pardon.
These formulas are reported in dozens of authentic ḥadīths. They are deliberately short: they fit walking, the space between two tasks, the wait for a bus. Sukūn includes them in the default library, with vocalized Arabic, transliteration and translation.
The Tasbih of Fāṭima
The Tasbih of Fāṭima (تَسْبِيحُ فَاطِمَة) is one of the most widely practiced litanies: 33 × SubḥānAllāh, 33 × Alḥamdulillāh, 34 × Allāhu Akbar, usually after each obligatory prayer.
Its origin is reported in the ḥadīth of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him): Fāṭima (may Allah be pleased with her), his wife and the Prophet’s daughter, came to the Prophet (ﷺ) to ask for a servant to ease the household. The Prophet taught her this litany instead, telling her it would be better for her than a servant. The hadith is in Sahih al-Bukhārī (no. 6318) and Sahih Muslim (no. 2727). It is one of the most cited passages of daily Muslim spirituality.
In Sukūn, the Tasbih of Fāṭima is the default daily tasbih, with a three-step counter and a quiet transition between formulas. The haptic shifts at each threshold — so the hand knows, without the need to look at the screen.
Morning and evening adhkâr
The morning and evening adhkâr (أَذْكَارُ الصَّبَاحِ وَالْمَسَاء) are a set of formulas to be said after the dawn prayer (al-Fajr) and before the sunset prayer (al-Maghrib). They are drawn from the Qur’ān and the Sunna, compiled by scholars into anthologies — notably Ḥiṣn al-Muslim by Saʿīd ibn ʿAlī al-Qaḥṭānī, widely accepted.
The aim is to bracket the day with spiritual protection and renewed attestation. The practice varies across the legal schools (madhāhib): some lists include Āyat al-Kursī, the three sūras called al-Muʿawwidhāt (al-Ikhlāṣ, al-Falaq, an-Nās), specific supplications for forgiveness, protection against harm, or gratitude.
The 99 names of Allah
The Most Beautiful Names of Allah (الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى) are the attributes by which God names Himself in the Qur’ān and the Sunna. Tradition retains a count of ninety-nine, grounded in the ḥadīth reported by al-Bukhārī (2736) and Muslim (2677): “Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred minus one. Whoever enumerates them shall enter Paradise.”
The most widely cited list is the one from the narration of at-Tirmidhī (Sunan, 3507). Sukūn offers the complete list in a dedicated page, with vocalized Arabic calligraphy, DIN 31635 transliteration, and English meaning: The 99 Names of Allah.
Presence of the heart (khushūʿ)
Khushūʿ (خُشُوع) — presence of the heart, focused humility — is what every dhikr practice seeks to serve. Without khushūʿ, dhikr collapses into a mechanical count: the tongue pronounces, the counter rises, but the heart is elsewhere. With khushūʿ, the same number of formulas carries incomparable spiritual weight.
This is why Sukūn refuses any gamification of dhikr. No streaks, no leaderboards, no “you missed your dhikr today” notification. Dhikr is not a contest against oneself; it is an encounter. The app exists to make that encounter easier — not to make it more productive.
Physical tasbih and digital tasbih
The physical tasbih (the subḥah, the prayer bead chain of 33 or 99 beads) remains the reference tool for many: it occupies the hand, marks the count without looking, uses no electricity. The digital tasbih — phone app, connected ring — does the same work under different constraints: it doesn’t get lost, doesn’t break, adapts to multiple litanies.
The mainstream contemporary scholarly position is that both are permissible. They are merely counting instruments, like the joints of the fingers (the means recommended in the Sunna when feasible). Sukūn does not pretend to replace the subḥah: for those who prefer it, it is the right tool. Sukūn is built for the moments when the phone is already in the hand — the commute, the waiting room, the evening before sleep.
Recognized sources
For further reading, a few reference collections in the Sunni tradition, in chronological order:
- Sahih al-Bukhārī (Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī, d. 256 AH / 870 CE) — the most recognized collection of sound hadiths.
- Sahih Muslim (Muslim b. al-Ḥajjāj al-Naysābūrī, d. 261 AH / 875 CE).
- Sunan Abī Dāwūd (d. 275 AH / 889), Sunan at-Tirmidhī (d. 279 AH / 892), Sunan an-Nasāʾī (d. 303 AH / 915), Sunan Ibn Mājah (d. 273 AH / 887) — the four Sunan that complete the Ṣaḥīḥān.
- Riyāḍ aṣ-Ṣāliḥīn (an-Nawawī, d. 676 AH / 1277 CE) — a classical anthology of hadiths organized by practical topics.
- Ḥiṣn al-Muslim (Saʿīd ibn ʿAlī al-Qaḥṭānī) — a modern handbook of morning, evening, and daily adhkâr, widely translated.
This guide is written to serve the gesture of dhikr, not to claim religious authority. The content is pending scholarly review — corrections welcome at contact@sukun.care. TODO(scholar) — full review.