Dhikr and Dua for Everyday Life: Morning, Evening and In Between

Most Muslims know that morning and evening remembrance exists. Rather fewer have a settled routine for it, and a great many carry a low-level guilt about that. The obstacle is almost never willingness. It is that nobody ever laid out what to say, when, and how long it actually takes.

So here it is, plainly.

Dhikr and Dua Are Not the Same Thing

Dhikr is remembrance — repeating words that keep Allah present in the mind. Glorification, praise, the declaration of oneness. You are not asking for anything.

Dua is supplication — asking. It is a conversation, and it does not require Arabic or a memorised formula.

Both are worship. They serve different purposes and it helps to know which one you are doing.

The Two Windows

The Quran repeatedly pairs morning and evening as the times for remembrance. In practice:

• Morning — after Fajr until sunrise, and by wider opinion up until midday.
• Evening — after Asr until Maghrib, and by wider opinion into the first part of the night.

The wider windows matter for anyone with a British commute. If you cannot sit after Fajr, saying the morning adhkar on the tram at eight o’clock is not a failure.

A Morning and Evening Routine That Takes Ten Minutes

This is a modest, well-attested selection rather than an exhaustive one. Recite in Arabic if you can, and read the meaning at least occasionally so the words do not go hollow.

1. Ayat al-Kursi — once.
2. Surah al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq and an-Nas — three times each.
3. Sayyid al-Istighfar, the master formula of seeking forgiveness, which begins Allahumma anta Rabbi la ilaha illa anta, khalaqtani wa ana abduk. Recorded by al-Bukhari (Sahih al-Bukhari 6306), who reports that whoever says it in the morning with certainty and dies that day enters Paradise.
4. Bismillahilladhi la yadurru ma’a ismihi shay’un fil-ardi wa la fis-sama’i wa huwa as-Sami’ al-Alim — three times. Reported by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi (Sunan Abi Dawud 5088; Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3388).
5. A’udhu bi kalimatillahi at-tammati min sharri ma khalaq — three times, particularly in the evening. Recorded by Muslim (Sahih Muslim 2708).
6. Subhan Allah wa bihamdih — a hundred times if you can manage it; it is short enough to do while walking.

That is the whole routine. Read at an unhurried pace it takes about ten minutes, and it can be done sitting on the edge of the bed.

After Every Obligatory Prayer

The tasbih after salah is one of the most consistently reported practices and one of the most consistently skipped, because people stand up the moment the imam gives salam.

• Subhan Allah — thirty-three times
• Alhamdulillah — thirty-three times
• Allahu Akbar — thirty-three times
• Completing the hundred with La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamd, wa huwa ala kulli shay’in qadir

Muslim records that whoever does this has their sins forgiven even were they like the foam of the sea. Reciting Ayat al-Kursi after each obligatory prayer is also reported, by an-Nasa’i and at-Tabarani, and graded sound by Ibn Hibban. It is not in the main Sunan an-Nasa’i, so you will not find it under a number there.

Two minutes. It is very hard to argue with the ratio.

The Duas That Fit Into an Ordinary Day

These are short, and being tied to specific actions they are far easier to keep than anything requiring a set time.

• Waking: Alhamdulillahilladhi ahyana ba’da ma amatana wa ilayhin-nushur — praise be to Allah who gave us life after death, and to Him is the return.
• Entering the bathroom: Allahumma inni a’udhu bika minal-khubthi wal-khaba’ith.
• Before eating: Bismillah. If you forget and remember mid-meal: Bismillahi awwalahu wa akhirah.
• Leaving the house: Bismillahi tawakkaltu ala Allah, wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah.
• Setting off in a vehicle: Subhanalladhi sakhkhara lana hadha wa ma kunna lahu muqrinin.
• Rain: Allahumma sayyiban nafi’a — O Allah, a beneficial downpour. In Manchester this one gets a good deal of use.
• Distress: the dua of Yunus, peace be upon him — La ilaha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minaz-zalimin.
• Before sleep: Bismika Allahumma amutu wa ahya.

One point of adab is worth adding. There is a dua for seeing someone afflicted by hardship — thanking Allah for one’s own wellbeing — and the scholars are clear that it should be said quietly, so that the person concerned does not hear it. The remembrance is for you, not at them.

Two Words, Heavy on the Scale

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: Two words are light on the tongue, heavy on the scale, beloved to the Most Merciful — Subhan Allah wa bihamdih, Subhan Allah al-Azim. Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim (Sahih al-Bukhari 6682; Sahih Muslim 2694).

If you take nothing else from this article, take those two phrases. They cost nothing, require no preparation, and can be said in a queue, on a bus, or while the kettle boils.

Making It Actually Stick

• Attach it to something you already do. Habits chain far better than they start. After Fajr, before the phone. After Asr, before dinner.
• Start smaller than feels serious. Three items done daily for a year beats twenty items abandoned in a fortnight.
• Use the commute. The walk to the tram stop is a hundred tasbihat.
• Do not chase the count at the expense of presence. Ten said with attention are worth more than a hundred recited while planning your day.
• Keep a printed card. Phones are where concentration goes to die. A card in the pocket has none of that problem.

And in Your Own Language

Memorised Arabic duas are a gift, and there is barakah in the exact words the Prophet, peace be upon him, used. But dua itself has no language requirement. If your Arabic is limited and your worry is specific, ask in English, in Urdu, in whatever you think in. That is dua, and it is heard.

BKM Community runs regular gatherings and teaching sessions in Manchester where the meanings of these supplications are explained in detail. Have a look at our upcoming events or get in touch.