When Does One Recite The Post-Prayer “Tasbihat”?

Answered by Sidi Abdullah Anik Misra

Question: According to the Hanafi School, is it Sunnah to recite Tasbih and Dua after the Fard or the Sunnah prayers? And if one decides to offer some of his make-up prayers after the completion of either Fard/Sunnah prayers, then should s/he pray all his prayers consecutively and delay the Tasbeeh and Dua until the end?

Answer: In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

It is from the sunnah to stand up almost immediately after the fardh (obligatory) prayers to pray the sunnah prayers, according to the Hanafi school.  It is liked that one separates the two prayers only by a short dua’ such as “Allahumma! Anta as-salaamu, wa mink as-salaamu, tabaarakta ya dhal- jalaali wal- ikraam!”, or one of similar length [Maraqi al-Falah, al-Shurunbulali].  This is because it is disliked to separate the fardh and the sunnah prayers with anything lengthy between them, as it reduces ones reward and focus.  This is taken from a hadeeth reported by Muslim, Ahmad, Ibn Majah and al-Tirmidhi, with slight variations in wording, that Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said:

“The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), after he would say his salaams [in the end of the prayer], wouldn’t sit except for the time it took for him to say “Allahumma anta al-salamu wa minka al-salamu tabaarakta ya dhal jalaali wal-ikram!””  [Sunan al-Tirmidhi]

After the sunnah prayers are completed, then is the time to make the tasbih and the longer dua’s that have been reported in other hadeeths.  Al-Shurunbulali states that the Hanafi jurist Shams al-A’immah al-Halwani opined that there is no harm in reading one’s adhkaar before the sunnah prayer, but other scholars said that “no harm” here means this is not the most ideal thing to do, but merely permissible.  The Hanafi jurist Ibn al-Humam also mentions that the hadeeths which point to the tasbih after each prayer actually mean after the fardh and sunnah, not just the fardh, and that though the practice of reciting Ayat al-Kursi and tasbeehaat after fardh was common in his time (circa 850 Hijri!) doing so was not established by narrations.

Now, in terms of if one has many make-up prayers to do after the current fardh and sunnah prayers, because the texts mention to do the tasbih and dua’s after the sunnah specifically, it would seem that you should pray the fardh, then sunnah, then your adhkar and dua’, and then begin with your make-ups.  Its possible if you delay the tasbih and dua’ to the end after a long series of make-ups, you may forget to make them or something may come up that demands you leave them out, whereas right after the sunnah prayer, there is still a freshness and high presence of heart to praise and ask Allah Ta’ala in dua’.

That being said, Hanafis in different places hold different positions on the tasbih being before or after the sunnah, for various reasons.  My personal experience has been that if you are in a place where you will offend others by standing up while their Imam is still seated in dhikr or dua’, it will be best to take the other position as it is permissible to do so, and also corroborated by the opinion of the other schools.  May Allah Ta’ala make us constant in our prayers, steadfast on the sunnah and immersed in His remembrance.

Wasalaam,

Abdullah Misra

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani