Tasbih

Tasbīḥ (Arabic: تسبيح‎‎) is a form of dhikr that involves the repetitive utterances of short sentences in the praise and glorification of Allah, in Islam. To keep track of counting either the phalanges of the right hand or a misbaha is used.

The term tasbih is an irregular derivation from subhan, which is the first word of the constitutive sentence of the first third of the canonical form (see below) of tasbih. The word literally means, as a verb, "to travel swiftly" and, as a noun, "duties" or "occupation". However, in the devotional context, tasbih refers to Subhana Allah, which is often used in the Qur'an with the preposition 'an (عن), meaning "'God is [de]void' [of what they (polytheists) attribute to Him]" (Al-Tawba: 31, Al-Zumar: 67 et al.). Without this preposition, it means something like "Glory be to God."

In the early years of the marriage of Ali and Fatimah, Ali earned little money, and was unable to afford a servant for Fatimah. Fatimah’s hands were blistered from constant grinding; her neck had become sore from carrying water; her clothes had become dirty from sweeping the floor. One day Ali was aware that the prophet had some servants, and advised Fatimah to ask the prophet for one of his servants. Fatimah went, but she was unable to ask. Finally Ali went with Fatimah to the prophet's house. The prophet did not accept their request, saying “there are many orphans (starved), I must sell these servants to feed them”. Then prophet said “I will give you one thing better than helping of servant”. He taught them a special manner of dhikr which is known as the ‘’ tasbih of Fatimah’’.

A hadith of the Prophet Muhammad relates:

Dhikr is of great importance to Muslims who believe it should be done as taught.

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