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Is specifying certain remembrances (adhkar), times, and numbers for daily acts of worship – as detailed – considered an innovation (bid'ah)?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Dhikr (remembrance of Allah) is prescribed and recommended at all times. There is no harm in obligating oneself to specific litanies (awrad) of dhikr with certain numbers to attain reward, moisten the tongue, and purify the soul, provided that one does not believe there is a special virtue in these numbers that is not mentioned in the Sunnah, and does not believe that they are a regular Sunnah from the Prophet, peace be upon him. Rather, it is a matter of time management. The Salaf (pious predecessors) used to obligate themselves to litanies beyond what is mentioned in the Sunnah, drawing evidence from the general meanings of the Qur'an and Sunnah regarding the virtue of dhikr. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: "A person's adherence to his regular litanies of prayer, recitation, dhikr, or supplication at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night, and other times: this is the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and of the righteous servants of Allah, both ancient and modern." As for dedicating each day to a specific dhikr that one regularly performs on that day exclusively, we know of no basis for this, and it should be avoided so that it does not become an additive innovation (bid'ah idafiyyah).

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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