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Is it permissible to rely on the dhikr reported from Sufyan al-Thawri: "There is no god but Allah before everything, there is no god but Allah after everything, there is no god but Allah remains while everything perishes, there is no god but Allah, nothing is like Him," for protection from anxiety, sorrow, and the whispers of Satan, knowing that it was not reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The reported narration, both in its Marfu' (attributed directly to the Prophet, peace be upon him) and its attributed to Sufyan al-Thawri versions, is very weak. The Marfu' narration to the Prophet (peace be upon him): "Whoever says: 'There is no god but Allah before everything, and there is no god but Allah after everything,' will be cured of worry and sorrow," is fabricated due to the extreme weakness of its narrators. As for the narration from Sufyan al-Thawri, its chain of transmission is also weak. This is sufficiently replaced by the supplication of Dhun-Nun: (There is no god but You; glory be to You! Indeed, I was among the wrongdoers), for it is authentic, and Allah answers whoever says it.

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

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