Adhkar wa Adab al-Sabah wal-Masa
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- al-Dār al-‘Ālamiyyah lil-Nashr wal-Tawzī‘
Adhkar wa Adab al-Sabah wal-Masa (Remembrances and Etiquettes of Morning and Evening) is a concise devotional treatise by the Egyptian scholar and physician Muhammad Ismail al-Muqaddim (b. 1371 AH / 1952 CE), compiling prophetic supplications, daily remembrances, and spiritual etiquettes prescribed for the morning and evening hours.
Purpose and Scope
The author compiled the work to provide a practical and accessible manual for Muslims seeking to observe the daily prophetic supplications. Grounding the treatise in Quranic verses that command frequent remembrance at dawn and dusk—including يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ ذِكْرًا كَثِيرًا وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا ("O you who have believed, remember Allah with much remembrance and glorify Him morning and afternoon")—he appended legal and spiritual etiquettes (adab shar'iyyah) pertinent to those times.
Al-Muqaddim outlines the designated times for these devotions: the morning remembrance begins after the dawn prayer (Salat al-Subh) until before sunrise, while the evening remembrance begins after the afternoon prayer (Salat al-Asr) until sunset (al-Maghrib), noting also a reported opinion extending the evening period to the first third or half of the night. In his fourth edition published in Alexandria (1426 AH / 2005 CE), the author indicated that he omitted certain traditions over whose authenticity scholars had disagreed, deferring their detailed critical verification to a forthcoming expanded edition.
Contents and Structure
The book is structured into three main components:
Morning Remembrances (Adhkar al-Sabah)
This section comprises twenty-one distinct invocations and recitations sourced from the prophetic tradition, complete with hadith citations and grading references in the footnotes. These include morning affirmations of faith, supplications for well-being ('afiyah), protection against harm, the chief supplication for seeking forgiveness (sayyid al-istighfar), Ayat al-Kursi, the three final chapters of the Quran (al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq, and al-Nas), and repeated formulas of glorification (tasbih), praise (tahmid), and seeking pardon (istighfar). It concludes with an advisory note encouraging general supplication and Quranic recitation after completing the prescribed litany, closing any gathering with the expiation supplication (kaffarat al-majlis).
Evening Remembrances (Adhkar al-Masa)
Parallel to the morning section, this part arranges twenty numbered evening invocations, adjusting formulas to reflect the onset of night and incorporating specific evening protections, such as seeking refuge in God's perfect words from the evil of what He has created.
Etiquettes of Morning and Evening (Adab al-Sabah wal-Masa)
The final part details ten spiritual and practical etiquettes derived from prophetic traditions and the practices of early Muslim scholars (al-Salaf):
- Reflecting on God extending one's life as an opportunity to repent and turn toward Him.
- Maintaining constant istighfar and renewing sincere repentance by desisting from sins, regretting past wrongs, firmly intending not to repeat them, and restoring rights to their owners.
- Orienting one's primary concern toward the Hereafter and busying oneself with righteous works.
- Resolving to withhold harm from others and cleansing the heart of malice and envy toward Muslims.
- Guarding the tongue against excessive or wrongful speech.
- Remaining in one's place of prayer after the morning prayer remembering God until sunrise and performing two rak'ahs, as well as sitting after Asr, noting that early authorities disapproved of worldly conversation between the two sunnah rak'ahs of Fajr and sunrise.
- Striving to combine voluntary fasting, visiting the sick, attending a funeral procession, and feeding the poor in a single day.
- Recognizing daily blessings, including physical well-being, safety, and daily sustenance.
- Promptly drafting a bequest (wasiyyah) regarding property, debts, trusts, and the guardianship of minors.
- Bearing in mind the reality and imminence of death, living with the mindset of a traveler or stranger.
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