the religion and a special place in Muslims’ hearts. Books of remembrance, in all their variety, receive immense interest and exceptional attention among them. The works that scholars, past and present, have written on remembrance and supplication are too numerous to count. Some authors narrate reports with their chains of transmission, while others omit them; some write at length and in extensive detail, while others produce concise, intermediate, or carefully refined works. They also vary in the texts they compile, the evidence they present, their methods of arrangement and classification, and the attention they devote to explanation and clarification, among other matters.

This is to say nothing of the many works that the followers of caprice have written on this subject, containing excess, deviation, and remoteness from the truth because their authors failed to adhere to the sunnah and turned away from the transmitted teachings.

The Quran, the sunnah, and the reports of the early Muslims have established which forms of remembering and supplicating Allah are prescribed and recommended, just as they have for all other acts of worship. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—explained to his nation what they should say by way of remembrance and supplication in the morning and evening; during and after the prayers; upon entering the mosque; before sleeping, upon waking, and when startled in one’s sleep; when eating and afterward; when mounting a riding animal; when travelling; upon seeing something one likes or dislikes; when calamity strikes; when afflicted by worry or sorrow; and in the Muslim’s many other circumstances and times.

He—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—also explained the ranks, varieties, conditions, and proper manners of remembrances and supplications in the fullest and most complete manner. In this matter, as in every sphere of religion, he left his nation upon a radiant highway and a clearly marked path from which none strays