66 — The Harmful Effects of Newly Invented Supplications

The supplications prescribed by Islam and the remembrances transmitted from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, are distinguished by the perfection of both their wording and meaning. Their words and expressions are concise, while their meanings and implications are vast and profound. They encompass every good, including the loftiest aims, the greatest requests, and abundant blessings. It is therefore good for every Muslim—indeed, obligatory upon him—to strive, to the best of his ability, to learn them, memorize them, and worship Allah through them. He should leave aside the invented litanies and devotional collections devised by certain misguided shaykhs and leaders of falsehood, through which they have diverted many ordinary and unlearned Muslims from the transmitted supplications and prescribed remembrances.

Whoever reflects upon the condition of some Muslims—especially those affiliated with certain Sufi orders—will find that they have become preoccupied with these invented remembrances and innovated supplications. They recite them night and day, morning and evening, thereby neglecting the Book of Allah Most High and turning away from the supplications transmitted from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Moreover, each of these groups has its own particular litanies, which its members recite in a particular manner and according to a prescribed pattern. Thus, every Sufi order has its own devotional collections and litanies, and “each faction rejoices in what it has.” 1 Each of them believes that its own litanies are superior to those of the other Sufi orders.