the Hereafter, hasten it for me in this world.”

Another example is what he, peace and blessings be upon him, said to those who cried out upon someone’s death:

“Pray only for good for yourselves, for the angels say ‘Amen’ to what you say.”

Allah Most High says:

“Were Allah to hasten evil for people as they seek to hasten good, their appointed term would already have come to an end.”

And He Most High says:

“Man prays for evil as he prays for good, and man is ever hasty.”

This is a broad subject, and our purpose here is not to cover it exhaustively. We have merely drawn attention to the kinds of supplication that are disliked. Our purpose here is to show that the revealed law recommends only those forms of remembrance that constitute complete, meaningful statements, such as:

“There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah”; “Allah is the Greatest”; “Glory be to Allah, and all praise belongs to Allah”; and “There is no power nor strength except through Allah.”

Other examples include:

“Blessed is the name of your Lord”; “Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion”; “Whatever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah”; and “Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion.”

As for a name uttered on its own, whether explicitly, as in “Allah, Allah,” or as a pronoun, as in “He, He,” this is not prescribed in either the Book or the Sunnah. Nor is it reported from any of the early generations of the Muslim community or from its leading figures who are followed as exemplars. Only some misguided people of later generations have taken to repeating it.

Sometimes, in doing so, they imitate a shaykh overwhelmed by his spiritual state, as is related of al-Shiblī, who used to say:

“Allah, Allah.”

He was asked:

“Why do you not say, ‘There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah’?”