be deprived of it, whereas these tremendous acts of worship are neglected only because Satan makes a person sluggish, discourages him, and turns him away from them. Otherwise, they are—as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said—dearer to a person than everything over which the sun rises. Imagine that you possessed the entire dominion of this world—everything the sun rises and sets upon—and then you died: what would you have gained? Nothing at all. By contrast, “Subhan Allah, al-hamdu lillah, la ilaha illa Allah, and Allahu akbar” are the everlasting righteous deeds. Allah the Exalted says, “Wealth and children are but adornments of the worldly life, whereas the everlasting righteous deeds are better with your Lord in reward and better in hope” ⦗18:46⦘. We should therefore seize the opportunity to perform these righteous acts.

As for the third and fourth hadiths, they concern the one who says, each day, one hundred times: “La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulk wa lahul-hamd, wa huwa ʿala kulli shayʾin qadir.” Such a person obtains five virtues:

1. It is as though he had freed ten slaves.
2. One hundred good deeds are recorded for him.
3. One hundred sins are erased from him.
4. It becomes a protection for him against Satan throughout that day.
5. No one will bring anything better than what he has brought—except someone who does more than he did.

Five benefits, then, await the one who says: “La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulk wa lahul-hamd, wa huwa ʿala kulli shayʾin qadir,” one hundred times. This is easy: while waiting for the dawn prayer, after arriving at the mosque, on your way there, or shortly after Fajr, you can repeat it and reap its reward. It is one of the practices a person should observe consistently, and he should say it at the beginning of the day so that it may serve as a shield against Satan.