Hadith Three

It is narrated from Sumayy, the freedman of Abu Bakr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, from Abū Ṣāliḥ al-Sammān, from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that some poor Emigrants came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, the people of great wealth (1) have taken all the highest ranks and everlasting bliss.”

He asked, “And what is that?”

They answered, “They pray as we pray and fast as we fast, but they give charity while we have nothing to give, and they set slaves free whereas we cannot.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Shall I not teach you something by which you will catch up with those who have outstripped you, outstrip those who come after you, and none will be better than you except one who does what you do?”

They said, “Yes indeed, O Messenger of Allah.”

He said, “After every prescribed prayer say: ‘subḥān Allah’ (Glory be to Allah), ‘Allāhu akbar’ (Allah is the Greatest), and ‘al-ḥamdu lillāh’ (Praise be to Allah) thirty-three times each.”

Abū Ṣāliḥ relates: The poor Emigrants later returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, our wealth-owning brothers (3) have heard what we did and they have done the same.”

He replied, “That is the bounty of Allah; He grants it to whom He wills.”

Sumayy continues: I told some of my family about this ḥadith, and one of them said, “You have made a mistake; rather, he said, ‘Glorify Allah thirty-three times, magnify Allah thirty-three times, and praise Allah thirty-three times.’” So I went back to Abū Ṣāliḥ and mentioned that to him. He said, “Say: ‘Allāhu akbar, subḥān Allah, al-ḥamdu lillāh,’ until the total of all of them reaches thirty-three.” Muslim transmitted this report.

Overall meaning

The purport of this noble ḥadith is that the poor Companions felt outstripped by their affluent brothers, who were able to perform financial acts of worship by fulfilling the rights of their wealth. They therefore admired them and wished they could do the same. They came to the Prophet ﷺ lamenting the reward they were missing, whereupon he guided them to a form of remembrance through which they could gain even more than what they lacked in monetary worship. When they adopted this remembrance, the wealthy heard of it and did likewise. The poor returned again, now concerned that the special virtue given to them—intended to compensate for their inability to perform financial worship—had been shared by the wealthy, who were already ahead of them in that regard while now matching them in devotional remembrance as well.