Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to teach us the Istikharah (seeking guidance from Allah) in all matters as he would teach us a Surah of the Qur'an. He used to say: "When one of you contemplates entering upon an enterprise, let him perform two Rak'ah of optional prayer other than Fard prayers and then supplicate: "Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi 'ilmika, wa astaqdiruka bi qudratika, wa as-'aluka min fadlikal-'azim. Fainnaka taqdiru wa la aqdiru, wa ta'lamu wa la a'lamu, wa Anta 'allamul- ghuyub. Allahumma in kunta ta'lamu anna hadhal-'amra (and name what you want to do) khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati amri, (or he said) 'ajili amri ajilihi, faqdurhu li wa yassirhu li, thumma barik li fihi. Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadhal 'amra (and name what you want to do) sharrun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati amri, (or he said) wa 'ajili amri wa ajilihi, fasrifhu 'anni, wasrifni 'anhu, waqdur liyal- khaira haithu kana, thumma ardini bihi." (O Allah, I consult You through Your Knowledge, and I seek strength through Your Power, and ask of Your Great Bounty; for You are Capable whereas I am not and, You know and I do not, and You are the Knower of hidden things. O Allah, if You know that this matter (and name it) is good for me in respect of my Deen, my livelihood and the consequences of my affairs, (or he said), the sooner or the later of my affairs then ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. But if You know this matter (and name it) to be bad for my Deen, my livelihood or the consequences of my affairs, (or he said) the sooner or the later of my affairs then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it, and grant me power to do good whatever it may be, and cause me to be contented with it). And let the supplicant specify the object."

[Al-Bukhari]

God’s Messenger used to teach us how to ask God’s guidance about matters just as he used to teach as a sura of the Qur’an, saying: When any of you intends to do something he should pray two rak'as which are not compulsory, then say, “O God, I ask Thy guidance by Thy knowledge, I ask Thee for power by Thy power, and I ask Thee out of Thy great abundance, for Thou hast power and I have none, Thou knowest and I did not, and Thou art the One who is aware of the unseen. O God, if Thou knowest that this matter is good for me regarding my religion, my livelihood, and my future wellbeing (or he said, “my affairs in this world and the next”), ordain it for me and make it easy for me, then bless me in it. But if Thou knowest that this matter is bad for me regarding my religion, my livelihood, and my future wellbeing (or he said, “my affairs in this world and the next”), turn it away from me, turn me away from it, ordain good for me wherever it is, then make me pleased with it.” He said that he should name what he required. Bukhari transmitted it.

When the Prophet (PBUH) visited any ailing member of his family, he would touch the sick person with his right hand and would supplicate: "Allahumma Rabban-nasi, adhhibil-ba'sa, washfi, Antash-Shafi, la shifa'a illa shifa'uka, shifaan la yughadiru saqaman [O Allah! the Rubb of mankind! Remove this disease and cure (him or her)! You are the Great Curer. There is no cure but through You, which leaves behind no disease]."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Ibn `Abbas reported the Prophet as saying, "0 God, strengthen Islam with Abu Jahl b. Hisham, or `Umar b. al-Khattab." In the morning `Umar went to the Prophet and accepted Islam; then prayed openly in the mosque. Ahmad and Tirmidhi transmitted it.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `O Allah, bless my ummah in its early mornings.`

Abu Huraira said that when God's Messenger was brought first fruits he saw him put them on his eyes and lips and then say, "0 God, as Thou hast shown us the first of it, show us the last of it.” He would then give them to any boys who were present. Baihaqi transmitted it in [Kitab] ad-Da'awat al-kabir.

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to supplicate: "O Allah, make the provisions of family of Muhammad (PBUH) bare subsistence."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Amr ibn Shuayb that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, when he asked for rain, "O Allah, give water to Your slaves and Your animals, and spread Your mercy, and give life to Your dead land."

Umm Salama told that she heard God's messenger say to his wives, "Ale who treats you generously after I am gone is the sincere and kindly one. O God, give `Abd ar-Rahman b. `Auf drink from Salsabil in paradise." Ahmad transmitted it.

He said that God’s messenger used to say, "O God, I seek refuge in Thee from hunger, for it is an evil bedfellow; and I seek refuge in Thee from treachery, for it is an evil hidden trait." 1 1. Literally, ‘lining.’ Abu Dawud, Nasa’i and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Umm Salama said that the Prophet used to say after the dawn prayer, “O God, I ask Thee for beneficial knowledge, acceptable action, and good provision.” Ahmad, Ibn Majah and Baihaqi, in [Kitab] ad- Da'awat al-kabir, transmitted it.

Thauban said that when God’s Messenger finished his prayer he asked forgiveness three times and said, “O God, Thou art Peace, and peace comes from Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Possessor of glory and honour.” Muslim transmitted it.

When the Prophet (saws) uttered salutation at the end of the prayer, he used to say: "O Allah, forgive me my former and latter sins, what I have kept secret and what I have done openly, and what I have done extravagance; and what You know better than I do. You are the Advancer, the Delayer, there is no god but You."

The Prophet (saws) as saying: There are three to whom Allah will not speak and at whom He will not look on the Day of Resurrection, and whom He will not declare pure, and they will have a painful punishment. I asked: Who are they, Messenger of Allah, they are losers and disappointed ? He repeated it three times. I asked: Who are they. Messenger of Allah, they are losers and disappointed ? He replied: The one who wears a trailing robe, the one who takes account of what he gives, and the one who produces a ready sale of a commodity by false swearing.

I was sitting with the Messenger of Allah (saws) and a man was offering prayer. He then made supplication: O Allah, I ask Thee by virtue of the fact that praise is due to Thee, there is no deity but Thou, Who showest favour and beneficence, the Originator of the Heavens and the earth, O Lord of Majesty and Splendour, O Living One, O Eternal One.

The Prophet (saws) then said: He has supplicated Allah using His Greatest Name, when supplicated by this name, He answers, and when asked by this name He gives.

On his father's authority, said that his grandfather said: We came down with the Messenger of Allah (saws) from a turning of a valley. He turned his attention to me and I was wearing a garment dyed with a reddish yellow dye. He asked: What is this garment over you? I recognised what he disliked. I then came to my family who were burning their oven. I threw it (the garment) in it and came to him the next day. He asked: Abdullah, what have you done with the garment? I informed him about it. He said: Why did you not give it to one of your family to wear, for there is no harm in it for women.

Al-Faji' came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and asked: Is not dead meat lawful for us? He said: What is your food? We said: Some food in the evening and some in the morning. AbuNu'aym said: Uqbah explained it to me saying: a cup (of milk) in the morning and a cup in the evening; this does not satisfy the hunger. So made the carrion lawful for them in this condition.

Abu Dawud said: Ghabuq is a drink in the evening and Sabuh is a drink in the morning.

There are some expressions which a man utters three times when he gets up from an assembly he will be forgiven for what happened in the assembly; and no one utters them in an assembly held for a noble cause or for remembrance of Allah but that is stamped with them just as a document is stamped with a signet-ring. These expressions are: Glory be to Thee, O Allah, and I begin with praise of Thee, there is no god but thou; I ask Thy pardon, and return to Thee in repentance.

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone says in the morning or in the evening: "O Allah! Thou art my Lord; there is no god but Thee, Thou hast created me, and I am Thy servant and hold to Thy covenant and promise as much as I can; I seek refuge in Thee from the evil of what I have done: I acknowledge Thy favour to me, and I acknowledge my sin; pardon me, for none but Thee pardons sins, and dies during the daytime or during the night." he will go to Paradise.

Abu Huraira told of a man who said, “Messenger of God, I intend to make a journey, so give me an injunction.” He told him to maintain fear of God and say “God is most great” on every rising ground, and when the man turned away he said, “O God, make the distance short for him and make the journey easy for him.” Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Urwah ibn az-Zubayr reported on the authority of a woman from Banu an-Najjar. She said: My house was the loftiest of all the houses around the mosque (of the Prophet at Medina). Bilal used to make a call to the morning prayer from it. He would come there before the break of dawn and wait for it. When he saw it, he would yawn and say: O Allah, I praise you and seek Your assistance for the Quraysh so that they might establish Thine religion. He then would make the call to prayer.

She (the narrator) said: By Allah, I do not know whether he ever left saying these words on any night.

My daughter; she is weaned or about to wean. Rafi' said: My daughter. The Prophet (saws) said to him: Be seated on a side. And he said to her: Be seated on a side. He then seated the girl between them, and said to them: Call her. The girl inclined to her mother. The Prophet (saws) said: O Allah! guide her. The daughter then inclined to her father, and he took her.

The people complained to the Messenger of Allah (saws) of the lack of rain, so he gave an order for a pulpit. It was then set up for him in the place of prayer. He fixed a day for the people on which they should come out.

Aisha said: The Messenger of Allah (saws), when the rim of the sun appeared, sat down on the pulpit, and having pronounced the greatness of Allah and expressed His praise, he said: You have complained of drought in your homes, and of the delay in receiving rain at the beginning of its season. Allah has ordered you to supplicate Him has and promised that He will answer your prayer.

Then he said: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Master of the Day of Judgment. There is no god but Allah Who does what He wishes. O Allah, Thou art Allah, there is no deity but Thou, the Rich, while we are the poor. Send down the rain upon us and make what Thou sendest down a strength and satisfaction for a time.

He then raised his hands, and kept raising them till the whiteness under his armpits was visible. He then turned his back to the people and inverted or turned round his cloak while keeping his hands aloft. He then faced the people, descended and prayed two rak'ahs.

Allah then produced a cloud, and the storm of thunder and lightning came on. Then the rain fell by Allah's permission, and before he reached his mosque streams were flowing. When he saw the speed with which the people were seeking shelter, he (saws) laughed till his back teeth were visible.

Then he said: I testify that Allah is Omnipotent and that I am Allah's servant and apostle.

Abu Dawud said: This is a ghraib (rate) tradition, but its chain is sound. The people of Medina recite "maliki" (instead of maaliki) yawm al-din" (the master of the Day of Judgement). But this tradition (in which the word maalik occurs) is an evidence for them.

The Prophet (PBUH) supplicated in course of funeral prayer: "Allahumma Anta Rabbuha, wa Anta khalaqtaha, wa Anta hadaytaha lil-Islam, wa Anta qabadta ruhaha, wa Anta a'lamu bisirriha wa 'alaniyyatiha, ji'naka shufa'a'a lahu [if the dead person is a man, or laha if the dead person is a woman], faghfir lahu [or laha, if it is a woman] (O Allah, You are its Rubb; You created it; You guided it to Islam; You have taken its life back and You know best its insight and outer condition. We have come as intercessors, so forgive him)."

[Abu Dawud].

`Leave her until she gives birth, then flog her.”

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to supplicate thus: "Allahumma inni a'udhu bika min zawali ni'matika, wa tahawwuli 'afiyatika, wa fuja'ati niqmatika, wa jami'i sakhatika (O Allah! I seek refuge in You against the declining of Your Favours, passing of safety, the suddenness of Your punishment and all that which displeases You)."

[Muslim].

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to make dua saying, "O Allah, I askYou for good actions and for leaving what is disapproved of and for love of the poor. And if You wish to try people, then bring me to You without being tried."

Allahumma inniy asa'luka fala'l-khayrati, wa tarqa'l-munqarati, wa hubba'l-masakin, wa idha aradta fi'n-nasi fitnatan fa'qbithni ilayka ghayra maftun.

Ibn ‘Umar told that when the Prophet heard the sound of thunder and of thunderbolts he said, "O God, do not kill us with Thine anger and do not destroy us with Thy punishment, but preserve us before that happens." Ahmad and Tirmidhi transmitted it, the latter saying that this is a gharib tradition.

With reference to God’s words, “Except for slight faults ”* Ibn ‘Abbas reported God's messenger as saying, “If Thou forgivest, O God, Thou wilt forgive much sin, for which of Thy servants has not committed slight faults?” *Qur'an, liii, 32. Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan sahih gharib tradition.

Talha b. ‘Ubaidallah told that when the Prophet saw the new moon he said, “O God, make the new moon rise on us with security, faith, safety and Islam. My Lord and your Lord is God.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan gharib tradition.

Abu Bakra reported God’s messenger as saying that the supplications to be used by one who is distressed are, “O God, Thy mercy is what I hope for. Do not abandon me to myself for an instant, but put all my affairs in good order for me. There is no god but Thou.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Abu Malik al-Ashja‘i told on his father’s authority that when a man accepted Islam the Prophet instructed him in the prayer, then commanded him to make supplication with these words, “O God, forgive me, show mercy to me, guide me, grant me health, and grant me provision.” Muslim transmitted it.

‘A’isha said that when God’s Messenger uttered the salutation he sat no longer than it took to say, “O God, Thou art Peace, and peace comes from Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Possessor of glory and honour.” Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri told that when God’s Messenger saw a tendency among his companions to go to the back he said to them, “Come forward and follow my lead, and let those who come after you follow your lead. People will continue to keep to the back till God will put them at the back.”* * This has been explained as referring to their being denied God’s grace, or their lacking rank or knowledge. But cf. the tradition from 'A’isha at the end of Section III. Muslim transmitted it.

‘A’isha told that the Prophet used to divide his time among his wives equally and say, “O God, this is my division concerning what I possess, so do not blame me concerning what Thou possessest and I do not.” Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it.

`O Allah, fill their houses and graves with fire as they distracted us from the middle prayer until the sunset.`

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said on the day of al-Khandaq: `What is wrong with them? May Allah fill their houses and graves with fire as they distracted us from the middle prayer until the sun set.”

Ibn ‘Umar said that he heard God’s messenger say when with his hair matted he raised his voice in the talbiya, “Labbaik, O God, labbaik labbaik; Thou hast no partner; labbaik; praise and grace are Thine, and the dominion; Thou hast no partner,” saying nothing more than these words. Bukhari and Muslim.

Rifa'a az-Zurqi said, "In the Battle of Uhud when the idolaters retreated, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Form straight ranks so that I can praise my Almighty Lord.' They formed in ranks behind him. He said, 'O Allah, all praise is due to You. O Allah, none can contract what You expand nor bring near what you put far away. None can put far away what You bring near. None can give what You withhold nor withhold what You give. O Allah, expand to us some of Your blessings, mercy and favour and give us provision! O Allah, I ask You for the abiding blessing which is neither changed nor removed. O Allah, I ask You for blessing on the Day of Utter Poverty and security on the Day of Fear. O Allah, I seek refuge with You from the evil of what You give us. O Allah, make us love belief and adorn our hearts with it. Make us hate disbelief, deviance and rebellion. Place us among the rightly-guided. O Allah, make us die Muslims and make us live as Muslims and join us to the rightly, acting, who are neither disappointed nor afflicted. O Allah, fight the unbelievers who bar your path and who deny Your Messengers. Place You abasement and punishment over them. O Allah, fight the unbelievers who were given the Book, O Lord of Truth!'"

The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "O Messenger of Allah! How should we supplicate for you?" He (PBUH) replied, "Say: 'Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala azwajihi wa dhurriyyatihi, kama sallaita 'ala Ibrahima; wa barik 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala azwajihi wa dhurriyyatihi, kama barakta 'ala Ibrahima, innaka Hamidum-Majid (O Allah sent Your Salat (O Allah, exalt the mention of Muhammad and his wives and offspring as You exalted the mention of the family of Ibrahim, and bless Muhammad and the wives and the offspring of Muhammad as you blessed the family of Ibrahim. You are the Praised, the Glorious'."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

"We returned with the Messenger of Allah from his Hajj that he had performed, and we stopped at some point on the road. He commanded that prayer should be performed in congregation, then he took the hand of 'Ali and said: 'Am I not dearer to the believers than their own selves?' They said: 'Yes indeed.' He said: 'Am I not dearer to every believer than his own self?' They said: 'Yes indeed.' He said: 'This man is the friend of those whose master I am.' O Allah, take as friends those who take him as a friend, and take as enemies those who take him as an enemy.'"

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Allah, the Exalted, has said: 'For those who love one another for the sake of My Glory, there will be seats of light (on the Day of Resurrection), and they will be envied by the Prophets and martyrs".

[At- Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan Sahih].

Ibn az-Zubair told that a woman client of theirs took az-Zubair’s daughter to ‘Umar b. al-Khattab wearing bells on her leg. ‘Umar cut them off and said he had heard God’s messenger say, “There is a devil along with each bell.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Hudhaifa told that he heard God’s messenger say, “Do not wear silk or brocade, do not drink from gold and silver vessels, and do not eat from gold and silver dishes, for others have them in this world, but you will have them in the next.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Hudhaifa said that when the Prophet wanted to go to sleep he placed his hand under his head and said, "O God, guard me from thy punishment on the day when Thou gatherest Thy servants," or "raisest up Thy servants." Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Ahmad gave al-Bara’ as his authority.

‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr reported God’s messenger as saying, "When a man comes to visit an invalid he should say, ‘O God, cure Thy servant who may then wreak havoc on an enemy for Thy sake, or walk at a funeral for Thy sake’.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Abu Huraira told that at-Tufail b. Amr ad-Dausi came to God's messenger and said, "Daus have perished; they have disobeyed and refused, so supplicate God to punish them." The people thought he would do so, but he said, "0 God, give Daus guidance and bring them[*]." *Mirqat 5:517, explains this as meaning either to bring them as emigrants to Medina or to bring them into obedience to Islam. (Bukhari and Muslim.)