What is dhikr, and how do I start?

What dhikr means

Dhikr is remembering Allah. Short words of praise, thanks and asking forgiveness, said with the tongue and meant with the heart. The Quran asks for it often and without limit: “O you who have believed, remember Allah with much remembrance and exalt Him morning and afternoon” (Quran 33:41–42).

One lasting gift is water: build a water well and see it finished. Thinking of a charity? Check your charity on DonateOpenly first.

A simple dhikr routine to start with

Start small, then grow. If the full lists feel like a lot, begin with three habits:

• After each of the five prayers, the thirty-three Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah and Allahu akbar, completed to a hundred (Sahih Muslim 597).
• Morning and evening, Sayyid al-Istighfar, the master of all ways of asking forgiveness (Sahih al-Bukhari 6306).
• In bed, the thirty-three, thirty-three and thirty-four taught to Fatimah and Ali (Sahih al-Bukhari 3705).

When those are a habit, add the rest of the morning adhkar one at a time.

On your fingers, or on a screen

Use whatever keeps your mind on the words. The Prophet ﷺ counted his tasbih on his fingers (Sunan Abi Dawud 1502). A screen counter simply helps when the numbers are long, such as a hundred. For the meaning of each phrase, Muslims Around the World has a guide to tasbih and dhikr.