Salaams. Thank you again for the wonderful
work you are doing to help the Muslim Ummah. May Allah (SWT) bestow His blessings on you.
My question is of differentiating between what is Zikhr & waht is
Bidha. My daily drive to work take me approx. 2hrs and to make good use of this time I
Listen to the Quran (Arabic with English Translation) on the way to work and on the way
home, I try to say some duas I learnt from a books that were given to me. These book
published in India/Pakistan suggest that I should recite a particular dua for 100 times
and another dua for 500 times etc…. All the duas in these books have the number of times
I should recite them. I have researched many authentic hadiths and cannot find this
reciting by certain amount. As a result am I committing Bidha if I recite these duas by
the amounts suggested in these books. If so, is there any authentic books you could
recommend where I can learne and recite daily duas for Zikhr purposes.
Jazak Allah Khair.

Praise be to Allaah.

Some saheeh reports from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) describe du’aa’s that can be recited one hundred times during the day
and night, such as that reported by Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him), who
said that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said,
“Whoever says ‘Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu laa shareeka lah,
lahu’l-mulk wa lahu’l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in Qadeer
(There is no god but Allaah Alone, with no partner or associate; His is the Dominion and
His is the Praise, and He is Able to do all things), one hundred times in a day, it will
be equivalent (in reward) to freeing ten slaves, and a hundred hasanaat (good deeds) will
be recorded for him, and one hundred sayi’aat (bad deeds) will be erased from his
record; it will be a protection for him from the Shaytaan all that day until evening
comes, and nobody can do any better than that except one who does more than that.” (Reported
by al-Bukhaari, 3050).

Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) also
reported that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Whoever says ‘Subhaan Allaah wa bi hamdih (Glory and praise be to
Allaah)’ one hundred times in a day, his sins will be wiped out even if they are like
the foam of the sea.’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 5936).

With regard to trustworthy and reliable books of
du’aa’s and dhikr, this is a topic which has been covered in many books, ancient
and modern, whether the books deal with this topic on its own or it is included with other
material. Some examples are:


‘Amal al-Yawm wa al-Laylah by al-Nisaa’i, edited by Faarooq
Hamaadah


al-Adhkaar by Imaam al-Nawawi, edited by ‘Abd al-Qaadir
al-Arna’oot


al-Saheeh al-Musnad min Adhkaar al-Yawm wa’l-Laylah, published
by Daar Ibn ‘Affaan, al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia


Saheeh al-Kalim al-Tayyib by al-Albaani, al-Maktab al-Islami,
Beirut, Lebanon


Husn al-Muslim by al-Qahtaani, published by Mu’sasat
al-Juraysi, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

[Translater’s Note: this book is available in English under the
title: Fortification of the Muslim through Remembrance and Supplication from the
Qur’aan and the Sunnah, by Sa’eed ibn ‘Ali ibn Wahf al-Qahtaani]

And Allaah is the Source of strength