Du‘aa’s for relief from worry and stress

We have not read the book Abwaab al-Faraj in its entirety, but we
have come across some paragraphs of it which contained innovated prayers
such as “salaat al-faatih”, “as-salaah an-naariyyah”, “as-salaah al-munjiyah”
and others which contain odd phrases and blameworthy exaggeration. We have
discussed some of these prayers previously. Please see the answers to
questions no. 108382, 7505
and 123459 

With regard to du‘aa’s for relief from worry and stress, they include: 

~1~

That which was narrated by Ahmad (3528) from ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ood, who
said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: “No person suffers any anxiety or grief, and says: ‘Allaahumma
innee ‘abduka wa ibn ‘abdika wa ibn amatika, naasiyati bi yadika, maadin
fiyya hukmuka, ‘adlun fiyya qadaa’uka, as’aluka bi kulli ismin huwa laka
sammayta bihi nafsaka aw anzaltahu fi kitaabika aw ‘allamtahu ahadan min
khalqika aw ista’tharta bihi fi ‘ilm il-ghaybi ‘andak an taj’ala al-Qur’aana
rabee’ qalbi wa noor sadri wa jalaa’a huzni wa dhahaaba hammi (O Allah,
I am Your slave, son of Your slave, son of Your female slave, my forelock is
in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed and Your decree over
me is just. I ask You by every Name belonging to You which You named
Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your
creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the unseen with You,
that You make the Qur’an the life of my heart and the light of my breast,
and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety)’ but Allah will
take away his sorrow and grief, and give him in their stead joy.” It was
said: O Messenger of Allah, should we not learn them (these words)? He said:
Yes indeed; whoever hears them should learn them.” 

Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in as-Silsilah as-Saheehah, 199. 

~2~

That which was narrated by Abu Dawood (5090) and Ahmad (27898) from Abu
Bakrah, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) said: “The du’aa’ of the person who is in distress is: ‘Allaahumma
rahmataka arjoo fa laa takilni ilaa nafsi tarfat ‘ayn wa aslih li sha’ni
kullahu laa ilaaha illa anta (O Allaah, for Your mercy I hope, so do not
leave me in charge of my affairs even for the blink of an eye; rectify all
my affairs. There is no god except You)’”

Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 

~3~

That which was narrated by Muslim (2730) from Ibn ‘Abbaas, that the Prophet
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to say, when he
felt distressed:

“La ilaaha ill-Allaah al-‘Azeem ul-Haleem, Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah Rabb
il-‘arsh il-‘azeem, Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah Rabb is-samawaati wa Rabb il-ard
wa Rabb il-‘arsh il-kareem (there is no god except Allah, the
All-Mighty, the Forbearing; there is no god except Allah, the Lord of the
Mighty Throne; there is no god except Allah, Lord of the heavens, Lord of
the earth and Lord of the noble Throne).” 

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Sharh Muslim: This is
a great hadeeth that one should pay attention to and recite a great deal at
times of distress and calamity. At-Tabari said: The early generations used
to offer this supplication and they called it du‘aa’ al-karb (the
supplication of distress). If it is said that this is dhikr (remembrance of
Allah) and there is no supplication in it, that may be answered in two
well-known points: (i) that the supplication may begin with this dhikr, then
one may offer supplication as one wishes; (ii) the response of Sufyaan ibn
‘Uyaynah who said: Do you not know the words of Allah, may He be exalted [in
a hadeeth qudsi]: “Whoever is distracted by remembrance of Me from asking of
Me, I shall give him the best of that which I give to those who ask .” The
poet said: If a man praises you, then that is enough and there is no need
for him for state that he needs help [because his praise of you is a signal
that he needs help.” End quote. 

Please see the essay “Dealing with Worries” on our website. 

And Allah knows best.