Guide · Practice

Morning & evening adhkar: the complete guide.

The Prophet ﷺ taught specific phrases to recite at the start and close of every day. For centuries Muslims have called these the morning and evening adhkar (also spelled azkaar) — a daily fortress of remembrance. This guide gathers the core ones, in full, with a routine you can actually keep.

When to recite them

The traditional windows are:

• Morning adhkar: from after fajr until sunrise — and, by extension, anytime in the early morning if you've missed the prime window.
• Evening adhkar: from after asr until maghrib — and, more broadly, before sleep if asr-to-maghrib has passed.

The exact windows are a matter of light scholarly difference; what matters most is that you do them every day. Consistency beats timing.

The core morning & evening adhkar

What follows is a working core list — the adhkar that recur most consistently in Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and the well-known compilation Hisn al-Muslim by Sa'id al-Qahtani. If you do nothing else but these, you've covered the most essential ground.

1. Ayat al-Kursi

Recite Ayat al-Kursi (Quran 2:255) once. The hadith reports that whoever recites it in the morning is protected from jinn until evening, and whoever recites it in the evening is protected until morning. (Sunnah, narrated in al-Hakim and graded sahih.)

2. Surah al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq, an-Nas — three times each

The "three Quls." Recite each surah three times, morning and evening. The Prophet ﷺ said this suffices a person from everything.

3. The master phrase of seeking forgiveness — once

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ، وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ، أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ، أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ، وَأَبُوءُ بِذَنْبِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ "O Allah, You are my Lord. There is no god but You. You created me and I am Your servant. I keep Your covenant and my pledge to You as best I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your blessing upon me and I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me — for none forgives sins except You." — Sayyid al-Istighfar, Sahih al-Bukhari

The hadith says: whoever recites this with conviction in the morning and dies that day, enters Paradise — and the same applies to the evening.

4. SubhanAllah wa bihamdihi — 100 times

سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ "Glory be to Allah, and praise is His." — Sahih Muslim

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever says this 100 times in a day, his sins are wiped away, even if they are like the foam of the sea."

5. The phrase that equals freeing 10 slaves — 10 times

لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ، وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ "There is no god but Allah, alone with no partner. To Him belongs the dominion and to Him belongs all praise, and He is over all things capable." — Sahih al-Bukhari

Recited 10 times in the morning. The reported reward is equivalent to freeing 10 slaves, 100 good deeds recorded, 100 sins erased, and protection from Shaytan until evening.

6. Three protective phrases — three times each

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي لَا يَضُرُّ مَعَ اسْمِهِ شَيْءٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي السَّمَاءِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ "In the name of Allah with whose name nothing on earth or in the heaven can cause harm, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing." — Sunan Abi Dawud, Tirmidhi

The Prophet ﷺ said: whoever recites this three times morning and evening, nothing will harm them.

7. Contentment with Allah, Islam and Muhammad ﷺ — three times

رَضِيتُ بِاللَّهِ رَبًّا، وَبِالْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا، وَبِمُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ نَبِيًّا "I am pleased with Allah as my Lord, with Islam as my religion, and with Muhammad ﷺ as my Prophet." — Sunan Abi Dawud

It is the right of the one who says this three times each morning and evening that Allah will please them on the Day of Judgement.

A realistic 7-minute routine

The full list of morning adhkar in Hisn al-Muslim runs to 25+ items. That's beautiful — and for most of us, not where to start.

Here's a slim version built from the seven above. Done morning and evening, it takes 6–8 minutes:

How to build the habit

1. Stack it onto something you already do

Right after fajr salah, before you get up from your seat. Right after asr, before you reach for your phone. The hardest part is starting; pairing it with a thing you already do removes the decision.

2. Use a counter — but don't worship the counter

A counter (beads or app) frees your attention to be on the meaning, not the math. We built Zikar so you can pick the dhikr, hit the screen, and forget about counting. But the counter is the helper, not the act.

3. Don't let perfection break the streak

Missed the morning window? Do them at noon. Said only three of the seven? You did three more than zero. The Prophet ﷺ told us to love the deeds most that are constant, even if few.

Further reading

• What is dhikr? A gentle beginner's guide
• Seven things that change when dhikr becomes daily