A Superior Dhikr

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

This hadeeth has been narrated via a number of isnads (chains of narration)
from the great Sahabi (Companion) Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with
him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
passed by him when he was moving his lips and he said:

“What are you saying, O Abu Umamah?”

He said: I am remembering my Lord.

He said: “Shall I not tell you…” and he quoted the hadeeth (narration).

Al-Shaykh al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

This hadeeth is narrated by Abu Umamah al-Bahili: Suday ibn ‘Ajlan, and
attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and
there are a number of chains of transmission from him.

Then he listed the chains of transmission and said concerning al-Hakim’s
narration of some of its isnads: al-Hakim said: It is saheeh according to
the conditions of the two shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim), and al-Dhahabi
agreed with him, and it is as they said.

See: al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, no. 2578. He also stated that the
hadeeth is saheeh in Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, no. 1575

The hadeeth was classed as hasan (sound) by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar in Nataij
al-Afkar, 1/84. al-Haytham said in al-Majma’ 10/110: It was
narrated by Ahmad and its men are the men of saheeh. It was classed as
saheeh by the editors of Musnad Ahmad in the edition published by
Muasasat al-Risalah, 36/459-460, where they discussed its isnads in detail.

Secondly:

As for what may be understood from the hadeeth, the most important of it is
the virtue of this dhikr (words of remembrance) in particular, as the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that the one who
recites it attains a great reward that is superior to most adhkar.

Hence al-Hafiz Ibn Khuzaymah (may Allah have mercy on him) included it in a
chapter in his Saheeh (1/307) that he entitled Bab Fadl al-Tahmeed
wa’l-Tasbeeh wa’l-Takbeer bi wasf al-‘Adad al-Katheer min khalq Allah aw
ghayri khalqihi. End quote.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Saying: Subhan Allah wa bi hamdih, ‘adada khalqihi, wa rida nafsihi,
wazinata ‘arshihi, wa midaada kalimatihi (Glory and praise be to Allah,
as much as the number of His creation, as much as pleases Him, as much as
the weight of His Throne and as much as the ink of His words) is many times
better than merely saying Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah). What the
one who says “Subhan Allah wa bi hamdih, ‘adada khalqihi…” achieves
of knowing Allah, exalting Him and glorifying Him, when his dhikr is
connected to the huge numbers mentioned, is far greater than what is
achieved by the one who merely says Subhan Allah. This is called multiplied
dhikr and it is greater glorification and praise than regular dhikr, hence
it is better than it.

This is manifested when we understand what this dhikr means:

When the worshipper says Subhan Allah wa bi hamdihi, ‘adada khalqihi,
it is like a statement and explanation of what the Lord deserves of
glorification the number of every created being, what has been and what will
be, for eternity. It includes an affirmation that Allah is above all things,
and glorifying and praising Him this huge number cannot be comprehended by
anyone who counts; the end of it can never be reached. It includes the
person’s aspiration to do such endless tasbeeh (glorification of Allah).
What the person says is not intended to limit the glorification to that
number or level; rather he is saying that what Allah deserves of
glorification is glorification which reaches that number even if it has no
limit, because the creation of Allah will always be ongoing and will never
be limited by a number or figure.

What is meant is that this tasbeeh has reached a level of perfection and
majesty that indicates that it should be better than others and if something
else were weighed against it, it would outweigh it. This is what some of
these words refer to of the perfect qualities of Allah and praising Him by
declaring Him to be above all things, in addition to praising Allah which
implies the following:

i. Affirmation of His attributes of perfection

ii. Loving Him and being pleased with Him.

iii. If one adds to these praises, glorification and exaltation in the
most perfect and sublime manner, the highest number of times, and the
worshipper focuses on this glorification and contemplates its meaning, then
this dhikr will have great virtue and advantages that are not shared by
others. And Allah is the Source of strength.

Al-Manar al-Muneef,
34-38

And Allah knows best.