What to Say After Salah
After completing your tasleem (turning right then left), remain seated. The Prophet ﷺ taught a specific set of adhkar (remembrances) to recite after every fard prayer. Doing them takes only a few minutes and carries enormous reward.
This page covers what to say after every fard prayer.
After every fard prayer
1. Istighfar, three times
أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ
Astaghfirullah.
I seek forgiveness from Allah.
2. The opening adhkar
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ السَّلَامُ، وَمِنْكَ السَّلَامُ، تَبَارَكْتَ يَا ذَا الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ
Allahumma anta s-salam, wa minka s-salam, tabarakta ya dha l-jalali wa l-ikram.
O Allah, You are Peace, and from You is peace. Blessed are You, O Possessor of Majesty and Honor.
3. Tahlil and praise
لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ، وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ. اللَّهُمَّ لَا مَانِعَ لِمَا أَعْطَيْتَ، وَلَا مُعْطِيَ لِمَا مَنَعْتَ، وَلَا يَنْفَعُ ذَا الْجَدِّ مِنْكَ الْجَدُّ
La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu l-mulk wa lahu l-hamd, wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir. Allahumma la mani'a lima a'tayt, wa la mu'tiya lima mana't, wa la yanfa'u dha l-jaddi minka l-jadd.
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. O Allah, none can withhold what You give, and none can give what You withhold; and the wealth of the wealthy cannot benefit him before You.
4. The tasbih, 33 + 33 + 33 + one
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Whoever says SubhanAllah after each prayer 33 times, Alhamdulillah 33 times, and Allahu Akbar 33 times, that is 99, and then completes the hundred with ‘La ilaha illa Allah, wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu l-mulk wa lahu l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadir’, his sins will be forgiven even if they are like the foam of the sea.”
Sahih Muslim
So the count is:
سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ
SubhanAllah
Glory be to Allah, said 33 times
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ
Alhamdulillah
All praise belongs to Allah, said 33 times
اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ
Allahu Akbar
Allah is the Greatest, said 33 times
Then, to complete the hundred:
لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ، وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu l-mulk wa lahu l-hamd, wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir.
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.
In other authentic narrations the count is 33 / 33 / 34 for Allahu Akbar (instead of 33 + a separate closing tahlil). Both are from the Sunnah; pick either.
How to count: the Prophet ﷺ used the joints of his right hand, and he said the fingers will be asked about this on the Day of Judgement. Using a sebha (tasbih beads) is permitted, but counting on the fingers is the closer-to-Sunnah method.
5. Ayat al-Kursi
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever recites Ayat al-Kursi after every fard prayer, nothing prevents him from entering Paradise except death.” (Sunan al-Nasa’i, graded sahih by al-Albani)
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ
Allahu la ilaha illa Huwa, al-Hayyu l-Qayyum. La ta'khudhuhu sinatun wa la nawm. Lahu ma fi s-samawati wa ma fi l-ard. Man dha lladhi yashfa'u 'indahu illa bi-idhnih. Ya'lamu ma bayna aydihim wa ma khalfahum. Wa la yuhituna bi-shay'in min 'ilmihi illa bima sha'. Wasi'a kursiyyuhu s-samawati wa l-ard, wa la ya'uduhu hifzuhuma, wa huwa l-'Aliyyu l-'Azim.
Allah, there is no god but He, the Living, the Sustainer of all. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is there that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them. And they cannot encompass anything of His knowledge except what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation does not tire Him. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.
6. The three Quls
After every fard prayer, recite the last three surahs of the Qur’an, Surat al-Ikhlas (112), Surat al-Falaq (113), and Surat an-Nas (114). The Prophet ﷺ commanded this in the hadith of ‘Uqba ibn ‘Amir (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, sahih).
After Fajr and Maghrib, recite each one three times instead of once. After Dhuhr, Asr, and Isha, once each.
The full text of these three surahs is on the Short Surahs reference page.
7. Your own personal du’a
After the Sunnah adhkar above, raise your hands and ask Allah for whatever you need, in any language. The moment right after fard salah is one of the times du’a is most likely to be accepted.
Quick summary
| # | Said | When | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Astaghfirullah | Every fard | × 3 |
| 2 | Allahumma anta s-salam… | Every fard | × 1 |
| 3 | La ilaha illa Allah… (with Allahumma la mani’a) | Every fard | × 1 |
| 4 | SubhanAllah / Alhamdulillah / Allahu Akbar | Every fard | × 33 each, then 1 closing tahlil |
| 5 | Ayat al-Kursi | Every fard | × 1 |
| 6 | Three Quls (Ikhlas, Falaq, Nas) | Every fard | × 1 (× 3 after Fajr and Maghrib) |
| 7 | Personal du’a | Every fard | as much as you wish |
A practical note
These take about 5–10 minutes if done carefully. Don’t rush, they are the conclusion of the prayer, not an interruption to your day.
When praying in congregation, stay seated after the imam’s tasleem and do these adhkar on your own. There is no group loud recitation of these from the Sunnah, group loud dhikr after salah is a bidʿah. Each person recites quietly to themselves.
Morning and evening adhkar
In addition to the above, the Prophet ﷺ taught specific morning adhkar to recite after Fajr (and through the morning) and specific evening adhkar to recite after Asr (and through to Maghrib). These are a longer collection of remembrances, they are not part of the immediate post-salah adhkar above but are recited in the same general time window.
A dedicated morning-and-evening-adhkar page is coming.