Al-Musabbihat

Al-Musabbihat (Arabic: الْمُسَبِّحَاتِ) are those suras of the Quran that begin with statements of Allah's glorification: 'Subhana', 'Sabbaha', and 'Yusabbihu'. According to Islamic scholar Muhammad Shafi Deobandi (1897–1976) the collective name of the series Al-Musabbihat refers to the following five or seven Surahs:

• Al-Hadid[1]
• Al-Hashr[2]
• As-Saff
• Al-Jumua and
• At-Taghabun[3]

Sometime it also includes:

• Al-Isra
• Al-Ala

Among the seven Surahs, the first three, namely Al-Hadid, Al-Hashr and As-Saff commence with the past perfect tense 'sabbaha' "purity has been proclaimed" whilst the last two, namely Al-Jumu'ah and At-Taghabun commence with the imperfect tense yusabbihu [purity is proclaimed]. This implies that the purity of Allah should be declared at all times, the past, the present and the future.[4]

It is recorded in hadith[5] that Prophet Muhammad used to recite Al-Musabbihat before he went to sleep and said: "Indeed there is an Ayah in them that is better than one thousand Ayat."[6] Ibn Kathir commented that this verse referred to is "Huwal awwallu wal aakhiru wazzaahiru wal baatinu wahuwa bi-kulli shai-in aleem." (Al-Hadid 57:3).