How to Perform Swalah al-‘Utaqa’ fi Shawwal

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Swalah al-‘utaqa’ fi Shawwal is the sunnah al-muthlaq for those who want to be emancipated from the Fire of Hell in Shawwal.  There is a hadits on the authority of Sayyidina Anas ibn Malik (r.a.), where Rasulullah (s.a.w.) once said, “If someone performs eight raka’at in Shawwal, either during the night or during the day - reciting in each rak’ah the opening surah of the Book and then ‘Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad’ fifteen times - and if, when he has finished performing his swalah, he glorifies Allah (s.w.t.) seventy times, and invokes Allah’s (s.w.t.) Blessing upon the Prophet seventy times - by Him Who Sent me as a Prophet Bearing the Truth, no servant will perform this swalah, without Allah (s.w.t.) Causing the fountains of wisdom to well up in his heart, and causing his tongue to speak with wisdom, and showing him both the sickness of this world and the cure for that sickness. 

By Him Who Sent me as a Prophet bearing the Truth, if someone performs this swalah, exactly as I have just described it, that person will not raise his head from his final prostration until Allah (s.w.t.) has Granted him Forgiveness, and if he dies, he will die as a martyr to whom Forgiveness has been Granted.  Nor will any servant perform this ritual prayer swalah, in the course of a journey, without Allah (s.w.t.) Making it smooth and easy for him to travel and arrive at his intended destination.  If he is burdened with debt, Allah will Settle his debt.  If he is needy, Allah (s.w.t.) will Satisfy his needs.  By Him Who Sent me as a Prophet bearing the Truth, no servant will perform this swalah, without Allah (s.w.t.) Granting him - for every letter and every verse - a makhrafah in the Garden of Paradise.” 

Then someone asked, “And what is this makhrafah, O Messenger of Allah?”  The Prophet (s.a.w.) explained it to him.  Makhrafah is applied to the orchards in the Garden of Paradise, through which the rider may travel for a hundred years without passing beyond the shade of just one of the trees that grow there. 

It is performed in this manner:  each rak’ah up to 8 raka’at, recite Surah al-Fatihah once, Surah al-Ikhlasw fifteen times.  Continue the rest of the swalah as per normal.  After the cycle of 8 raka’at, recite the following: 

Subhanallah x 70 

Any Swalawat x 70 

This is the isnad for the hadits, as provided by Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu Muhammad ibn Abu Swalih ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (q.s.).  This report was conveyed to us by Shaykh Abu Naswr Muhammad ibn al-Banna’ (q.s.), on the authority of his father, Shaykh Abu ‘Ali ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Abdullah ibn al-Banna’ (q.s.), who cited the following chain of transmission: Shaykh Abu ‘Abdullah al-Husayn ibn ‘Umar al-‘Allaf (r.a.), from Shaykh Abu al-Qasim al-Qadhi (r.a.), from Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Swiddiq (r.a.), from Shaykh Ya’qub ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman (r.a.), from Shaykh Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ja’far al-Marwazi (r.a.), from Shaykh ‘Ali ibn Ma’ruf (r.a.), from Shaykh Muhammad ibn Mahmud (r.a.), from Shaykh Yahya ibn Shubayb Hamid (r.a.), from Sayyidina Anas ibn Malik (r.a.), from the Prophet (s.a.w.).