How do you use a tasbeh/misbaha?

Salaam alykum,

It’s not a stupid question, don’t stress.

There are various Hadith from Tirmidhi, Muslim, and others that explain how we should do this. This Hadith, from Tirmidhi, reports the following:

“Glorify Allah at the end of every prayer thirty-three times, and praise him thirty-three times, and extol His greatness thirty-four times.”

Which is to say “SubhanAllah” thirty-three times, then “Alhamdulilah” thirty-three times, and then “Allahu Akbar” thirty-four times.

Another Hadith, this time found in the collection of Imam Muslim, reports that The Prophet said the following:

“If anyone extols God after every prayer thirty-three times, and praises God thirty-three times, and declares His Greatness thirty-three times, ninety-nine times in all, and says to complete a hundred:” There is no god but God, having no partner with Him, to Him belongs sovereignty and to Him is praise due, and He is Potent over everything,“ his sins will be forgiven even if these are as abundant as the foam of the sea.”

That’s why there are sibhas/tasbihs that have 99 beads, to aid in this, although it is considered preferred that one preforms this with their fingers, as The Prophet did, but when I’m not doing this after praying I utilize a sibha, and I always carry one with me.

I hope this answered your question, insha Allah.

I pray this reaches you and your families in the best of health and Iman, insha Allah.