MERITS OF RECITING AYAH KURSI (2: 255), AYAH AL SHAHADAH, AYAH AL MULK AFTER EVERY NAMAZ

Eighth: Through an authenticated (i.e. muwaththaq) chain of authority, Imam al-Sadiq(a.s.) is reported to have said:

When the following verses (of the Holy Qur’an) were ordered by Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, to descend to the earth, they held fast to the Divine Throne and said, “O Lord! Where are ordering us to descend? Is it to the people of evildoings and sins?” Therefore, Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, revealed to them, saying, “Descend! By My Almightiness and Majesty I take this oath; no one of Muhammad’s family and their adherents (Shi’ah) reads you but that I shall most certainly look at him with my Hidden Eye seventy times every day. In each look, I settle seventy of his needs and accept him despite of his acts of disobedience (to Me).”

According to another form of the same tradition, Almighty Allah has said, “Whoever recites these verses immediately after each prayer, I will allow him to dwell under the shed of My Sacredness despite of his acts of disobedience to Me. If I do not do that, I will settle seventy of his needs every day, the least of which is that I forgive his sins. If I do not do that either, I will protect him from Satan and from every enemy of his, I will grant him victory against these enemies, and nothing will prevent him from entering Paradise except death.”

These verses are the following:

(1) Surah al-Faatehah.

(2) Ayah al-Kursi along with the two verses (2:255-257)

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

Allah is He besides Whom there is no god,

the Ever-living, the Self-subsisting.

Slumber does not overtake Him nor sleep.

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His.

Who is he that can intercede with Him but by His permission?

He knows what is before them and what is behind them,

and they cannot comprehend anything out of His knowledge except what He pleases.

His knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth,

and the preservation of them both tires Him not,

and He is the Most High, the Great.

There is no compulsion in religion;

truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error.

Therefore, whoever disbelieves in the false deity and believes in Allah,

he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle,

which shall not break off,

and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.

Allah is the guardian of those who believe.

He brings them out of the darkness into the light;

and as to those who disbelieve, their guardians are the false deities

who take them out of the light into the darkness.

These are the inmates of the fire,

in it they shall abide.

(3) Verses of Bearing Witness (Ayah al-Shahadah; 3:18-19):

Allah bears witness that there is no god but He,

and (so do) the angels and those possessed of knowledge,

maintaining His creation with justice.

There is no god but He,

the Mighty, the Wise.

Surely the (true) religion with Allah is Islam,

and those to whom the Book had been given did not show opposition

but after knowledge had come to them,

out of envy among themselves;

and whoever disbelieves in the communications of Allah

then surely Allah is quick in reckoning.

(4) Verses of Kingdom (Ayah al-Mulk; 3:26-27):

Say: O Allah, Master of the Kingdom!

You give the kingdom to whomsoever You please

and take away the kingdom from whomsoever You please

and You exalt whom You please

and abase whom You please

in Your hand is the good;

surely, You have power over all things.

You make the night to pass into the day

and You make the day to pass into the night,

and You bring forth the living from the dead

and You bring forth the dead from the living,

and You give sustenance to whom You please without measure.