Reflection 8 - Favorite duas

1.
I love the dua how it sounds - easy to recite.

اللهُ أَكْبَـرُ كَبـيرا ، وَالْحَـمْدُ للهِ كَثـيرا ، وَسُبْـحانَ اللهِ بكْـرَةً وَأَصيـلا

Allah is Most Great, much praise is for Allah, and I declare the perfection of Allah in the early morning and in the late afternoon

Akbar and Kabeera have the same root. Akbar is already the superlative noun, kabeera again means "Most". This creates a double emphasis
Alhamd already means ALL praise (Al is for encompassing) and the masdar kaseera adds to the emphasis.

Sh Hamza of SunniPath explained -
"Subhan Allah" reminds us that we are intrinsically deficient, and Allah is intrinsically Perfect. This thought should lead to neediness and Reverence, and also to humility/ kushu'

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) taught us to say morning and evening, because that's when the angels change shifts, and at both times they witness us remembering Allah


2.

1. ‘O Allah, distance me from my sins just as You have distanced The East from The West,
2. O Allah, purify me of my sins as a white robe is purified of filth,
3. O Allah, cleanse me of my sins with snow, water, and ice.’


And this one's so deep.
1. We are asking Allah not just to forgive our past sins, but also keep us away - so we don't commit any sins in the future.
2. Our soul is a white sheet - each sin leaves a spot. We beg Allah to make it clean again.
3. Snow, water and ice - asking Allah to clean it over and over again - so it's completely clean. Imagine the fresh snow, when it first falls, there's nothing as white as that, or as pure. We ask Allah to make us that clean.