Dhikr - Dhikr Beads

Dhikr Beads

Known also as Tasbih, these are usually Misbaha (prayer beads) upon a string, 99 or 100 in number, which correspond to the names of God in Islam and other recitations. The beads are used to keep track of the number of recitations that make up the dhikr.

When the dhikr involves the repetition of particular phrases a specific number of times, the beads are used to keep track so that the person performing dhikr can turn all of their focus on what is actually being said - as it can become difficult to concentrate simultaneously on the number and phrasing when one is doing so a substantial number of times.

Some Islamic scholars argue that using the beads are forbidden, insisting that the usage of the fingers to count as what was practiced by Muhammad precludes the use of anything else. The vast majority of scholars, however, do not believe it is an either/or proposition and cite the documented usage of stones and pebbles by the Muhammad's Companions as evidence for their inherent lawfulness.

In the United States, Muslim inmates are allowed to utilize dhikr beads for therapeutic effects. This was a result of a successful action brought pursuant to 28 USC @ 1983 (by Imam Hamzah S. Alameen in the State of New York against Thomas A. Coughlin III, the Department of Corrections) arguing that prisoners have a First Amendment Constitutional right to pursue Islamic healing therapy called KASM which uses Dhikr beads. Imam Alameen, is a student of the late Shaykh Ismail Abdur Rahim, who was the Islamic Supervisor at Arthur-kill C.F., and was finally promoted to M.C.P for NYSDOC. The Dhikr was used to rehabilitate inmates suffering from co-occurring mental health challenges, and substance abuse issues. The dhikr Alameen developed was used to assist the successful recovery of hundreds if not thousands of inmates in the 90's. It became controversial when gang-members began carrying dhikr beads to identify themselves (as they come in a wide-range of colors) after Muslims and Catholics were allowed to use their respective prayer beads inside the prisons - arguing that their freedom of religion was being violated when the prison administration forbade their possession as contraband in the penal system.