The 365 · Sunnah · Day 38 · Prayer
The Du'a' Before Salām · Refuge from the Four
The hadith
إِذَا فَرَغَ أَحَدُكُمْ مِنَ التَّشَهُّدِ الْأَخِيرِ، فَلْيَتَعَوَّذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ أَرْبَعٍ: مِنْ عَذَابِ جَهَنَّمَ، وَمِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ، وَمِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَاتِ، وَمِنْ شَرِّ فِتْنَةِ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ
The Prophet ﷺ said: 'When one of you finishes the final tashahhud, let him seek refuge in Allah from four things: from the punishment of Hell, from the punishment of the grave, from the trials of life and death, and from the evil trial of the false messiah (the Dajjal).' (Sahih Muslim 588, narrated by Abu Hurayrah.)
Svenska: Profeten ﷺ sade: 'När någon av er har avslutat sista tashahhud, låt honom söka skydd hos Allah från fyra saker: helvetets straff, gravens straff, livets och dödens prövningar, och al-Masih ad-Dajjals onda prövning.'
Sahih Muslim 588 (Abu Hurayrah, the four refuges)
The story
'A'ishah ra. narrated that some of the Companions asked her about the du'a' for protection from the trials of the grave; she said the Prophet ﷺ taught it as an instruction in the prayer itself. The seriousness with which the Companions treated this du'a' is preserved in the classical commentaries on Muslim 588.
Why it's here
The four refuges name the four major theological dangers in the believer's path: the punishment of Hell, the punishment of the grave, the trials of life and death (every test in this dunya and the moment of death itself), and the trial of the Dajjal (the great fitnah of the end times). The Prophet ﷺ structured the prayer to close with this comprehensive seek-refuge before the salam returns the believer to the world. Every prayer is therefore sealed with a four-part divine protection.
Try it today
1. Memorize the Arabic precisely.
2. Recite it at the end of every final tashahhud, before 'as-salamu 'alaykum.'
3. Pause briefly at each of the four refuges; let the meaning register.
In your day
Most rushed prayers skip this du'a' entirely. The Prophet ﷺ taught it as part of the prayer's structure. Recover it. Two seconds at the end of every prayer; four protections named.
A reflection to carry
The pre-salām duʿāʾ: refuge from four. The Prophet ﷺ: 'When one of you finishes the tashahhud, let him seek refuge in Allah from four: the punishment of Hell, the punishment of the grave, the trials of life and death, and the trial of the Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl.' (Muslim 588.)
Read the longer reflection
The four refuges cover the structural categories of fear: post-death (Hell, grave-punishment), in-life (life's trials), and the eschatological (Dajjāl). The Prophet ﷺ established this as immediate-pre-salām discipline: between the final tashahhud and the closing salām. The text: 'Allāhumma innī aʿūdhu bika min ʿadhābi jahannam, wa-min ʿadhābi al-qabr, wa-min fitnati-l-maḥyā wa-l-mamāt, wa-min sharri fitnati-l-Masīḥi ad-Dajjāl.' Cure: memorize and integrate into every ṣalāh; do not skip in the rush to finish; the four-fold refuge is the Prophet ﷺ's specific prescription. Modern ṣalāh often skips this; structural reintegration restores the Sunnah-completeness.
Sources: Sahih Muslim. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
Subscribe, free