alt Birr al-Wlidain

Prayer of Filial Piety

his is a special prayer for parents by children and is amongst the goodly works one can perform
to thank and benefit ones parents. It is 2-cycles [rakaatain] and recommended to be prayed on
Friday night (Thursday evening) between Maghrib and Isha.
On completion, recite Salawat upon the Prophet 25 times and intend the reward for your parents.
If possible, recite the supplication Du birr al-Wlidain. Many traditional scholars and Sufi
Sheikhs highly recommend that this prayer be regularly established.

How to Pray

First cycle Al-Ftia followed by the following verse [yah] 15 times:

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Allah! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all
things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what
(appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as
He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving
them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).

Second cycle Al-Ftia followed by the following chapter [srah] 15 times:

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In the name of Allah, the Universally Merciful, the Singularly Compassionate. Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.

Source
Sheikh Talal Azem mentions this prayer in his Prayers of Occasions as follows:
My father (may Allah Most High have mercy upon him) said, It is mentioned in Shar al-Shirah: The prayer
for ones parents [alt al-wlidain] is a Sunnah, due to the saying of the Prophet : Whoever prays two cycles
[rakaatain] on the eve of Friday, between the sunset [maghrib] and nightfall [ish] prayers, in which he recites
in each cycle (a) the Fatiha once, (b) Ayat al-Kursi (Koran 2:255) fifteen times (i.e. in the first cycle), (c) Qul huwa
Allahu ahad (Koran 112) fifteen times (i.e. in the second cycle); (d) sends benedictions upon the Prophet (Allah
bless him and give him peace) twenty-five times (i.e. after completion of the prayer); (e) and then intends that
the reward be for his parentswhoever does this will have fulfilled the rights of his parents and perfected his
filial piety, even if he had been undutiful towards them. Allah Most High will bestow him with that which He
bestows upon those of great faith and the martyrs. This has been mentioned in the abridgement of [Imam alGhazzalis] Ihy ulm al-dn.
AL-NABULSI, Abd al-Ghani (d. 1142/1731). Nihayat al-Murad fi sharh Hadiyyat Ibn al-Imad. Dubai: Markaz Jumuah al-Majid lial-Thaqafah wa al-Turath, 1414/1994.

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