Prayer for Traveling

When the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was on his journey and when he settled down, he would recite “takbir” (saying God is the All-Great) three times and then pray. One of his frequent prayers was this:

للهُ أكْبَرُ، اللهُ أكْبَرُ، اللهُ أكْبَرُ أَسْتَوْدِعُكَ اللهَ الَّذِي لاَ تَخِيبُ وَلاَ تَضِيعُ وَدَآئِعُهُ اَللَّهُمَّ بِكَ أَصُولُ وَبِكَ أَحُولُ وَبِكَ أَسِير

“I call you to God, whose trusts are not lost, nor are they stunned. God, I Move, move and travel with your grace.”

Muslim, Haj 425; Abu Dawud, Jihad 72; Tirmidhi, Daawat 45-46.

The Messenger of God, sitting at the Farewell Pilgrimage, sat on his camel Al-Qaswa, said “Allahu akbar” three times, and then prayed with a deep sense of self-supervision:

للهُ أكْبَرُ، اللهُ أكْبَرُ، اللهُ أكْبَرُ سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ * وَإِنَّا إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَـمُنْقَلِبُونَ اللَّهُمَّ إنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ فِي سَفَرِنَا هَذَا البِرَّ والتَّقْوى، ومِنَ العَمَلِ مَا تَرْضَى، اللَّهُمَّ هَوِّنْ عَلَيْنَا سَفَرَنَا هَذَا وَاطْوِ عَنَّا بُعْدَهُ، اللَّهُمَّ أنْتَ الصَّاحِبُ فِي السَّفَرِ، والخَلِيفَةُ فِي الأهْلِ، اللَّهُمَّ إنِّي أعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ وَعْثَاءِ السَّفَرِ، وَكآبَةِ الـمَنْظَرِ، وسُوءِ الـمُنْقَلَبِ فِي الـمَالِ والأهْل

“Glory be to God, who has made this mount a place for us. We bring this power we couldn’t. Verily, to our Lord we shall return. O My Lord! Make this journey easy for us! Make the distance near us! Oh God! Comrade in arms, you’re the surrogate in the family! Oh, God! I seek refuge in you from the trouble of the expedition, the bad change of scenery, the bad return of property and family.” ¹

In fact, this prayer was one of the prayers he read every time he got on the mount. It was of Qur’anic origin. Because God himself taught him this by saying , “So that you sit secure on their backs, then remember and reflect on the favor of your Lord, and when you settle securely on them, say: “All-Glorified is He who has subjugated this to our use. We were never capable (of accomplishing this by ourselves). 14. “And surely, to our Lord we are indeed bound to return.”^{2 3}

1. Muslim, Haj 75; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad 10/440
2. Zuhruf 43/13, 14
3. Reciting this statement of praise and glorification when seated on any mount was a practice of the Messenger of God, upon him be peace and blessings, and, therefore, is incumbent upon us as a Sunnah act