Salat al-Tasbih is a four-rakat prayer. This prayer was taught by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to his uncle, Hazrat Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), as a gift and present. Its virtue is that by reading it, all sins (small and large) are forgiven. There are two ways to perform this prayer:
One way is to make the intention of four rakats of Salat al-Tasbih, stand in the first rakat and after reciting Thana, Ta'awwudh, Tasmiyah, Surah Al-Fatiha and any Surah, before going into Ruku, recite this Tasbih fifteen times: "سُبْحَانَ اللّٰہِ وَالْحَمدُلِلّٰہِ وَلَاإلٰہَ إلَّاإللّٰہ ُوَاللّٰہ ُأکْبَرُ". Then in Ruku, after reciting " سُبحَان َرَبِّي َالعَظِیْم", recite the Tasbih ten times. Then in Qauma, after reciting " سَمِعَ اللہُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَہٗ", "رَبَّنَالَکَ الْحَمدُ", recite the Tasbih ten times. Then in the first Sajdah, after reciting " سُبْحَانَ رَبِّیَ الاَعلٰی ", recite it ten times. Then after rising from the first Sajdah, recite it ten times in Jalsa, then in the second Sajdah, after reciting " سُبْحَان َرَبِّیَ الاَعْلٰی", recite the Tasbih ten times. Then while rising from the second Sajdah, say " اَللہ ُاَکْبَرْ " and sit down and recite the Tasbih ten times. Then without saying " اَللہُ اَکْبَرْ ", stand up for the second rakat. Then complete the second, third and fourth rakats in the same way.
In the Qada of the second and fourth rakats, first recite the Tasbih ten times and then recite At-Tahiyyat. Recite the Tasbih in all four rakats in the same order. In this way, the total number of Tasbihs in four rakats will be three hundred times.
The second method is that after standing in the first rakat, recite the Tasbih fifteen times after Thana. Then after reciting Ta'awwudh, Tasmiyah, Surah Al-Fatiha and any Surah, recite this Tasbih ten times before going into Ruku. Recite the Tasbih ten times each in Ruku, Qauma, first Sajdah, Jalsa and second Sajdah. After this, say "اللہُ اَکبَر" and stand up straight.
Recite the Tasbih in the second, third and fourth rakats in the same order. In the second rakat, recite the Tasbih fifteen times as soon as you stand up. (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Abwab al-Witr, Bab Ma جاءفی صلاۃالتسبیح, 1/117, Qadeemi) Perform the remaining rakats in the same order. Both these methods are correct and practicable. Whichever method seems easier should be adopted. This prayer has no specific time. It can be read whenever possible, except during Makrooh times. Only Allah knows best.
Mufti Sadiq Amin Qasmi