The marketplace is described in the hadith as 'the most disliked place to Allah' (Sahih Muslim 671) — full of distraction, deception and forgetfulness. To turn it into a place of worship, the Prophet ﷺ taught a single dua that carries one of the largest rewards mentioned in the entire Sunnah: one million good deeds, one million sins erased and one million ranks raised — every single time it is recited.
The marketplace dua
لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ، يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ، وَهُوَ حَيٌّ لَا يَمُوتُ، بِيَدِهِ الْخَيْرُ، وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamd, yuhyi wa yumit, wa Huwa Hayyun la yamut, bi yadihil-khayr, wa Huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir.
There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner. To Him belongs the dominion and to Him belongs all praise. He gives life and causes death, and He is Ever-Living and never dies. In His hand is all good, and He is over all things capable.
(Jami at-Tirmidhi 3428 — narrated by Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA))
The reward — the Prophet's ﷺ exact words
Whoever enters a marketplace and says: 'La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah…' Allah will write for him a million good deeds, erase from him a million sins, and raise him by a million ranks — and build for him a house in Paradise.
What 'marketplace' means today
Classical scholars include any place of buying and selling — physical markets, shopping centres, supermarkets and high streets. Some contemporary scholars extend the meaning to large online marketplaces and shopping apps as well. The principle is the same: any environment of trade where the heart is most likely to forget Allah.
When and how to recite it
- Recite it once as you enter the marketplace, mall or supermarket.
- It is also recommended in the morning and evening adhkar — many narrations report it as a powerful daily formula.
- Combine with: La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamd, wa Huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir — 100 times in the morning carries the reward of freeing ten slaves (Sahih al-Bukhari 6403).
Hadith reference
The marketplace dua is in Jami at-Tirmidhi (3428), Sunan Ibn Majah (2235) and Musnad Ahmad on the authority of Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA). The grading is Hasan (Imam al-Albani in Sahih at-Tirmidhi 3428), and Imam an-Nawawi included it in al-Adhkar as a recommended Sunnah.