Jawshan Kabir: A Supplication of the Prophet Muhammad

It has been mentioned in the book, Balad al-Amin and the Misbah of Kafa`mi that Imam `Ali ibn al-Husain Sayyid as-Sajjidin related from his father from his grandfather the Prophet of Allah that this supplication was taught by the Angel Jibra’il to the Prophet during one of the battles.

It was in one of the wars that the Prophet had taken part in which he had a very heavy and expensive coat of armor on to protect himself.
It is related that the coat was so heavy that it was hurting the body of the Prophet. In this state, the Angel Jibra’il came to the Prophet and said:

“O’ Muhammad! Your Lord conveys his salutations to you and has said to take this coat of armor (Jawshan) and to recite it as this is a protection for you and your Ummah.”

At this point, the Angel continued to give the Prophet an explanation on the greatness of this supplication, which we will omit from here due to lack of space.
However it suffices us to state that whoever reads this supplication with a pure intention in the BEGINNING of the month of Ramadhan, Allah will grant him sustenance on the Night of Power and will create for this person 70,000 Angels who will all be busy in the praising and glorification of Allah and will give this reward to the person who has read this supplication.

With this said, we see the greatness of the recitation of this supplication. In addition, it is mentioned that whoever reads this supplication three times during the month of Ramadhan, Allah will make the hell-fire forbidden on him and would make it obligatory for that person to go into Paradise.
For such a person, Allah will also appoint two Angels to protect that person from all evils (in this world) and he would be in the protection of Allah for as long as he is alive.

In the final Hadith of this supplication, it has been narrated from Imam Husain ibn `Ali that,

“My father Amir al-Mo’minin `Ali ibn Abi Talib had bequeathed to me that I should memorize and protect this supplication and write it on the Kafan (burial shroud) and that I should teach it to my family members and he highly encouraged me to read this supplication as it contains 1,000 names of Allah and within these names is the Greatest Name of Allah (Ism-e-A`dham).”