Thana is the short praise said at the start of the prayer, after the opening takbir and before Al-Fatiha. In the Hanafi school it is Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika, wa tabarakasmuka, wa ta'ala jadduka, wa la ilaha ghayruk, said quietly in the first rakah of every prayer.
سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، وَتَبَارَكَ اسْمُكَ، وَتَعَالَى جَدُّكَ، وَلَا إِلَهَ غَيْرُكَ
Subḥānaka Allāhumma wa biḥamdik, wa tabārakasmuk, wa taʿālā jadduk, wa lā ilāha ghayruk
Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise. Blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god but You.
Sunan Abi Dawud 776; Jami at-Tirmidhi 243, graded sahih by al-Albani
اللَّهُمَّ بَاعِدْ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ خَطَايَايَ كَمَا بَاعَدْتَ بَيْنَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ، اللَّهُمَّ نَقِّنِي مِنَ الْخَطَايَا كَمَا يُنَقَّى الثَّوْبُ الْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ، اللَّهُمَّ اغْسِلْ خَطَايَايَ بِالْمَاءِ وَالثَّلْجِ وَالْبَرَدِ
Allāhumma bāʿid baynī wa bayna khaṭāyāya kamā bāʿadta baynal-mashriqi wal-maghrib. Allāhumma naqqinī minal-khaṭāyā kamā yunaqqath-thawbul-abyaḍu minad-danas. Allāhummaghsil khaṭāyāya bil-māʾi wath-thalji wal-barad
O Allah, distance me from my sins as You have distanced the east from the west. O Allah, cleanse me of sins as a white garment is cleansed of dirt. O Allah, wash away my sins with water, snow and hail.
Sahih al-Bukhari 744
Our teachers will check the Arabic and transliteration on this page before launch.
Guide
Thana is the short praise said at the start of the prayer, after the opening takbir and before Al-Fatiha. In the Hanafi school it is Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika, wa tabarakasmuka, wa ta'ala jadduka, wa la ilaha ghayruk, said quietly in the first rakah of every prayer.
Aishah said the Prophet ﷺ opened the prayer with these words, and Umar ibn al-Khattab used to say them aloud so that people would learn them.1
Say the opening takbir, fold your hands, and say Thana quietly. Then say a'udhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim and bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim, and recite Al-Fatiha. It is said once, in the first rakah, in every prayer, fard or nafl. If you join the congregation after the imam has started reciting aloud, stay silent and listen. If the recitation is silent, as in Dhuhr and Asr, say Thana and then listen inwardly.
Thana is sunnah in every prayer. Leaving it does not affect the prayer and needs no sajdah sahw. In the funeral prayer, Thana is said after the first takbir, and Hanafi manuals add wa jalla thana'uk (and great is Your praise); that phrase is from the manuals, not from the hadith wording above.
The Prophet ﷺ opened his prayer with several duas. Abu Hurayrah asked him what he said in the pause between the takbir and the recitation, and he taught Allahumma ba'id (Dua 2).2 Any of these is valid. Hanafis keep to Thana in obligatory prayers, and many use the longer ones in tahajjud.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.
Questions
The opening praise said after the first takbir: Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika, wa tabarakasmuka, wa ta'ala jadduka, wa la ilaha ghayruk.
No. Only once, in the first rakah, straight after the opening takbir.
In the Hanafi school, yes, if the imam has not yet started reciting aloud. If he is already reciting aloud, stay silent and listen.
Your prayer is still complete. Thana is sunnah, so no sajdah sahw is needed.