The duas of protection

1. Morning and evening, three times

بسم الله الذي لا يضر مع اسمه شيء في الأرض ولا في السماء وهو السميع العليم

Bismillahi-lladhi la yadurru ma'a-smihi shay'un fil-ardi wa la fis-sama', wa huwa-s-Sami'u-l-'Alim.

"In the name of Allah, with whose name nothing in the earth or the heaven can cause harm, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing."

The hadith says that whoever says it three times in the morning and three times in the evening, nothing will harm him.

Sunan Abi Dawud 5088; Jami at-Tirmidhi 3388; Sunan Ibn Majah 3869. Graded sound or good by the scholars. It is not in Sahih al-Bukhari or Muslim.

2. Ayat al-Kursi — before sleeping

In the long hadith of Abu Hurayrah, where a devil came to steal from the charity, he finally told him:

When you go to your bed, recite Ayat al-Kursi — a guardian from Allah will remain over you, and no devil will come near you until morning.

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: he told you the truth, though he is a liar.

Sahih al-Bukhari 2311.

3. The Mu'awwidhatayn — recited into the palms

Aishah reported that every night before sleeping the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would cup his palms together, recite into them Qul huwa Allahu ahad, Qul a'udhu bi-Rabbi-l-falaq and Qul a'udhu bi-Rabbi-n-nas, then wipe them over as much of his body as he could reach — beginning with his head, his face and the front of his body — doing this three times.

Sahih al-Bukhari 5017.

4. On stopping at a place

أعوذ بكلمات الله التامات من شر ما خلق

A'udhu bi-kalimati-llahi-t-tammati min sharri ma khalaq.

"I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created."

The hadith says whoever alights somewhere and says it, nothing will harm him until he departs from there.

Sahih Muslim 2708.

And one thing that must stay clear

These are duas, not amulets or rituals. The promises attached to them are the ones the hadith itself made — adding to them, or claiming a particular count or sequence with no evidence for it, is the commonest mistake in this chapter. What is not on this page should not be assumed to have evidence.