A digital tasbih is a counter made for dhikr. Instead of moving beads one by one, you press a button and the number goes up. Some are small devices with a little screen, some are a ring worn on a finger, and some — like this one — are a page you open in a browser.
Before the screen: the misbaha
Counting dhikr is an old practice: Muslims have kept the number on their fingers, with pebbles and date stones, and later with a string of beads known as a misbaha — the word comes from Arabic سبحة.
A misbaha usually carries 33 or 99 beads, and the beads do nothing but keep the number. A digital counter is the same idea with a screen instead of thread.
What the digital version adds
You do not have to hold the number in your head
A goal you can see, and a signal when you reach it
A running total across the day
A record of the days you counted
A click or a vibration that tells you the tap was taken
The kinds you can buy
A ring counter that fits on a finger
A small handheld clicker with a number on a screen
A wrist counter worn like a watch
An app or a browser page — the same idea, with the adhkar in the same place
How to pick one
Does it hold the number if you put it down?
Can you start a new round without losing the day's total?
Is the button easy to press with your thumb?
Does it work with no internet?
Does it carry the adhkar you actually read?
How to use one well
Decide the goal before you start, so you know where the round ends
Attach it to a fixed moment — after each prayer, or after Fajr
If you lose count, reset and go on; the day record still keeps your total
Use the day record to keep going, not to show off a number
Common questions
Is counting with an app the same as with beads?
A counter — beads, fingers, a device or an app — only keeps the number. What is being counted is the dhikr itself, so choose whatever you will actually keep using.
Do the dhikr have to be in Arabic?
The dhikr in this app are written in Arabic with the vowel marks, and the meaning is printed under each one in your language.
Does it drain the battery?
A page that does nothing but count uses very little. This one also works offline once it is open, so it does not keep calling the internet.