Assalaam alaikum Uthman ibn Affan reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “No servant says this three times in the morning every day and in the evening every night but that nothing will harm him: In the name of Allah whose name cannot be harmed by anything in the earth nor in the heaven, for He is the Hearing, the Knowing.” this is mentioned in tirmidhi. which is graded as authentic Please explain the meaning of this hadeeth. If we recite it daily does it really mean that no harm can touch us?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The Hadeeth which you referred to in the question is authentic and it was reported by Ahmad, Abu Daawood, At-Tirmithi, Ibn Maajah, Ibn Hibbaan, and others. The scholars have classified its chain of narrators as Saheeh (sound).

Interpretation of the Hadeeth:

“Bismi Allaah”: In the name of Allaah I seek refuge, or protection, from anything that might harm,

“with whose name nothing harms”: with the Name of Allaah, because no harm can happen to someone who has mentioned the name of Allaah provided he firmly believes in it and has a sincere intention.

“on earth nor in the heavens”: meaning, when one mentions the Name of Allaah, no harm from the earth and no harm descending from the heavens can harm the person.

“He is The All-Hearing, The All-Knowing”: meaning, He hears our words and He is aware of our conditions.

This means that whoever says this Thikr, nothing will harm him, so if this statement is said, no harm can happen. A narration in Ahmad reads: “nothing will harm him in that day or that night.” Another narration reads: “no misfortune befalls him until the night and whoever says it in the evening, no misfortune befalls him until the morning, Allaah willing”, meaning no misfortune befalls him all of a sudden, if Allaah so wills.

If harm befalls someone who has said this Thikr, he should survey himself; he may have said it without conviction, or in order to test it, or in a state of heedlessness; because this supplication is like a weapon, and a weapon needs a strong arm to use it. So, if a person is weak, the weapon will not help protect him. To this effect, Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “Supplications and prayers for seeking refuge in Allaah are like weapons, and a weapon is only as effective as the one using it, not just based on how sharp it is. So, if the weapon is perfect and flawless and the arm that is using it is strong and there is nothing to nullify its effectiveness, it will cause damage to the enemy. And whenever one of these three elements is absent, the effect will be held back.

So, if the supplication itself is not good, or the one supplicating does not have both his heart and tongue present when making it, or there is some element present to prevent it from being answered, then it will have no effect.” [End of quote]

Allaah Knows best.