Prostration is a particularly emphasised setting for dua, and supplications are also reported before salam. Their wording, language and placement should follow the guidance you use for salah.
Allahumma ba‘id bayni wa bayna khatayaya kama ba‘adta baynal-mashriqi wal-maghrib. Allahumma naqqini minal-khataya kama yunaqqath-thawbul-abyadu minad-danas. Allahummagh-sil khatayaya bil-ma’i wath-thalji wal-barad.
O Allah, distance me from my sins as You have distanced east from 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.
Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala ali Muhammadin kama sallayta ‘ala ali Ibrahima innaka Hamidun Majid. Allahumma barik ‘ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala ali Muhammadin kama barakta ‘ala ali Ibrahima innaka Hamidun Majid.
O Allah, bestow blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You bestowed blessings upon the family of Ibrahim. You are Praiseworthy and Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You blessed the family of Ibrahim. You are Praiseworthy and Glorious.
Allahumma laka raka‘tu wa bika amantu wa laka aslamtu. Khasha‘a laka sam‘i wa basari wa mukhkhi wa ‘azmi wa ‘asabi.
O Allah, to You I bow, in You I believe and to You I submit. My hearing, sight, marrow, bones and nerves are humbled before You.
Allahumma laka sajadtu wa bika amantu wa laka aslamtu. Sajada wajhi lilladhi khalaqahu wa sawwarahu wa shaqqa sam‘ahu wa basarahu. Tabarakallahu ahsanul-khaliqin.
O Allah, to You I prostrate, in You I believe and to You I submit. My face prostrates to the One who created and shaped it and opened its hearing and sight. Blessed is Allah, the best of creators.
Allahummaghfir li ma qaddamtu wa ma akhkhartu wa ma asrartu wa ma a‘lantu wa ma asraftu wa ma anta a‘lamu bihi minni. Antal-Muqaddimu wa antal-Mu’akhkhiru la ilaha illa ant.
O Allah, forgive what I have done before and what comes later, what I have concealed and made public, my excesses and what You know better than I do. You bring forward and hold back; there is no god except You.
Context and use
A personal request made after prayer is not automatically governed by the same rules as speech while still praying. Keep those settings distinct.
Sunni school differences
Jordan Iftaa 4488 attributes broad permission for lawful worldly and religious requests to the Shafi‘i school. Other school treatments and language conditions need their own guidance. Al-Kafi 118 recommends Arabic for verbal requests in salah; this is an attributed position, not a universal language ruling.
Dua in prostration
Sahih Muslim 482 encourages abundant supplication in prostration. The report does not restrict that encouragement to the final prostration.
A transmitted prostration supplication is recorded in Muslim 771a. Learn the wording and its meaning while continuing to observe the recitations and procedure taught in your prayer lesson.
Supplication is not unrestricted recitation
Sahih Muslim 479a addresses the prohibition of Qur’an recitation while bowing and prostrating. It also encourages supplication in prostration.
Jurists therefore distinguish recitation from a request. If the words you want to use are a Qur’anic verse, ask about the intention and wording relevant to your school; do not assume every verse from a dua collection may be recited in every posture.
Before completing prayer
Muslim 771a includes a forgiveness request between tashahhud and salam. This offers a specific source for a specific place in prayer.
Do not confuse it with remembrance after salam. Similar meanings can appear in different narrations, but their reported positions still matter.
Personal requests and language
Jordan Iftaa 4488 describes a Shafi‘i allowance for lawful requests concerning worldly life and religion within salah. That discussion concerns what is requested.
Al-Kafi 118 separately recommends Arabic for verbal supplication in prayer. Ask a teacher about non-Arabic speech, your ability to use Arabic and your school’s treatment; do not merge these sources into a blanket permission.
A manageable starting point
Learn one transmitted dua for its actual position, and practise it outside salah before using it within prayer. Keep a short reference note alongside its meaning.
If you have more to ask in your own language, you can address that need outside salah while obtaining individual guidance on what to say within it. A guide should help you pray with understanding rather than make unsupported judgments about past prayers.
Frequently asked questions
Why is sujood a time for making dua?
In Sahih Muslim 482, the Prophet encourages supplication during prostration and describes the servant’s closeness to Allah in that state. Use that encouragement alongside the established recitations and procedure of prayer; it does not promise a particular outcome from a particular number of repetitions.
May I recite a Qur'anic verse while bowing or prostrating?
Sahih Muslim 479a prohibits Qur’an recitation in these postures while encouraging supplication in prostration. A verse used as a request raises a separate question about intention and wording. Ask your teacher before treating every Qur’anic passage in a dua collection as suitable for recitation in sujood.
Can I ask for lawful worldly needs during salah?
Jordan Iftaa 4488 explains a Shafi‘i position allowing lawful religious and worldly requests in prayer. This is a school-specific answer about the subject of a request. It does not settle the separate rules for language or every school’s treatment of personal wording.
Does encouragement to make dua in sujood allow any spoken language?
It does not by itself settle that question. Al-Kafi 118 recommends Arabic for verbal supplication in prayer and notes differing scholarly opinions. Seek advice for your school and circumstances before introducing English or another language into salah.
Which dua can I learn for the time before salam?
Sahih Muslim 771a records a forgiveness supplication between tashahhud and salam. Learn its exact wording and meaning from the linked source record and your teacher. Keep that placement distinct from remembrance performed after the prayer has ended.