Since ancient times, strands of prayer beads (tasbih) have been used to help keep count of repetitions of prayers. In Islam, repetition of the Divine Names of God or pious formulae (zikr), is an act of devotion and worship. As stated in the Qur’an: ‘… and recollect God often.’ This constant recollection of God can be done silently or aloud. Usually, the 99 Beautiful Names of Allah (asmah al-husnah), or the tasbih (‘O Holy God’), tahmid (‘Praised be God), takbir (‘God is Great’), and so on are repeated. This strand of prayer beads number 99.
