What should I say when I am angry?

The words to say

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِA'udhu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajim"I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed."

That is the short form the Prophet ﷺ used. In one narration the wording is fuller:

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from Satan, the accursed."— Sunan Abu Dawud 4781, from Sulayman ibn Surad

What the phrase is doing

The phrase is not a calming technique; it is an act of turning away. Anger is described in the Sunnah as being from Satan, and Satan was created from fire — so the remedy is to seek refuge with Allah from him, not to wrestle the anger down by willpower alone. The scholars drew the conclusion directly: seeking refuge in Allah is among the causes that make anger leave.

The Prophet ﷺ said it while looking at a man in the middle of an argument:

"I know a word which, if he said it, what he is feeling would go away: I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed."— Sahih Muslim 2610, from Sulayman ibn Surad

What to do alongside it

Saying the words is the first thing, but the scholars list other steps that belong with it, all drawn from the same narrations:

• Change your posture. If you are standing, sit; if you are sitting, lie down. The Prophet ﷺ described anger as a burning ember in the heart of Adam's son — you can see it in the swelling of the veins and the redness of the eyes — and told the one who feels it to drop to a lower position.
• Make wudu. Anger is from Satan, Satan is from fire, and fire is put out with water. The narration that carries this wording is weak, but the scholars still count wudu among the means of removing anger, and the meaning is sound.
• Leave the place. If the anger is with family or in a house, step out of it. The scholars cite the case of Ali رضي الله عنه and Fatimah رضي الله عنها when they fell into a dispute — he left and slept in the mosque.
• Do not answer back. The Prophet ﷺ was never foul-mouthed, never abusive in the market, and never repaid a bad deed with a bad deed; he would pardon and overlook.

If the anger has already taken over

The narrations are honest about this. In the story, a man carried the Prophet's ﷺ words to the angry man, and he replied, "Do you think I am mad?" — and his anger only increased. The scholars comment that rage had overwhelmed him, and that he did not come back to himself. The phrase works when a person still has enough of himself left to say it; the point is to say it early, before the ember takes hold.

Key takeaways

• The Sunnah's answer to anger is a phrase, not silence: "A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajim."
• The Prophet ﷺ said it about a specific angry man, describing it as the word that would remove what he felt.
• Say it as soon as you notice the signs — the heat, the reddening, the tightening.
• Pair it with a change of position, wudu, or leaving the room; the scholars list these as means of removing anger.
• Anger is described as being from Satan, so the cure is refuge with Allah, not self-restraint alone.

Further reading

• Sunan Abu Dawud, Book of Manners (Kitab al-Adab)
• Sahih Muslim, Book of Righteousness and Good Manners
• al-Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman — the chapter on leaving anger and restraining rage

And Allah knows best.