There is no such truth in what your friend has told you. Using your fingers to keep count of the number of glorification of God or His praises is neither prohibited nor discouraged. Indeed it is quite the reverse, since it was the method used by the Prophet and his companions. In a report by one of the Prophet's companions, the reporter mentions clearly that he saw God's messenger keep count of such glorification with his hand. This is indeed the most practical way of keeping count, since we are recommended to glorify God and praise him repeating each phrase 33 times.

It is very easy to use one's fingers to keep such count, considering that we can use each finger for repeating the praise or the glorification 3 times. If we use the right hand only, as preferable, then going twice over the five fingers makes 30 times and adding one more finger completes the count.

There is no need to use a bead or stones or any other article whatsoever [such as a mechanical counter]. Your hand is with you all the time. This means that you do not miss your glorification by omitting to carry your counting article or device. That is more practical.

There is no doubt that God does not need time in order to accomplish His will. Whenever God wants to create something, He only has to give the command that it should exist and there it is in full existence. This is clearly stated in the Qur’an more than once. It is true in every sense. Yet the Qur’an states that God has created the heavens and the earth in six days. This is also true. Moreover, there is no contradiction between the two statements. A builder who is able to build a house in three months does not detract from his ability if he builds one in four or six month, or even longer than that.

There is a difference between ability and actual happenings. God is certainly able to create the whole universe in a single moment. There is no limit to His ability. But He chose to create it in six days. The choice is an aspect of His wisdom. We cannot fathom God’s wisdom, but we must believe that He has a reason for every thing, and that reason is, by necessity, wise.

Having said that, I would like to add that scholars have spoken at length about the six days of creation mentioned in the Qur’an. They agree that this period of time is not to be taken according to what we understand by the word, ‘day’, in our world. We must not take it as six 24-hour days or a week less one-day. For one thing, an Earth day results from the position of the Earth in relation to the sun and how long it takes the Earth to revolve. So it does not apply to God in this sense. For another, He is not restricted by time or place. We cannot say that God exists in this place or in such period of time. He is not limited by either.

This is one aspect of His attribute, of His name, The Infinite.

As scholars discuss the six days of creation, they advance a variety of views. Several of these are very interesting and have clear validity. However, I am more inclined to the view, which describes the six days as six stages of creation. Each was accomplished the moment God gave His command to it to exist.

"They may also be used to calculate different periods of time relating to people's business transactions and loan settlements. Any period of time which relates to matter of religion or human transactions may be calculated by the usage of the new moons."

May I ask: What happens to a person who does not know her exact birth date, or indeed the year in which she was born? You may recall that until recently, the majority of people in large areas of the world did not have any official records of births and deaths. Before the turn of this century, such registration was not legally required in many Muslim countries. Tribal areas in Africa and Asia may have kept certain records, but these were hardly on the basis of days, dates, months and years. Women have always worn ornaments and have used precious stones for this purpose. If what you say is true, bad luck would have hit so many millions of people and that was sure to disrupt human life, as a whole. The fact is that there is no truth whatsoever in this superstition.

However, your question gives me the opportunity to state clearly that the time of birth has no significance whatsoever. I realize that people attach some importance to the time of birth, which act can at times be very much exaggerated. Astrologers tell us that if they know the exact time of someone's birth, they can set up his or her horoscope and they can tell that person a great deal about his or her personality and future. They claim that by knowing the exact time of birth, they can calculate which star was rising and which was descending, and these movements indicate certain things for human beings. Besides, newspapers and magazines in most countries have a horoscope column which tell people, who are born between certain dates, what to expect in the period immediately after the publication of that issue of the paper or magazine. Although most people read these for fun, some of them take them seriously.

From the Islamic point of view, we accept nothing of these claims. Indeed, the Prophet warns us against consulting any fortune teller, regardless of the method he or she uses to tell us our fortunes. Moreover, the Prophet describes fortune tellers as liars, even when they happen to say the truth [i.e. fore-tell correctly.] That means that if a fortune teller tells us something and it turns out to be as he had said, he still is a liar because when he told it to us, he did not know it for certain. He was simply guessing. When a person tells us something which is only guess work, he must be a liar. Indeed the prohibition to fortune tellers including astrologers is very strict. To believe that someone may know the future is tantamount to disbelief in Allah, because it suggests that these people know something which in fact is known only to Allah Himself.