"Remembrance Of Allah" -'Dhikr Allah'

 

"O believers! Remember Allah as a frequent remembrance, and glorify Him morning and evening."  Al- Quran [al-Ahzaab, 33:41-42]

 

 

"Therefore, remember Me, and, I will remember you, be grateful to Me and never deny Me."  Al- Quran [al-Baqarah, 2:152]

 

Assalamu 'Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuhu,

 

Allahu Ta'ala says in the glorious Qur'an:

 

"O man (Insan)! What has lured you away from your gracious Lord [Rabbikal-Kareem]?"

(Ya ayyuha al-insanu ma gharraka bi-rabbika al-kareem?) [Surah al-Infitaar - 82:6]

 

This world, the Dunya, will take a person away from Allah, who busies himself in the worldly businesses and who does not remember Allah in any time. Allah says:

 

"He who turns away from the remembrance of Rahman (Allah, the Compassionate),

We assign a Satan (Shaytan) for him, who becomes his intimate companion - and

turns such people away from the Right Path, while they think that they are guided aright."

[az-Zukhruf - 43:36-37] 

 

We have reached to a point where even our Salah (prayer) is empty of Allah's remembrance. Allah said: "... worship Me and establish Salah for My remembrance." [Ta-ha, 20:14]. But unfortunately our Salah (prayer) is filled with the thoughts of this world rather than the Remembrance of Rahman. 

 

If the worldly businesses take us away from Dhikr Allah ( Allah's Remembrance), we will forget Him. And the one who has forgotten Allah, Allah will also forget him and He might not listen to his supplications (Du'a). So, what could be a cause of the unacceptance of our Du'a? Our hearts are preoccupied with Dunya rather than His Remembrance. Allah will say to those who forget Allah and do not prepare for the Akhirah: "Now taste the reward for your forgetting the meeting of this Day - We too have forgotten you now..." [32:14]. Therefore,

 

"O believers! Let neither your riches nor your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah.  Those who will do so, it is they who shall be the real losers."

[al-Munafiqoon - 63:9]

 

Allah mentions in the Quran about those true Muslims who prefer the hereafter over this Dunya. These people make Dhikr, perform Salah and observe other duties; and their worldly businesses do not affect their worship. Qur'an says:

 

"In houses, which Allah has ordered to be raised, in them His Name is glorified in the mornings and in the afternoons or the evenings, (By) men whom neither trade nor sale diverts them from the Remembrance of Allah (Zikri Allahi),nor from performing As-Salat (prayer), nor from giving the Zakat. They fear a Day (the Day of Judgment)

when hearts and eyes will be overturned."  [An-Noor - 24:36-37]

 

If we remember Allah, Allah will also remember us (listen to us). Allah says: "Therefore, remember Me, and, I will remember you, be grateful to Me and never deny Me." [al-Baqarah, 2:152]. Allah's remembrance (Dhikr Allah) should be observed in the Masaajid and also when we are outside the Masaajid. In fact, Allah's remembrance should be in the hearts of the believers at all times. And His glorification should be on our tongues at all times as well. Allah says:

 

"O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance, and glorify Him morning and evening."  [al-Ahzaab, 33:41-42]

 

"And remember your Lord within yourself (deep in your soul, fee nafsika),  humbly and with fear without loudness in words in the mornings, and in the afternoons and be not of those who are neglectful.  [al-A'araaf - 7:205]

 

Who has created the sun, the moon, the heavens and this earth! It is Allah, therefore, Subhan Allah! Who has guided us to Islam, provided us with sustenance (food, drink, clothes etc)! It is Allah, therefore, Alhamdulillah! Who is the Most Powerful, the Majestic, Maliki Yawmi-Deen! Allahu Akbar! Who forgives the mistakes and the sins? It is Allah, we say Astaghfirullah. Therefore, a Muslim can remember his Rabb at all the times; while in the Masaajid and while in the midst of this world. Rahman says:

 

 

"Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day,  - there are indeed Signs for men of understanding, - Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (with the thought): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! Give us salvation from the Chastisement of the Fire."  [Aal-e-Imran - 3:190-191]

 

 

 

Once we start to praise Allah with our hearts, then shall we be able to feel the sweetness of Rahman's Dhikr. For example, many of us pray Salah without knowing the meanings of what we say, and many of us know the meanings but we do not concentrate on what we say. We should pray with the certainty that we are standing in front of Rabbul 'Alameen, standing with sincerity and devotion, with fear and hope of His Mercy. When we say anything in As-Salah, we should express that it is said directly to Him (Allah). We say: 

 

 

 

 

 

Subhana ka-Allah humma  (You are Glorified, O Allah!)

 

wabi hamdika (and Praised! )

 

watabara kasmuka (Your Name is Blessed!)

 

wata'ala jad-duka (Your Majesty is Exalted! )

 

wala ilaha ghairuk (and none has the right to be worshipped but You!) }

 

"Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the Greatest)

 

"Subhana Rabbi Yal Atheem" (Glory be to my Lord who is the very Greatest)

 

"Samee 'Allah hu liman hameeda"  (Allah listens to the one who praises Him)

 

"Rab-bana lakal hamd"  (Our Lord, all the praises be to You)

 

"Sub-hana Rabbi yal A'ala"  (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High)

 

 Ibn 'Umar (radi Allahu anhu) reported that the Prophet (sallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam) told them:

 

"A servant of Allah said 'My Lord! All praise is for You as much as Your Glory and Sublime Majesty rightly deserve. ' This was too much for the two angels to record. They did not know how to record it. So they soared to the heaven and said, 'Our Lord! Your servant has said something which we don't know how to record?' Allah asked them--and, of course, He knew what the servant had said--'What did My servant say?' They said, 'He has said, "My Lord! All praise is for You as much as Your Glory and Sublime Majesty rightly deserve." Allah said to them, ' Write it down as My servant has said until he should meet Me and I reward him for it'.' (Reported by Ahmad and Ibn Majah)

 

May Allah forgive us and accept our good deeds. May Allah guide us to the best ways in which we should Praise Him, Glorify Him. May Allah keep our hearts attached to Him. Once our hearts are filled with the Dhikr of Rahman, Insha’Allah, we will have no interest of whatsoever in this Dunya. The light of Allah's Dhikr fills up the heart and the heart becomes satisfied with what it needs. Allah says "Beware! It is the remembrance of Allah which provides tranquility to the hearts!" [ala bithikri Allahi tatmainnu alquloobu!] (13:28). Anything other than His Remembrance or this Dunya will not satisfy our hearts! 

 

"Therefore, remember Me, and, I will remember you, be grateful to Me and never deny Me." [al-Baqarah, 2:152] 

 

Allah's Messenger (sallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said:

Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, thus stated: I am near to the thought of My servant as he thinks about Me, and I am with him as he remembers Me. And if he remembers Me in his heart, I also remember him in My Heart, and if he remembers Me in assembly I remember him in assembly, better than his (remembrance), and if he draws near Me by the span of a palm, I draw near him by the cubit, and if he draws near Me by the cubit I draw near him by the space (covered by) two hands. And if he walks towards Me, I rush towards him. [Sahih Muslim]

 

"Nay! When the earth will be pounded to powder,  your Lord will come, with angels standing in ranks, hell shall be brought in sight. On that Day man will remember his deeds, but how is that remembrance going to profit him?

He will say: "Alas! Would that I had sent forth some good deeds for this life of mine."

None can punish as Allah will punish on that Day, and none can bind as He will bind.

To the righteous soul it will be said:  'O fully satisfied soul! Return to your Lord,

well pleased with Him and well-pleasing to Him. Join My servants, and enter My paradise.'"  [al-Fajr, 89:21-30]

 

 

"Subhana Rabbika Rabbi al'izzati 'amma yasifoon Wasalamun 'ala al-Mursaleen

Waal-Hamdu lillahi Rabbil 'Alameen"   Al-Quran [37:180-182]

 

 

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