Dhikr of Allah is Islam

Assalam o allaikum Wr Wb.

In the name of Allah SWT who is the master of the worlds and everything between them, master of the day of judgement when each soul shall the reward of their deeds. May the salutations be on the Prophet Mohammad SAW who was send as a guide to this mankind.

Dhikr has two meanings:
1) Remembrance
2) Reminder, statement, mention.

Dhikr Allah can then have four meanings:

1) Remembrance of Allah (by us)
2) Remembrance by Allah (of us)
3) A reminder or message coming from Allah
4) A reminder or message about Allah

In the Qur`an when dhikr is used by itself, its primary meaning is the reminder or message from Allah, including the Qur`an and earlier revealed books. But when it is used as a phrase like “dhikr Allah”, its primary meaning seems to be the remembrance of Allah by human beings.

THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS BUSY IN DHIKR ALLAH

One form of dhikr allah is tasbih or glorification of Allah. The Qur`an says that everything in the universe is busy in the tasbih of Allah:

تُسَبِّحُ لَهُ السَّمَاوَاتُ السَّبْعُ وَالأَرْضُ وَمَن فِيهِنَّ وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدَهِ وَلَـكِن لاَّ تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ حَلِيمًا غَفُورًا

The seven heavens and the earth and all that is in them glorify him and there is not a thing but declares his praise. But you do not understand their glorification. He is truly ever forbearing, oft forgiving. (17:44)

This means that the whole universe is like a huge masjid, in which dhikr of Allah is going on at all times. This includes even the bodies of all human beings. The only place where the glorification of Allah is not going on is the consciousness of some human beings and other similar beings. But at some level even human beings are "aware" of Allah:

وَإِذ نَتَقْنَا الْجَبَلَ فَوْقَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُ ظُلَّةٌ وَظَنُّواْ أَنَّهُ وَاقِعٌ بِهِمْ خُذُواْ مَا آتَيْنَاكُم بِقُوَّةٍ وَاذْكُرُواْ مَا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

And consider [O man] your Lord brings forth from the children of Adam from their loins their seed and makes them testify to themselves -- “Am I not your Lord?” They say: “Yes, we bear witness (to that)” – lest they say on the day of resurrection: “Verily, we have been unaware of this.” (7:171)

This declaration that Allah is the Lord, which every soul has made to him, is buried deep in our subconscious mind. The purpose of revelation is to bring it to our consciousness, so that we live by it and consciously join the rest of the Creation in the glorification of Allah and obedience to him. This is why the Qur`an often calls itself dhikr; e.g., in the following verse:

وَمِنْ حَيْثُ خَرَجْتَ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنتُمْ فَوَلُّواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُ لِئَلاَّ يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَّةٌ إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ مِنْهُمْ فَلاَ تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِي وَلأُتِمَّ نِعْمَتِي عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

And this is a blessed dhikr that We have sent down; are you going to deny it? (21:50)

The Qur`an is dhikr because: a) it is a reminder of the declaration that every human soul has made that Allah is its only true Lord; b) its main message is that we should remember the one and only true Lord; c) its main concern is to help us remember him.

AL-ISLAM IS ESSENTIALLY DHIKR ALLAH

When our consciousness starts to do dhikr of Allah, then we have adopted the way of al-islam and we have become Muslims. Al-islam and doing dhikr of Allah is therefore essentially the same thing. The Holy Qur`an says:

أَفَمَن شَرَحَ اللَّهُ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ فَهُوَ عَلَى نُورٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِ فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْقَاسِيَةِ قُلُوبُهُم مِّن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ أُوْلَئِكَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ

اللَّهُ نَزَّلَ أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابًا مُّتَشَابِهًا مَّثَانِيَ تَقْشَعِرُّ مِنْهُ جُلُودُ الَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ ثُمَّ تَلِينُ جُلُودُهُمْ وَقُلُوبُهُمْ إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ هُدَى اللَّهِ يَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ يَشَاء وَمَن يُضْلِلْ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ هَادٍ

"Is he whose breast Allah has opened for al-islam and who is consequently (walking with) a light from his Lord (like the one who is deprived of al-islam). Then woe unto those whose hearts are hardened against the dhikr of Allah. Such are in plain error. Allah has sent down the best of hadith (word, statement), a book with inner harmony and diversity. The skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from it. Then their skins and their hearts soften to the dhikr of Allah. Such is the guidance of Allah. He guides therewith whom He pleases, but whomever Allah leads astray has no guide.” (39:22-23)

In these verses, first there is the mention of those whose breasts have been opened by Allah for al-islam and who are as a result given a nur or light to walk with. Then there is the mention of those whose hearts are too hard to remember Allah and who are therefore in dalal. This means that al-islam and dhikr of Allah go together. Where there is dhikr of Allah there is al-islam and where there is absence of his dhikr there is absence of al-islam. Also, the verses make it clear that the purpose of the Qur`an is to incline us to the dhikr of Allah.

In the following verses it is even more clearly stated that the absence of dhikr Allah leads man away from the way of Allah (al-islam) and to the way of Shaytan:

وَمَن يَعْشُ عَن ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِي

وَإِنَّهُمْ لَيَصُدُّونَهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ

And whoever turns himself away from the dhikr of the Most Gracious One, We appoint for him a devil (shaytan) to be his associate. And (these devils) turn them away from the way (of Allah) while they think that they are guided aright. (43:36-37)

So if we see the lives of the Sahabah Kiram (AJ) then we see that their lives were moulded around the dhikr of Allah SWT. No matter what conditions they were in, they would not keep their hearts aloof of the remembrance of Allah SWT.

HADEETH OF REMEMBERANCE AT DEATH

The Holy Prophet (SAW) once visited a young Sahabi, who was breathing his last, and asked him how he was feeling. He replied, "O! Messenger of Allah, I am hopeful of the mercy of Allah, and yet I am afraid of my sins." Thereupon the Holy Prophet (SAW) said "When the heart of a believer is filled with these two feelings of hope and fear, Almighty Allah fulfils his hope and saves him from what he is afraid of."

DHIKR ALLAH KEEPS US AWAY FROM EVIL AND MEANS MUCH MORE

If turning away from the dhikr of the Most Gracious One leads one into the hands of the devils, doing his dhikr keeps him safe from them. For one of the most important form of dhikr – salah – the Holy Qur`an says:

اتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاء وَالْمُنكَرِ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ

"Read what is revealed to you in the Book and establish regular prayer. Verily, the prayer stops one from indecent and disapproved acts. But verily, dhikr of Allah is greater and Allah knows what you do." (29:45)

DHIKR ALLAH BRINGS US IN TOUCH WITH OURSELVES

Remembrance of Allah, of course, brings us close to our Creator. But it also brings us close to our own selves:

وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ نَسُوا اللَّهَ فَأَنسَاهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ

"And be not like those who forgot Allah and he made them forget their own souls. Such are the transgressors." [59:19]

It is implied in this verse that those who remember Allah also have awareness of their own selves.

HADITH ABOUT DHIKR…

Imam Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallaho anho) narrated that Rasulullah (SAW) has said, "Almighty Allah says, I treat my slave (man) according to his expectations from Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in his heart, I remember him in My heart; if he remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in a better and nobler gathering (i.e. of angels). If he comes closer to Me by one span, I go towards him a cubit's length, if he comes towards Me by a cubit's length, I go towards him an arm's length, and if he walks towards Me, I run unto him."

May Allah SWT give us the capability to practice upon what has been said and give us the ability to be in complete submission to the will of Allah SWT. Wama Taufiqi Illah Billah.

~March 02, 2007 ~ Delivered at FIA Masjid

Special thanks to Dr. Ahmad Shafat