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

Challenges that a Muslim Youth Faces in University

“As-salámu 'alaikum wa rahmatul láhi wa barakátuh!”

“A-úthu billáhi minash shaytánir rajeem. Bismilláhir rahmánir raheem.
Al hamdu lillahi nahmaduhu wanasta’eenahu, wanastagh-firuhu, wanatoobu ilayhi,
Wa ash-hadu an Laa ilaaha ill-Alláh, wahdahoo laa shareeka lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhoo warasooluh!”

Amma Ba’ad:

Today I would like to welcome all of you, students, teachers, families and specially those who have traveled long distances to achieve their dreams and in the process will become a part of the youth on campus. I hope in sincerity, inshallah, that this orientation program will give you some insight of what a Muslim student’s life is at this campus and in this community, at large. I hope in sincerity, that today you will get to know the people who care about you and the people in whom you will see your own spiritual reflection. I hope in sincerity, that wherever you will move on from here, you will carry with you memories of a time well spent and a time well used in the a’boodiyah of Allah SWT.

When we look at the lives of the companions of the Prophet SAW, we will see many examples that will make us wonder about ourselves. We will see examples from the youth of that era that will make our hair stand on their ends.

Some say, that Muslims always talk about stories a thousand years old and they love to live in the past glory. Well yes that’s true. We do live in the past, but we don’t isolate ourselves in the past. We learn from our values, our mistakes, our accomplishments, our achievements and then move on to the next level which is to transform ourselves into a better human being. We read about the lives of the Saliheen, We smile on their humor, we weep on their sadness, we show emotions on their anger and hence we connect ourselves to their lives, for they spent lives in complete submission to the will of Allah SWT.

They were the people of great understanding of religion…. Which doesn’t mean that they spent all day reading books and collecting information.. they laughed, they joked, they used to pray together, they used to compete against eachother in various sports… but all that was done within the circle of Sharia, within the boundaries prescribed by the Word of Allah SWT. This reminds me of an incident…

INCIDENT OF NUAYMAN IBN `AMR (RA)

Once Nuayman went to the suq and saw some food being sold which appeared to be tasty and delightful. He ordered some and sent it to the Prophet as if it were a gift from him. The Prophet was delighted with the food and he and his family ate of it. The vendor of the food then came to Nuayman to collect the price of it and an-Nuayman said to him: "Go to the Messenger of God it was for him. He and his family ate it." .. The vendor went to the Prophet who in turn asked Nuayman: "Didn't you give it to me?" "Yes," said Nuayman. "I thought you would like it and I wanted you to eat some of it so I had it presented to you. But I don't have any dirhams to pay the vendor for it. So, pay, O Messenger of God!" The Prophet had a good laugh and so did his companions. The laugh was at his expense, literally, for he had to pay the price of the unsolicited gift. Nuayman felt that two benefits came out of the incident: the Prophet and his family ate food that they enjoyed and the Muslims had a good laugh!

Yes, they were people who knew how to have fun, but when it came to religious obligations, they were the first to sacrifice, they were the first to devote themselves, and they heard and practiced the word of Allah SWT like no other. Their day to day lives, habits, and actions were according the guidelines of Quran and Sunnah.

Allah SWT has commanded us in Quran that we spend time in His remembrance. He commands us to pray 5 times a day. Allah SWT also says in Surah Al Ara’af

وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ فِي نَفْسِكَ تَضَرُّعاً وَخِيفَةً وَدُونَ الْجَهْرِ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالآصَالِ وَلاَ تَكُن مِّنَ الْغَافِلِينَ

“And remember your Lord by your tongue and within yourself, humbly and with fear without loudness in words in the mornings, and in the afternoons and be not of those who are neglectful.” [7:205].

All these commandments are for a reason, to make us strong in our faith, to keep ourselves away from evil and above all to give us an identity. An identity that is true to the concept of servitude towards Allah SWT. An identity, that binds us all in the end together. As a Muslim student in this part of the world, this identity means even more to us because that’s how we are looked upon, judged upon, and ultimately recognized upon. Having established the fact that when you come to this society and establish yourself therein, the only thing that gives you a complete sense of presence and association is your identity as a muslim, we can now move on to some of the hurdles that may present some challenge to us in our life here.

SALAT

The first and the foremost challenge that we will encounter here is the establishment of our salaat. It is a direct commandment of Allah SWT that requires us to establish salaat in all conditions. One has to realize that if we were to maintain our identity in this environment as muslims, we must switch from a passive contributor to an active contributor in our community. The environment at the school will test us at many levels where it will be required of us to provide explanations for our religious actions. We can no longer choose to be approached by others to establish the salaat, rather we have to assume this duty ourselves and take responsibility of establishing salaat. Some of our brothers are already engaged in these activities on the campus. We must contribute our share of effort towards this important cause, for Allah SWT says in the Quran:

إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاَةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ
5:55 Your (real) friends are (no less than) Allah, His Messenger, and the (fellowship of) believers,- those who establish regular prayers and regular charity, and they bow down humbly (in worship).

Sometimes, there is a conflict between our salaat and the class timings, so you will see many of us sacrificing our classes to establish the salaat. Some of us are spending extra hours after school to make up for that missed time. An outsider may question us if it is worth it? But a believer knows it is all worth it, for if the Creator is not happy with us, nothing we achieve is of any value to us in Aakhira.

My example – salat on campus – people interested to know about it

WUDU

The next challenge you may face in the university environment is the pre-requisite of the Salaat, i.e. Wudu. We may not find the same facilities on the campus as we are used to in our own countries. We may feel shy or inconfident to use public washrooms on campus to perform wudu. Remember, our salaat is not for someone, not even for ourselves; rather it is to please Allah SWT. Allah SWT will reward us many folds for each action that we carry out in His path. It has happened to me many a times in public washrooms, where I have to wash my feet in the sink and somebody walks in, and gives me a look like “Whaaaaa?” So before they say a word, I say, “We need to be clean before we make worship, right.” And most of the times, they will smile and nod but there are a few times when they cannot understand. Sometimes they inquire and it becomes a reason to explain to others what the tenets of my religion are. In my heart, I don’t feel hesitant because my salaat is for Allah SWT and my wudu is to make that salaat as perfect as possible.

FASTING

Ramadhan is coming soon and to maintain the spirit of Saum on campus can be a little frustrating. On one side we are trying to keep ourselves away from the evils, and on the other hand we are surrounded by all kinds of distractions. In addition to maintaining our devotion to the remembrance of Allah SWT and salaat, we have some extra restrictions on us. We cannot raise our temper, we cannot involve ourselves in idle activities, we cannot use harsh words against one another, we keep ourselves away from eating or drinking or having any kind of sexual contacts, and on top of that we still have to maintain a social circle where people have to accept us as one of their own. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either. A muslim’s life on campus is therefore a constant struggle against all these difficulties and each of these difficulties when conquered gives a new boost to the morale and a new confidence and a new strength to our faith.

The above are few examples of the challenges on a personal level and are related to physicality of our worships. There are some challenges that may be categorized as mental challenges or spiritual challenges.

IDENTITY:

In order to understand the challenges that you face or will face, we have to look upon our origin. We ought to know where we came from and what are we capable of. We ought to know our identity, define it and then live by it. All of us came from different countries with different backgrounds, where we never questioned as to what our identity is because it is never asked of us. Now people will question us, of who we are and to what we associate ourselves to? We will be asked of what we adhere to and why? We will be asked of why we follow such and such? There are many answers to these questions… because I am from Africa, I am from Pakistan, Palestine…. Or because I am an Indian or because I am an Arab or a Chinese… but before we can utter any word from our mouth we ought to think as to what is common among all of us that binds us together.. and that is Islam, our religion… suddenly all the shades, colors, creeds, nationalities, linguistic boundaries disappear when we are confident to call ourselves Muslims, our real identity suddenly shines and all our actions become self explanatory.

SOCIALIZATION:

Islam gives us a very strong perspective on the importance of socialization. The spread of the word of Allah SWT is achieved through socialization. We, as muslims must keep contacts with others surrounding us, for we may become the reason for the spread of the true Word, the Quran.


There is no doubt that the company of friends influences the formation of our characters. For this reason, Allah's Messenger SAW, said, "A person is influenced by his companions religion, so watch who your companions are." (Abu Dawood,
Tirmidhi)

This influence is acquired from two aspects: 1. The first is acquired in the company of relatives, neighbors, school and all those with whom a person is compelled to spend time.2. The second type of influence is acquired within more religious company which is likely to meet those who are less concerned. Though they pray and fast, they are less serious in carrying the message of Islam, dawah, sacrifice, etc. And if a person's faith is weak and is inclined towards desire and negligence, he will find comfort in this company. The effects of this influence become apparent through certain factors that include doing things he never used to do before. He begins considering those on the deviated path as examples in life and as a result, he starts imitating them saying, "If he can do this, why can't I?" He begins to please others at the expense of pleasing Allah by performing actions never done before or abandoning some good deeds. He abandons, for example, praying sunnah, or starts showing up late for congregation salaat, starts getting used to watching and hearing forbidden things- as a result, he even stops forbidding the evil. All this is no doubt a consequence of weak imaan and the influence of either a bad company or a group who are less serious with Islam and more inclined towards desire.

If the companions are pious and muttaqi, then chances are, we may also keep our faith strengthen. If the companions are involved in the evil practices, the chances will be that we will indulge in those practices giving a blind eye to the commandment of Allah SWT. The peer pressure can drive people far and beyond and when one realizes, then there is only regret. One should therefore make sure that the circle of friends that one chooses is of the Saliheen and Aabideen so that the company itself becomes the remembrance of Allah SWT.

CONFUSION BETWEEN RELIGION AND CULTURE:

Because of our varied background, we are sometimes confused about which of our customs originated from the teachings of islam and which of them came from our culture. Sometimes, we believe that a certain action that we have been accustomed to in our countries is a teaching of our religion, but we find out by doing a little research that those actions and habits actually originated from our culture and have nothing to do with the teaching of Islam. This confusion is not only limited to our muslim friends, and sometimes we see that lot of non muslims on the campus are in the same confusion when they meet us muslims. They have trouble differentiating if a certain thing that we do is from our religion or from our culture. For example, one may ask me if my outfit is a requirement by Islamic law, so I can clarify to him, that I am required by my religion to wear loose clothing and style may vary from one muslim country to another. Or if one asks a muslimah sister, “Is this Hijab a requirement by Islamic Law?” Then she would explain that, It’s a religious requirement for a muslim woman to cover her hair, although the style of the hijab may vary from one muslim country to another. In order to differentiate between the two we must be clear about the commandments ourselves. We must be clear about the difference between the teachings that came from our religion and the customs that were given to us by our culture.

STEREOTYPES

While maintaining our muslim identity on campus, we may from time to time run into people who have certain stereotypes against muslims. This may be due to the current Media distortion of the Islamic image, or due to some other reasons, but one does experience it from time to time. The only thing that helps us to defend ourselves in such circumstance is our faith and the conviction that this is a test from Allah SWT. Although at first it may be a negative experience but one can use the situation to explain our point of view. Most people who stereotype us realize that they are too quick to judge us and that there is more to Islam than what they have been watching on the television.

Example – salat in the mall – tim hortons. – ready to fly – whats wrong down there dear –

These are just a few example of challenges that we may face in our university environment. One has to think of how to rise to these challenges. There is no quick solution to any of these problems but there are couple of things that we can do to confront them.

UNITY & COMMUNICATION

We must at all times have open communications between our muslim friends. This will give us a sense of comfort that there is somebody who shares the same struggles. Also it will give us a sense of association, since we have the same religious background. We will know whats going on in the muslim community and vice versa. It will give us an avenue to share our problems and voice our concerns regarding our personal matters as well as anything that is troubling us.

I am sure there are a lot of things that I have not touched base with in this speech that were important, but I took the liberty of bringing out the key points regarding the challenges that a muslim youth faces in the universities. If you think that there is something that I missed, or something that should be discussed, Inshallah bring it to our weekly halaqa, we all would love to discuss it

Wa Aakhuru Da`waana Anil `7amdu Lillah i Rabbilaalimeen.

September 2005