All words of praise and glory to Allah, extolling His Perfect Attributes of Power
and Majesty, Beauty and Sublimeness, whether one utters them by tongue or says them
silently in one's heart, are known as zhikr or remembrance of Allah. He has commanded
us to remember Him always and ever. The Qur'an says: O you who believe! Celebrate
the praises of Allah, and do so often; and glorify Him morning and evening. Qur'an
33.41
If anyone remembers Allah, He remembers that person: "Remember me, I shall remember
you." Qur'an 2.152 In a hadith qudsi, the Prophet, peace be upon him, narrated:
"Allah says: 'I am to my servant as he expects of Me, I am with him when he remembers
Me. If he remembers Me in his heart, I remember him to Myself, and if he remembers
me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly better than his, and if he draws
nearer to Me a hand's span, I draw nearer to him an arm's length, and if he draws
nearer to Me an arm's length, I draw nearer to him a fathom length, and if he comes
to me walking, I rush to him at [great] speed. (Bukhari and Muslim)
Allah has bestowed a special distinction upon those who remember Him. The Prophet,
peace be upon him, said, "The devotees have surpassed all." They asked, "Who are
these exceptional people (Mufarridun), O Prophet of Allah?" He replied, "Those men
and women who remember Allah unceasingly." (Muslim) These are the people who are
really alive. Abu Musa reported, "The likeness of the one who remembers his Lord
and the one who does not remember Him is like that of a living to a dead person.''
(Bukhari)
Remembrance of Allah is the foundation of good deeds. Whoever succeeds in it is
blessed with the close friendship of Allah. That is why the Prophet, peace be upon
him, used to make remembrance of Allah at all times. When a man complained, "The
laws of Islam are too heavy for me, so tell me something that I can easily follow,"
the Prophet, peace be upon him, told him, "Let your tongue be always busy with the
remembrance of Allah." The Prophet, peace be upon him, would often tell his Companions,
"Shall I tell you about the best of deeds, the most pure in the sight of your Lord,
about the one that is of the highest order and is far better for you than spending
gold and silver, even better for you than meeting your enemies in the battlefield
where you strike at their necks and they at yours?" The Companions replied, "Yes,
O Messenger of Allah!" The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Remembrance of Allah.''
(Reported by Tirmizhi, Ahmad, and Al-Hakim, who considers its chain of narrators
sound)
Remembrance of Allah is also a means of deliverance from Hell Fire. Mu'azh reported,
"The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, 'No other act of man is a more effective
means for his deliverance from the chastisement of Allah than the remembrance of
Allah.'' (Ahmad) Ahmad reports that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Whatever
you say in celebration of Allah's Glory, Majesty, and Oneness, and all your words
of Praise for Him gather around the Throne of Allah. These words resound like the
buzzing of bees, and call attention to the person who uttered them to Allah. Don't
you wish to have someone there in the presence of Allah who would call attention
to you?"
Allah, the Exalted, ordered that He should be remembered a lot. Describing the wise
men and women who ponder His signs, the Qur'an mentions, "those who remember Allah
standing, sitting and on their sides,'' Qur'an 3.191 and "those men and women who
engage much in Allah's praise. For them has Allah prepared forgiveness and a great
reward.'' Qur'an 33.35 Mujahid explained, "A person cannot be one of 'those men
and women who remember Allah much' as mentioned in the above verse of the Qur'an,
unless he or she remembers Allah at all times, standing, sitting, or lying in bed."
When asked how much zhikr one should do to be considered as one of "those who remember
Allah much," Ibn Al-Salah said that "much" is "when one is constant in supplicating,
in the morning and evening and in other parts of the day and the night as reported
from the Prophet, peace be upon him." Concerning the above Quranic verses 'Ali b.
Abi Talha relates that Ibn 'Abbas said, "All obligations imposed upon man by Allah
are clearly marked and one is exempted from them in the presence of a genuine cause.
The only exception is the obligation of zhikr. Allah has set no specific limits
for it, and under no circumstances is one allowed to be negligent of it. We are
commanded to 'remember Allah standing, sitting and reclining on your sides,' in
the morning, during the day, at sea or on land, on journey or at home, in poverty
and in prosperity, in sickness or in health, openly and secretly, and, in fact,
at all times throughout one's life and in all circumstances."
Sa' id b. Jubair said, "Anyone engaged in obeying Allah is in fact engaged in the
remembrance of Allah." Some of the earlier scholars tied it to some more specified
form. 'Ata said, "The gatherings of zhikr are the gatherings where the lawful and
the prohibited things are discussed, for instance, selling, buying, prayers, fasting,
marriage, divorce, and pilgrimage." Al-Qurtubi said, "Gatherings of zhikr are the
gatherings for knowledge and admonition, those in which the Word of Allah and the
sunnah of His Messenger, accounts of our righteous predecessors, and sayings of
the righteous scholars are learned and practiced without any addition or innovation,
and without any ulterior motives or greed."
The purpose of zhikr is to purify hearts and souls and awaken the human conscience.
The Qur'an says, "And establish regular prayer, for prayer restrains from shameful
and unjust deeds, and remembrance of Allah is the greatest thing in life, without
doubt.'' Qur'an 29.45 In other words, the remembrance of Allah has a greater impact
in restraining one from shameful and unjust deeds than just the formal regular prayer.
This is so because when a servant opens up his soul to his Lord, extolling His praise,
Allah strengthens him with His light, increasing thereby his faith and conviction,
and reassuring his mind and heart. This refers to "those who believe, and whose
hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah, for without doubt in the remembrance
of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.'' Qur'an 13.28
And when hearts are satisfied with the Truth, they turn to the highest ideals without
being deflected by impulses of desire or lust. This underscores the importance of
zhikr in man's life. Obviously it would be unreasonable to expect these results
just by uttering certain words, for words of the tongue unsupported by a willing
heart are of no consequence. Allah Himself has taught us the manner in which a person
should remember Him, saying, "And do bring your Lord to remembrance in your very
soul, with humility and in reverence, without loudness in words, in the mornings
and evening, and be not of those who are unheedful.'' Qur'an 7.205
This verse indicates that doing zhikr in silence and without raising one's voice
is better. Once during a journey the Prophet, peace be upon him, heard a group of
Muslims supplicating aloud. Thereupon the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Give
yourselves a respite, you are not calling upon someone deaf or absent. Surely He
Whom you are calling upon is near you and He listens to all. He is nearer to you
than the neck of your mount." This hadith underlines the love and awe a person should
feel while engaged in zhikr.
A part of this etiquette is the requirement that a person wishing to do zhikr be
clean in body and dress, and smell sweet and fragrant. This will give him a fresh
zeal and he will feel invigorated. One should face the qiblah during zhikr, for
the best assemblies are those that face the Ka'bah.
Joining the assemblies or circles of zhikr is a commendable practice as shown by
the following hadith: Ibn 'Umar reported, "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
'When you pass by a garden of Paradise, avail yourselves of it.' The Companions
asked, 'What are the gardens of Paradise, O Messenger of Allah? ' The Prophet, peace
be upon him, replied, 'The assemblies or circles of zhikr. There are some angels
of Allah who go about looking for such assemblies of zhikr, and when they find them
they surround them'."
Muslim reports that Mu'awiyyah said, "The Prophet, peace be upon him, went out to
a circle of his Companions and asked, 'What makes you sit here?' They said, 'We
are sitting here in order to remember Allah and to praise Him because He guided
us to the path of Islam and he conferred favors upon us.' Thereupon he adjured them
by Allah and asked if that was the only purpose of their sitting there. 'They said,
By Allah, we are sitting here for this purpose only. ' At this the Prophet, peace
be upon him, said, 'I am not asking you to take an oath because of any misapprehension
against you, but only because Gabriel came to me and informed me that Allah, the
Exalted and Glorious, was telling the angels that He is proud of you'."
Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri and Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
said, "When any group of men remember Allah, angels surround them and mercy covers
them, tranquility descends upon them, and Allah mentions them to those who are with
Him."
Qatadah reported that Anas ibn Malik said, "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
'When a human is laid in his grave and his companions return and he hears their
footsteps, two angels will come to him and make him sit and ask him, "What did you
say about this man, Muhammad, may peace be upon him?" He will say, "I testify that
he is Allah's servant and His Messenger." Then it will be said to him, "Look at
your place in Hell-Fire. Allah has exchanged for you a place in Paradise instead
of it".' The Prophet, peace be upon him, added, 'The dead person will see both his
places. As for a non-believer or a hypocrite, he will respond to the angels, "I
do not know, but I used to say what the people used to say ! " It will be said to
him, "Neither did you know nor did you seek guidance from those who had knowledge."
Then he will be hit with an iron hammer between his two ears, and he will cry and
that cry will be heard by all except human beings and jinns'." (Bukhari and Muslim)
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "When a servant
of Allah utters the words la ilaha illa'Allah (there is none worthy of worship except
Allah) sincerely, the doors of heaven open up for these words until they reach the
Throne of Allah, so long as its utterer keeps away from the major sins.'' (Tirmizhi,
who says it is a hasan gharib hadith)
Abu Hurairah also reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Renew your
faith." "How can we renew our faith?" they asked. The Prophet, peace be upon him,
replied, "Say always, 'La ilaha ill-Allah'.'' (Reported by Ahmad with a sound chain
of authorities)
Jabir reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "The best remembrance
of Allah is to repeat La ilaha ill-Allah and the best prayer is alhamdu li-Allah
(All Praise is due to Allah).'' (Reported by Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and Al-Hakim, who
considers its chain sound)
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "There are two
phrases that are light on the tongue but heavy on the scale of rewards and are dear
to (Allah) the Gracious One. These are, subhanallah wa bi-hamdihi (All Glory is
to Allah and all Praise to Him), and subhanallah al-azim (Glorified is Allah, the
Great).'' (Muslim, Bukhari, and Tirmizhi) Abu Hurairah also reported that the Prophet,
peace be upon him, said, "I love repeating subhanallah, wal-hamdulillah, wa la-ilaha
ill-Allah, wa-Allahu akbar (Glorified is Allah, all praise is due to Allah, and
there is no God but Allah, Allah is the greatest) more than all that the sun shines
upon.'' (Muslim and Tirmizhi)
Abu Zharr reported, "the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, 'Shall I tell you the
words that Allah loves the most?' I said, 'Yes, tell me, O Messenger of Allah.'
He said, 'The words most dear to Allah are subhan-Allah wa bihamdihi (Glorified
is Allah with all praise due to Him)'." This is narrated by Muslim and Tirmizhi.
In Tirmizhi's version, we also find the following: "The words most dear to Allah
which He has chosen for His angels are subhana Rabbi wa bihamdihi, subhana Rabbi
wa bihamdihi (Glorified is my Lord with all praise due to Him, Glorified is my Lord
with all praise due to Him)."
Jabir reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Whoever says Subhan-Allah-al-Azim
wa bihamdihi (Glorified is Allah, the Great, with all praise due to Him), will have
a palm tree planted for him in Paradise.'' (Reported by Tirmizhi who considers it
a sound hadith.)
Abu Sa'id reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Perform the enduring
goods deeds more frequently." The asked, "What are these enduring deeds?" The Prophet,
peace be upon him, replied, At-Takbir, (Saying Allahu akbar i.e., Allah is the greatest)
At-Tahlil, (Saying la ilaha ill-Allah, i.e., there is no god but Allah) At-Tasbih,
(Saying subhan-Allah meaning, Exalted and far removed is Allah from any weakness)
al-hamdu li-Allah, (This means: All praise belongs to Allah alone) and la hawla
wala quwwata illa billah. (There is no power nor any authority except with the permission
of Allah) This is reported by An-Nasa'i and Al-Hakim, who consider its chain of
authorities sound.
Abdallah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "During the Night Journey
I met Ibrahim who said to me, 'O Muhammad, convey my greetings to your ummah, and
tell them that the Paradise is of pure land, its water is sweet, and its expanse
is vast, spacious and even. And its plants are Subhan-Allah, wal-hamdulillah, wala
ilah illallah, wa-Allahu akbar'.''
Samura ibn Jundab reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "The dearest
phrases to Allah are four: Subhan Allah, (Glorified is Allah), al-Hamdulillah (All
praise be to Allah), Wa la ilaha ill-Allah (There is no God but Allah), and Allah-o-Akbar
(Allah is the Greatest). There is no harm in beginning them in any order you choose
while remembering Allah.'' (Muslim)
Abu Mas'ud reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "If anyone recites
the last two verses of Surat al-Baqarah, they will suffice for him,'' (Bukhariand
Muslim) that is, these two verses will bring him a reward equivalent to that of
a night prayer, and will safeguard him from any hurt during that night. Ibn Khuzaimah
in his Sahih has also mentioned it under the chapter "The Recitation of the Qur'an
Equivalent in Reward to a Night Prayer."
Abu Sa'id reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, asked, "Can anyone of you
recite a third of the Qur'an during the night?" The Companions considered this rather
difficult and they said, "Who among us can do so, O Prophet of Allah?" Thereupon
the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "(Say:) He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah,
the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is he begotten; and there is none like
unto Him.'' (The reference here is to recitation of Surah 112 (Suratul Ikhlas) of
the Qur'an, which the Prophet, peace be upon him, described as equivalent to reciting
one-third of the Qur'an. This hadith is reported by Bukhari, Muslim, and Nasa'i)
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Whoever says,
'La llaha illa-Allahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamd wa huwa
'ala kulli shai'in qadir' a hundred times during a day will have a reward equivalent
to the reward for freeing ten slaves. Besides, a hundred good deeds will be recorded
for him and a hundred bad deeds of his will be wiped off, and it will be a safeguard
for him from Satan that day until evening, and no one will be better in deeds than
such a person except he who does more than that.'' (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizhi, Nasa'i,
and Ibn Majah) In the version of Muslim, Tirmizhi, and Nasa'i, we find this addition:
"And whoever says subhan Allah wa bi-hamdihi a hundred times during a day, will
have all his sins wiped off even if they were as numerous as the foam on the surface
of the sea."
Anas reported that he heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying that Allah says,
"O son of Adam, whatever you asked Me and expect from Me I forgave - respecting
that which you owed to Me - and I don't care [how great this was]. O Son of Adam,
even if your sins pile up to the sky and then you seek My forgiveness I will forgive
you, and O son of Adam, even if you have an earthful of sins but you meet Me without
associating any other thing with Me I will forgive you.' (Reported by Tirmizhi,
who considers it a hasan sahih hadith)
Abdallah b. 'Abbas said, "If one supplicates without fail for forgiveness from Allah,
He finds a way out for him to get out of every distress and difficulty, and gives
him sustenance through ways utterly unthought of.'' (Reported by Abu Daw'ud, Nasa'i,
Ibn Majah, and Al-Hakim, who says its chain of authorities is sound.)
Juwairiyah (One of the wives of the Prophet, peace be upon him) reported that one
day the Prophet, peace be upon him, left her apartment in the morning as she was
busy observing her dawn prayer in her place of worship. He came back in the forenoon
and she was still sitting there. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to her, "You
have been in the same place since I left you?" She said, "Yes." Thereupon the Prophet,
peace be upon him, said, "I recited four words three times after I left you and
if these were to be weighed against what you have recited since morning these would
outweigh them, and these words are: Subhanallah wa bihamdihi 'adada khalqihi wa
rida' nafsihi wa zinata 'arshihi wa midada kalimatihi (hallowed be Allah and praise
is due to Him to the extent of the number of His creation and to the extent of His
pleasure and to the extent of the weight of His Throne and to the extent of ink
used in recording words for His Praise).'' (Reported by Muslim and Abu Daw'ud)
Sa'd ibn Abu Waqqas reported that once the Prophet, peace be upon him, saw a woman
who had some date-stones or pebbles which she was using as beads to glorify Allah.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to her, "Let me tell you something which would
be easier and more excellent for you than that." So he told her to say instead Subhan-Allah
'adada ma khalaqa fil-ard wa subhan Allah 'adada ma khalaqa bayna zhalika wa subhan-Allah
'adada ma huwa khaliq wa Allahu akhar mithla zhalik wa la ilaha illa-Allahu mithla
zhalik wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa mithla zhalik (Glory be to Allah as many times
as the number of what He has created in Heaven, Glory be to Allah as many times
as the number of what He has created on Earth, Glory be to Allah as many times as
the number of what He has created between them, Glory be to Allah as many times
as the number of that which He is creating, Allah is the most great a similar number
of times, praise be to Allah a similar number of times, and There is no god but
Allah a similar number of times, and there is no might and no power except with
Allah a similar number of times).'' (Reported by the Compilers of the Sunan and
Al-Hakim, who says it is a sound hadith according to the criterion of Muslim)
Ibn 'Umar reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, 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)
Yusairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, commanded them (the emigrant
women) to be regular in remembering Allah by saying, "Allah is the most great,"
"Glory be to Allah, the Holy," and "There is no God but Allah," and never to be
forgetful of Allah and His Mercy, and to count them on their fingers, for the fingers
will be questioned and will speak. (Reported in the Sunan and by Al-Hakim with a
sound chain of authorities)
Abdallah b. 'Amr b. al-'As reported, "I saw the Prophet, peace be upon him, counting
the glorifications of Allah on his right hand's fingers.'' (Reported in the Sunan)
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "If peopie sit
in an assembly in which they do not remember Allah nor invoke a blessing on the
Prophet, it will be a cause of grief for them on the Day of Judgment." This is reported
by Tirmizhi, who says it is a sound hadith.
In the version of Ahmad, however, we read, "If people sit in an assembly in which
they do not remember Allah, it will be a cause of sorrow for them, and if a man
is walking and does not remember Allah, it will be a cause of sorrow for him, and
if a man lies down on his bed and does not remember Allah, it will be a cause of
sorrow for him." Another version says, "It will be a sorrow for them, even if they
are given Paradise in reward."
The author of Fath al-'Allam says, "This hadith proves that it is incumbent on one
to remember Allah and invoke blessings on the Prophet while sittmg in an assembly,
for whether we take the words 'cause of grief or sorrow' to mean torment of fire
or any other chastisement, obviously a punishment is incurred only when an obligatory
act is neglected or a forbidden act is committed, and here it is both the remembrance
of Allah and the invoking of blessings on His Prophet that are apparently incumbent."
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "If anyone sits
in an assembly where there is much clamor and says before getting up to leave, Subhanaka
Allahumma wa bihamdika, ashadu an-la illaha illa-anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayka
(Glory be to You, O Allah, and I begin with declaring all praise is due to You,
I testify that there is no god but You; I ask Your pardon and turn to You in repentance),
he will be forgiven any sin that he might have committed while in that assembly.
(Tirmizhi and Al-Baihaqi, (Kitab ad-D'wat Al-kabir))
It is related that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "The atonement for backbiting
[and slander] is to pray for forgiveness of the person who was slandered and to
say, 'O Allah, forgive us and him'."
The preferable course in this regard is to pray for forgiveness of the person who
was the target of the slander and to mention his good qualities. This will wipe
off the effects of such backbiting, and it is not necessary to announce such a thing.
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