Praise be to Allah from Whom we ask help and pardon, and in Whom we take refuge from the evils within ourselves. He whom Allah guides has no one who can lead him astray, and he whom He leads astray has no one to guide him. I testify that there is no god but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Remembrance of Allaah Our love and devotion to Allah (S.W.T.) can be supplemented by dhikr or recommended acts of remembering Him. This can be done by praying, making supplications and invocations to Him, reciting the Qur’an for His pleasure, and by praising Him . The following injunctions from the Qur’an and the Ahâdîth should inspire us to do more dhikr. “Then do you remember Me, I will remember you. Be grateful to Me and reject not faith.” (2:152) “Verily, I am Allah: There is no god but I: so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance.” (20:14) “Recite what is sent of the Book by inspiration to you, and establish regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains from shameful and evil deeds; and remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. And Allah knows the (deeds) that you do.” (29:45) Abu Musa (r.a.) narrated that the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said, “The example of the one who celebrates the Praises of his Rabb (Allah) in comparison to the one who does not celebrate the Praises of his Rabb, is that of a living creature compared to a dead one.” (Bukhari 8/416) Abu Hurairah (r.a.) narrated that the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said, “Allah will give shade to seven (types of people) under His Shade (on the Day of Resurrection). One of them will be a person who remembers Allah and his eyes are then flooded with tears.” (Bukhari 8/486) Abu Hurairah (r.a.) narrated Allahs Messenger (s.a.w.s.) as saying that “Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, says: ‘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.’” (Muslim 4/ 6471) The easiest form of dhikr (or remembering Allah) is by praising Him. The following Ahâdîth are some examples of praises to Allah (S.W.T.) and their rewards. We should frequently keep them in our minds and hearts for our own benefit: Abu Hurairah (r.a.) narrated that Allahs Messenger (s.a.w.s.) said, “Whoever says:La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahu-l-mulk wa lahu-l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli shai’in qadir.’” (‘There is no God but Allah, the only true God, who has no partner. To Him belongs the kingdom (of the universe) and to Him all praises are due, and He has the power to do everything.’) one hundred times will get the same reward as given for manumitting ten slaves; and one hundred good deeds will be written in his accounts, and one hundred sins will be deducted from his accounts, and it (his saying) will be a shield for him from Satan on that day till night, and nobody will be able to do a better deed except the one who does more than he.” (Bukhari 8/412;4/514) Abu Hurairah (r.a.) narrated that Allahs Messenger (s.a.w.s.) said, “Whoever says, ‘subhan Allahi wa bihamdihi’, (All glory and praises are for Allah) one hundred times a day, will be forgiven all his sins even if they were as much as the foam of the sea.” (Bukhari 8/414) Abu Malik Al Ashari (r.a.) narrated that Allahs Messenger (s.a.w.s.) said, “Cleanliness is half of faith and Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) fills the scale. Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah) and Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) fill up what is between the heavens and the earth. Prayer is a light, and charity is proof (of one’s faith). Endurance is a brightness and the Qur’an is a proof on your behalf or against you. All men go out early in the morning and sell themselves, thereby setting themselves free or destroying themselves.” (Muslim 432) ‘Aishah (r.a.) narrated that Allahs Messenger (s.a.w.s.) said, “Every one of the children of Adam has been created with three hundred and sixty joints. He who declares the Glory of Allah, praises Allah, declares Allah to be One, glorifies Allah, seeks forgiveness from Allah, removes stone, or thorn, or bone from people’s path and enjoins what is good and forbids evil, to the number of those three hundred and sixty, will walk that day having removed himself from Hell.” (Muslim 2199) Abu Dharr (r.a.) narrated that Allahs Messenger (s.a.w.s.) said, “In the morning charity is due from every bone in the body of every one of you. Every utterance of Allahs glorification is an act of charity. Every utterance of praise of Him is an act of charity; every utterance of profession of His Oneness is an act of charity; every utterance of profession of His Greatness is an act of charity; enjoining good is an act of charity; forbidding what is disreputable is an act of charity; and two rak’ahs which one prays in the forenoon will suffice.” (Muslim 1557) We should always set aside some time to do dhikr no matter how busy we are. We should never allow our children or loved ones or riches in this world to divert our minds and hearts from remembering Allah the Almighty. We must take guidance and admonition from the following Qur’anic injunctions: “O you who believe! Let not your riches or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. If any act thus, surely they are the losers.” (63:9) O you who believe! Truly among your wives and your children are (some that are) enemies to yourselves: so beware of them! But if you forgive and overlook and cover up (their faults) verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful. Your riches and your children may be but a trial: but in the Presence of Allah is the highest Reward. (64:14-15) If possible, we should always remember Allah so that when death comes, we die remembering Him . If we do this, insha Allah , we will be among the successful: ‘Abdullah Bin Busr told of a desert Arab coming to the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) and asking who was best among men, to which he replied, “Happy is he whose life is long and whose deeds are good.” He asked Allahs Messenger (s.a.w.s.) what deed was most excellent, and he replied, “That you should leave the world with the mention of Allah fresh on your tongue.” (Tirmidhi 2268 and Ahmad) We should explain to the non Muslims some of the ways of remembering Allah (S.W.T.) and their underlying benefits or rewards. In this way, they can realize how God- conscious we should be. The non-Muslims who are by nature conscious of God, will appreciate knowing that we Muslims remember Allah (S.W.T.) much. In everything we do, except going to the bathroom we say: “Bismillah hir Rahmannir Rahiim” (In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful). When we appreciate somebody we say, “Masha Allah” (Allah made it happen). When we intend or plan to do something in the future, we say “Insha Allah” (God willing). When our fellow Muslims meet us and ask our conditions we say: “Alhamdullillah” (Praise be to Allah). When we admire a speaker in the public instead of clapping our hands we say: “Allah hu Akbar” (God is Great). These are just some of the expressions of Muslims that God-conscious people may appreciate. We have to share these with non-Muslims. How perfect you are O Allah and I praise You. None has the right to be worshipped except You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn in repentance to You.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 10:29:31 +0000
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