Allah سبحانه وتعالى has said in the Qur’an:
فَٱذۡكُرُونِىٓ أَذۡكُرۡكُمۡ وَٱشۡڪُرُواْ لِى وَلَا تَكۡفُرُونِ
Remember Me, I will remember you, and be grateful to Me and do not be ungrateful.
(2:152)
Subhan ‘Allah (Glory be to Allah ), what a powerful statement from Allah سبحانه وتعالى
In a Hadith (Prophetic Narration), Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, Allah سبحانه وتعالى has said, “I am just as My slave thinks I am, and I am with him if he remembers Me, If he remembers Me in himself, I too remember him in Myself: and If he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember him in a group that is better than they: and If he comes one span nearer to Me, I go one cubit nearer to him: and if he comes one cubit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him: and if he comes to me walking, I go to him running.”
(Sahih Bukhari)
How merciful is Allah سبحانه وتعالى. to His creation! He has made it so easy for us to gain closeness to Him. The remembrance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى can be done in various ways. Remembrance with the tongue, remembrance through our actions, remembrance through worship and remembrance in the heart. Each area has a lot of detail; however, I will touch upon a few ways in which we can bring the dhikr (remembrance) of Allah سبحانه وتعالى into our lives Insha’Allah (if Allah سبحانه وتعالى wills).
Remembrance with the tongue:
Subhan ‘Allah, Alhamdulillah (All praise is for Allah سبحانه وتعالى.), La ilahaillallah (There is no God except Allah سبحانه وتعالى), Allahu-Akbar (Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the Greatest) are examples of dhikr done by the use of our tongues. It can be any dhikr which glorifies, praises and thanks Allah سبحانه وتعالى. This can be done throughout the day. Recitation of the Qur’an is also dhikr of Allah سبحانه وتعالى through the tongue. It is important to reflect upon what we say.
Look around and ponder at all the blessings that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has showered us with. When we are travelling, we should ponder at the beauty around us, the trees, the sky, the mountains, the rain, the sunshine, the rivers, the beautiful colours, to mention a few. Contemplating on all the things around us helps us to remember Allah سبحانه وتعالى and thank him. It also helps us to acknowledge the majesty and power of Allah سبحانه وتعالى.-
Also, doing Astagfaar (seeking forgiveness) whilst reflecting upon our sins is a dhikr done by the tongue. We should do this daily as recommended by our teachers. We should feel guilty of our sins while we say sorry to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and we should promise Him that we will never do it again.
Remembrance through worship:
Remembrance through worship includes our daily prayers, compulsory and optional, our fasts, our Hajj (greater pilgrimage) and Umrah (smaller pilgrimage). We should make an effort to fulfil all the rights of Allah سبحانه وتعالى during that worship. Our intention should be made, and also any prerequisites should be met. We should try to have full focus on our worship for Allah سبحانه وتعالى. In this way, we are doing the dhikr of Allah سبحانه وتعالى in our worship Insha’Allah.
One can also turn a daily action such as cooking, cleaning, and serving their family/friends/teachers, into worship too by having the intention of pleasing Allah سبحانه وتعالى with it. Our visiting the sick, our studies are also some examples of worship if done with the right intention. Subhan ’Allah, how merciful Allah سبحانه وتعالى is to us if only we take heed.
Remembrance through actions:
Showing obedience to Allah سبحانه وتعالى reflects in our remembrance through our actions. When we obey the commands of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, when we refrain from sins, when we are aware of what pleases Allah سبحانه وتعالى and we do those actions, then these are all examples of remembering Allah سبحانه وتعالى through actions.
If our heart was inclined to sinning but we suppressed our desire out of fear of disobeying Allah سبحانه وتعالى, then our action was with the remembrance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
Many a times we face certain situations in our lives and we fail because of our instant reaction.
If someone says something to us which we dislike, we should stop and think before reacting. Will my reaction be according to the pleasure of Allah سبحانه وتعالى? Will there be any benefit in what I say?
We need to ask ourselves: “Do I think before I speak or before I look at something I shouldn’t? Do I reflect upon the consequences of gossiping / backbiting?” If the answer to them is yes and it stops you from committing a wrong action, then alhamdulillah, you have remembered Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
One of the ways of remembering Allah سبحانه وتعالى through our actions is to follow the blessed sunnah (way of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم). These should be in our outward and inward actions. We should emulate the character of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in every aspect of life.
The things we do daily, such as, eating, drinking, sitting, walking, talking, dressing, are some of the outward actions which before doing, we should contemplate on how the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did that action.
What was the conduct of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم with people? How he would meet and greet people whom he knew and those he didn’t know with a smile. How he would turn his whole body and face the person when someone spoke to him to give them his whole attention and showed them so much importance and respect.
Our inward needs to be worked on by recognising what diseases of the heart we have and then working hard to remove it. Arrogance, pride, jealousy, hatred, are some of the diseases which are stoppers from allowing us to become closer to Allah سبحانه وتعالى This has a knock-on effect upon our actions. We need to bring the qualities of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم into our lives to help us become the people of Allah سبحانه وتعالى Insha’Allah.
Allah سبحانه وتعالى is so merciful to us that He has given us the Quran as our guidance and sent to us the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم as our role model. We have to bring the Quran into our lives in order to live every second of our life the way Allah سبحانه وتعالى commands us to.
Keeping good company is essential in aiding towards the remembrance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى. When we sit with people who remind us of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, it will also have an effect upon us and help to strengthen our Iman (belief). Attending gatherings where the dhikr of Allah سبحانه وتعالى is made or studying knowledge which brings one closer to Allah سبحانه وتعالى are some ways in which we can increase in our remembrance with Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
Likewise, if we keep company which leads us astray from Allah سبحانه وتعالى keeping us occupied in worldly things, then we will become like them too.
In a Hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, he said:
“The example of a good companion in comparison with a bad one, is like that of the musk seller and the blacksmith's furnace; from the first you would either buy musk or enjoy the smell while the furnace would either burn you or your clothes or you would get a nasty smell thereof.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
This shows how important it is to keep good company as we will always leave with some effect on our hearts.
Remembrance through worship:
Allah سبحانه وتعالى has said in the Qur’an:
أَلَا بِذِڪۡرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ ٱلۡقُلُوبُ
Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.
(13:28)
When we perform dhikr, we should make it dhikr of the heart and not just the limbs. This dhikr requires a lot of struggle, where we close our eyes and focus on our heart saying the name of Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
We should try to find a quiet moment in the day to sit by ourselves and do this dhikr of our heart. Dhikr helps us from becoming heedless. Every moment of our lives we should be in the remembrance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
For our hearts to be in a peaceful, tranquil, and serene state, it is very important to purify our hearts through the remembrance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
The polish of our hearts is dhikr, when our hearts are polished, then our actions, limbs, tongues and our worship will all become beautiful too, Insha’Allah.
