Journey of a Sufi

A relationship built assiduously with care and caution over a large period of time with friends, relatives and companions. All can be ruined forever within moments; when self control is lost; rude and impolite behavior overrides you; anger and jealousy overpowers you and your tongue lashes out acerbic words; profanity and uncalled for unpleasant comments; coupled with jeers, criticism and taunts. When you throw all cautions and ego assumes importance. When humility is overcome by pride and self esteem and when false prestige overrides you. While trying to cut some ones tail, you may cause your utter ruination. After the events passes and when realization dawns on you, it is too late to mend the matters. You have to work very hard to undo the wrong done by you with genuine apologies, calm and balm the ruffled feelings, with goodness to the wronged person and by good deeds, actions, genuine love and affection and repentance. But in the most of the circumstances what is lost is lost forever and the wronged person cannot assume the fine sentiments and positivism held so far for you. He grows suspicious and his wounds keep reminding him of the hurt caused by you and they also would be looking for a chance and an opportunity to pay you back in the same coin with more rigor and cause your ruination with multiple injuries. There is a good adage that to maintain a calm posture and to hold your tongue and remain silent is golden than utter and bursting out your momentary hurt feelings and emotions. Hence patience is considered as a mother of virtue. If you bear with an awkward situation in a tight place, when emotions are ranging and ruling and reasons have failed; you would come out victorious. You are supposed to have controlled the situation superbly and would be considered as a gentleman, a person of chivalry and fine manners. You need to develop magnanimity with calm exterior and soft interior with a genuine golden heart; showing compassion, kindness and tolerance. You need to avoid ruffling feathers and stirring a muddy pond to avoid ruining healthy, good and sustained relationship. Therefore silence and sobriety are hallmarks to maintain good relationships.

Imam Al Ghazali says on this topic in his monumental work, “The Alchemy of Happiness” as follows:

The effect of death on the composite nature of man is as follows: Man has two souls, an animal soul and a spiritual soul, the latter of which is of angelic nature. The seat of the animal soul is the heart, from which this soul issues like a subtle vapour and pervades all the members of the body, giving the power of sight to the eye, the power of hearing to the ear and to every member, the faculty of performing its own appropriate functions. It may be compared to a lamp carried about within a cottage, the light of which falls upon the walls wherever it goes. The heart is the wick of this lamp and when the supply of oil is cut off for any reason, the lamp dies. Such is the death of the animal soul. With the spiritual or human soul, the case is different. It is indivisible and by it, man knows God. It is so to speak, the rider of the animal soul and when that perishes, it still remains, but is like a horseman who has been dismounted or like a hunter who has lost his weapons. That steed and those weapons were granted to the human soul, so that by means of them, it might pursue and capture the phoenix of the love and knowledge of God. If it has effected that capture, it is not a grief, but rather a relief to be able to lay those weapons aside and to dismount from that weary steed.

Therefore, the Prophet said, “ Death is a welcome gift from God to the believer.” But alas, for that soul which loses its steed and hunting weapons before it has captured the prize, its misery and regret will be indescribable.

Regarding Human Soul

Imam Al- Ghazali, speaking on the topic in his monumental work, “The Alchemy of Happiness,” says: “The human soul is entirely distinct from the body and its members. Limb after limb may be paralyzed and cease to work, but the individuality of the soul is unimpaired. Further, the body which you have now is no longer the body which you had as a child, but entirely different, yet your personality now is identical with your personality then. It is therefore easy to conceive of it as persisting when the body is done with altogether, along with its essential attributes which were independent of the body such as the knowledge of and love of God. This is the meaning of that saying in the Quran: “ The good things abide.” But if instead of God, this ignorance also is an essential attribute and will abide as darkness of soul and the seed of misery. Therefore the Quran says : “ He who is blind in this life will be blind in the next life and astray from the path. The reason of the human spirit seeking to return to that upper world is that its origin was from thence and that it is of angelic nature. It was sent down into the lower sphere against the will to acquire knowledge and experience as God said in the Quran: ‘Go down from hence, all of you, there will come instructions to you from Me and they who obey the instruction need not fear, neither shall they be grieved’.”

The verse, “ I breathed into man of My spirit,” also points to the celestial origin of the human soul. Just as the health of the animal soul consists in the equilibrium of its compound parts and this equilibrium is restored when impaired by appropriate medicine, so the health of the human soul consists in the moral equilibrium which is maintained and repaired when needed, by ethical instruction and moral precepts.

As regards its future existence, we have already seen that the human soul is essentially independent of the body. All objections to its existence after death, based on the supposed necessity of its recovering its former body fall, therefore to the ground.

Some theologians say that the human soul is annihilated after death and then restored, but this is contrary both to reason and to the Quran. The former shows us that death does not destroy the essential individuality of a man and the Quran says : “ Think not that those who are slain in the path of God are dead, nay they are alive, rejoicing in the presence of the Lord and in the grace bestowed on them.” Not a word is said in the law about any of the dead, good or bad, being annihilated. Nay, the Prophet is said to have questioned the spirits of slain infidels as to whether they had found punishments with which he had threatened them, real or not. When his followers asked him what was the good of questioning them, he replied,” They hear my words better than you do.”

Some Sufis had the unseen world of heaven and hell revealed to them, when in a state of death like trance. On their recovering consciousness, their faces betray the nature of the revelations they have had by marks of joy or terror. But no visions are necessary to prove what will occur to every thinking man, that when death has stripped him of his senses and left him nothing, but his bare personality, if while on earth, he has too closely attached himself to objects perceived by the senses such as wives, children, wealth, lands, slaves, male and female etc, he must necessarily suffer when bereft of those objects. Whereas, on the contrary, if he has as far as possible turned his back on all earthly objects and fixed his supreme affection upon God, he will welcome death as a means of escape from worldly entanglements and of re-union with Him, whom he loves. In his case, the Prophet’s saying will be verified. “Death is a bridge which unites friend to friend,” and the “world is a paradise for infidels, but a prison for the faithful”.

On the other hand, the pains which souls suffer after death all have their source in excessive love of the world. The Prophet said that every unbeliever, after death will be tormented by ninety-nine snakes, each having nine heads. Some simple minded people have examined the unbelievers’ grave and wondered at failing to see snakes there. They do not understand that these snakes have their abode within the unbelievers’ spirits and that they existed in him even before he died, for they were his own evil qualities symbolized such as jealousy, hatred, hypocrisy, pride, deceit etc, everyone of which springs directly or remotely from love of the world. Such is the doom of those who, in the words of the Quran, “Set their hearts on this world rather than on the next.” If those snakes were merely external, they might hope to escape their torment, if it were but for a moment, but being their own inherent attributes, how can they escape?

Take for instance, the case of a man who has sold a slave girl without knowing how much he was attached to her till she is quite out of his reach. Then the love of her, hitherto dormant, wakes up in him with such intensity as to amount to torture, stinging him like a snake, so that he would cast himself into fire or water to escape it. Such is the effect of love of the world, which those who have it often suspect not till the world is taken from them and then the torment of vain longing is such that they would gladly exchange it for any number of mere external snakes and scorpions. Every sinner, thus carries with him into the world beyond death, the instruments of his own punishment and the Quran says truly, “Verily, you shall see hell, you shall see it with the eyes of certainty,” and “hell surrounds the unbelievers.” It does not say “will surround them,” for it is round them even now.

Some may object, “ if such is the case, then who can escape hell, for who is not more or less bound to the world by various ties of affection and interest?” To this we answer that there are some, notably the faqirs who have entirely disengaged themselves from the love of the world. But even among those who have worldly possessions such as wife, children, houses etc, there are those who, though they have some affection for those, love God yet more. Their case is like that of a man who though he may have a dwelling which he is fond of in the city, when he is called by the king to take up a post of authority in another city, does so gladly as the post of authority is dearer to him than his former dwelling. Such are many of the Prophets and saints.

Others there are, and a great number who have some love for God, but the love of the world so preponderates in them that they will have to suffer a good deal of pain after death before they are thoroughly weaned from it. Many profess to love God, but a man may easily test himself by watching which way the balance of his affection inclines when the commands of God come into collision with some of his desires. The profession of love to God which is insufficient to restrain from disobedience to God is a lie.

We have seen above that one kind of spiritual hell is the forcible separation from worldly things to which the heart craves too fondly. Many carry about within them the germs of such a hell without being aware of it. Hereafter, they will feel like some king who after living in luxury has been dethroned and made a laughing stock. The second kind of spiritual hell is that of shame, when a man wakes up to see the nature of the actions he committed in their naked reality. Thus, he who slandered will see himself in the guise of a cannibal eating his dead brother’s flesh and he who envied, as one who casts stones against a wall and these stones rebound and put out the eyes of his own children.

The journey of man through the world may be divided into four stages- the sensous, the experimental, the instinctive and the rational. In the first, he is like a moth which though has sight has no memory and will burn itself again and again at the same candle. In the second stage, he is like a dog which, having once been beaten will run away at the sight of a stick. In the third, he is like a horse or sheep, both of which instinctively fly at the sight of a lion or wolf, their natural enemies, while they will not fly from a camel or a buffalo, though these are much greater in size. In the fourth stage, man altogether transcends the limits of the animals and becomes capable to some extent of foreseeing and providing for the future. His movements at first may be compared to ordinary walking on land, then to traversing the sea in a ship, then on the fourth plane where he is conversant with realities, to walking on the sea. While beyond this plane, there is the fifth known to the prophets and saints, whose progress may be compared to flying through the air.

Thus, man is capable of existing on several different planes, from the animal to the angelic, and precisely in this lies his danger, i.e of falling to the very lowest.

In the Quran, it is written, “We proposed the burden (i.e responsibility or freewill) to the heavens and the earth and the mountains and they refused to undertake it. But man took it upon himself. Verily he is ignorant.”

Neither animals nor angels can change their appointed rank and place. But man may sink to the animal or soar to the angel and this is the meaning of his undertaking that, “burden” of which the Quran speaks. The majority of men chose to remain in the two lower stages mentioned above, and the stationary are always hostile to the travelers or pilgrims, whom they far outnumber.

Imam Al-Ghazali says in his monumental work, “ The Alchemy of Happiness.”

“As regards the joys of heaven and the pains of hell which will follow this life, all believers in the Quran and the Traditions are sufficiently informed. But it often escapes them that there is also a spiritual heaven and hell. Concerning the former, of which God said to His Prophet, “ Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things which are prepared for the righteous.”

In the heart of the enlightened man, there is a window, opening on the realities of the spiritual world, so that he knows not by hearsay or traditional belief, but by actual experience, what produces wretchedness or happiness in the soul, just as clearly and decidedly as the physician knows what produces sickness or health in the body. He recognizes that knowledge of God and worship are medicinal and that ignorance and sin are deadly poisons for the soul. Many even so-called “learned” men, from blindly following others’ opinions have no real certainty in their beliefs regarding the happiness or misery of souls in the next world, but he who will attend to the matter with a mind and heart unbiased by prejudice will arrive at clear convictions on this matter.”

Darkness is always associated with evil, bad, unhappiness and something which is not right but wrong, outlandish, out of way and not giving joy, ecstasy and mental serenity. One gropes in the darkness to find a way but gets mislead like in a maze. Those who are mislead and who do not fallow the right path, well known, well trodden pathways gets disturbed and enter into the arena of sorrows, grief, pathos and unending life of troubles. This has been the story of humanity.

The intellectual bearing of the man and the collective experience of man has opened the flood gates of knowledge and enlightenment. The knowledge is recorded in books, memorised, crystallised in lore’s, folk songs, and pithy epigrammatic sayings. Time and again learned scholars, priests, saints and prophets have been source of enlightenment and to guide humanity to correct behaviour, conduct, conducive and successful living, joy and happiness.

Human pshycology has revealed that internal emotional imbalances resulting in unweaned, irrational anger, jealousy, hatred, covetousness, greed, lust has resulted in disruptions, crime and destruction resulting in untold misery and troubles for the family, community and man kind at large. For the purpose of enlightenment, one needs to be cultured from the childhood by good upbringing, cultivate good manners, good sweet language, a loving bearing, an attitude of forget and forgive, compassion, kindness, softness in speech and walk. One needs to give up roughness, sloth, behaviour and conduct that breaks the heart and ruins the relationships.

In order to discipline the mind from its meanderings and monkey behaviour, one needs to contemplate, observe silence for which meditation and prayers are essential. To bring in enlightenment, one needs to give up selfishness, egotism, worshipping false idols and deities created by selfish self like excessive wealth, foolhardiness, excessive seeking of pleasures, mirth and sexuality. One who needs and desires to reach the path of glory and unending joy, happiness, solace and tranquility; then one need to dispel with herculean efforts the darkness and open up the mind to the flood gates of light. Light eats up and drives away darkness. One reaches Lord, who is Eternal Malik, who has been enlightening mankind with His Prophets, Saints and Scholars by self knowledge and enlightenment. Certainty of faith and practice in extreme goodness, Truth and Justice leads to enlightenment.

On Remembrance of Allah

By: Hazrat Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani raziallahu anhu

Allah Most High Himself shows the way to those who seek to remember Him. Remember Allah as He guided you …. Holy Quran (Sura Baqara, 198) . This means to remember that your Creator has brought you to a certain level of consciousness and faith and that you can remember Him in accordance with this ability. Our master the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says; The best declaration of remembrance is the one which I and all the prophets before me recites. It is in the divine phrase: La ilaha Illallah “ there is no god but Allah”.

There are different levels of remembrance and each has different ways . Some are expressed outwardly with audible voice , some felt inwardly, silently, from the centre of the heart.

At the beginning one should declare in words what one remembers. Then stage by stage the remembrance spreads through out one’s being- descending to heart, then rising to the soul; then further it reaches the realm of secrets; further to the hidden; to the most hidden of hidden. How far the remembrance penetrates, the level it reaches depends solely on the extent to which Allah in His bounty has guided one.

Remembrance is the movement of the emotions. The remembrance of the heart is through feeling in oneself the manifestation of Allah’s might and beauty, while the remembrance of the soul is through the enlightenment of the divine light generated by Allah’s might and beauty.

The remembrance of the hidden realm brings one to: “the place of truth in the presence of a Sovereign Omnipotent” (Sura Qampronounced in words is but a declaration that the heart has not forgotten Allah. The inward silent remembar, 55)The remembrance at the final level that is called Khafi al Akhfa – the most hidden of hidden, brings one to the state of annihilation of the self and unification with the truth. In reality, none other than Allah knows the state of the one who has penetratyed into that relam containing all knowledge, which is the end of all and everything. Surely He knows the secret and what is yet more hidden (sura Taha, 7).

When one has [passed through these stages of remembrance, a different statre of spirit, as if a different soul, is borne in one. That soul is purer and finer than all other souls. It is the child of the heart, the child of the truth. While in the form of the seed, this child this child invites and attracts the man to find the truth, and after it is born this child will urge the man to seek Allah Most High. Neither this new soul is called the child of the heart, nor it’s seed and potential, is in every man. It is found only in the pure believer: He places the soul with His decree in the hearts of those whom He chooses. (Sura Mumin, 15)

The soul is sent from the realm of the All Powerful and is placed in the universe of the visible worlds where the attributes of the creator are manifest in the creation, but it belongs to the realm of truth. It does not favour nor pay any attention to anything but the essence of Allah. Our Master the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam explains: this world is undesirable and unlawful for those who wish for the hereafter. The hereafter is undesirable for those who wish for this world, and it will not be given to them. But for the soul who seeks Allah’s Essence, neither this world nor the hereafter has any attraction. This soul is the child of the truth. It is that within one which will seek, find and be with his Lord.

Over and above everything you do, the material being in you must follow the straight pat. That is only possible through preserving and following the percepts of religion. To do this one has to be conscious, to remember- to remember Allah night and day, inwardly and outwardly, continuously. For those who see the truth, to remember Allah is an obligation. As Allah orders:

Remember Allah standing and sitting and lying down. (Sura Nisa,103)
….those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their side, and who reflect on the creation of heavens and the earth. Our Lord, though hast not created this in vain! Glory be to thee… (Sura Al Imran, 190)

The necessary conditions for Remembrance

One of the conditions that prepares one to remember is to be in a state of Ablution; washed and cleansed bodily and purified inwardly. At the beginning, a condition for the effectiveness of remembrance is to pronounce aloud the words and phrases of what is to be remembered-the Confession of Unit, the attributes of Allah. When these words are recited one should use all one’s efforts to be in a conscious stat. In this way the heart hears the word and is enlightened with the light of that which is remembered. It receives energy and becomes alive-not only in this world, but alive forever in the hereafter. Allah Most High describes this eternal life: They taste not therein death, except the first death… (Sura Dukhan,56).

Our Master the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam describing the state of the believer who achieves the truth through remembrance, says “Believers do not die”. They only pass through this temporal life to the everlasting life. And they do there what they did here. As he says, the prophets and ones close to Allah continue their worship in graves as they did in their houses. The worship he mention’s is inward supplication of Allah, not the prayer obligatory five times a day in this world., which is standing and bowing and prostration. Inward silent supplication is one of the principal qualities identifying the true believer.

Wisdom is not obtained by man but is given to him by Allah. After having been elevated to that state, the wise become intimate with the secrets of Allah. Allah brings one to His secrets only if one’s heart is alive and conscious with the remembrance of Hi, and if that conscious heart has the wish to receive the truth. As our Master the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says; My eyes sleep but my heart is ever awake.

The importance in wishing in obtaining wisdom and truth is explained in the words of our Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, If a person wishes to learn and act upon his wish and studies, but dies before attaining his goal, Allah assigns him two angels as teachers which teach him divine wisdom until the day of judgment. That person is raised from his grave as a wise man who has obtained the truth. The two angels here represents the spirit of our Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and the light and sanctity which connects man with Allah. The importance of wish and intention is further is further mentioned by Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam Many who wish to know die ignorant, but they are raised from their graves on the day of judgment as wise, and many a man of knowledge is raised on that day depraved, having lost everything, and totally ignorant. Those men who are proud of their knowledge, who seek knowledge in order to obtain the goods of the world and to sin, are warned:

You received your good things in the life of the world and you took your pleasure from them, but today shall you be recompensed with a penalty of humiliation, for that you were arrogant on earth without just cause and that you (even) transgress. (Sura Ahqaaf, 20)

The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says: Actions are conditioned by and tied to intentions. The wish and intention of the faithful are better and more worthy in the sight of Allah than are his actions. The intention of the unfaithful is worst than what appears in his actions. For Allah the good intention of the believer is more worthy than the the best deed of the unfaithful. Intension is the foundation of action. Our Master the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says: It is good to build a good deed upon a good foundation, and a sin is a deed built upon bad intentions.

Who desires the cultivation of hereafter We give him increase in his cultivation, and who desires the cultivation of the world We give him thereof and he has no portion in hereafter (Sura Shura, 20).

The best course is to find a true spiritual teacher who will bring your heart to life. This will secure you the eternal life of hereafter. This is urgent; it has to be done immediately in this life before the time is spent. This world is the field of the hereafter. He who does not plant here will not reap there. So plant your field upon this earth with both the subjective seeds of a good life here and the objective seeds that will yield a good harvest in the hereafter.

(From the book: Sirrul Asrar wa Mazharul Anwaar, translation by, Shaykh Taysun Bayrak)

Zikr Allah Holy Quran

1. al-Quran, al-Baqarah (2:114).

Who is more unjust than he who prevents the mosques of Allah from being mentioned the name of Allah, and strives to ruin them, it was not proper for them to enter the mosques but with fear. For them, there is disgrace in the world and for them, there is great torment in the hereafter.

2. al-Quran, al-Baqarah (2:152).

Therefore remember Me, I shall remember you, and accept My right and do not be ungrateful to Me.

3. al-Quran, al-Baqarah (2:198).

There is no sin unto you that you seek the bounty of your Lord. Then when you return back from ‘Arafat’ remembers Allah near Mashhare-Haram (Qazah Mountain) and remembers Him as He guided you and no doubt, you had gone astray before.

4. al-Quran, al-Baqarah (2:200).

Then when you have completed the acts of Haj, remember Allah as you used to remember your fathers, but more than that, and some one says like this, ‘O our Lord give us in the world and there is no share of him in the Hereafter.

5. al-Quran, al-Baqarah (2:203).

And remember Allah during Numbered days. Then whoso hastens to leave in two days; there is no sin unto him and whoso stays behind, then on him is no sin for the God fearing, and remain fearing God and know that you have to be raised unto Him.

6. al-Quran, al-Baqarah (2:238,239).

And if you are in fear then, on foot or riding, as you can, then when you are secure remember Allah as He taught you that which you did not know.

7. al-Quran, al-Imran (3:40,41).

Said, ‘O my Lord! From where shall I have a son, while the old age has reached to me and my wife is barren’. Said, ‘Allah does so whatever He pleases’.

Submitted he, O my Lord! ‘Appoint a token for me’ Said, your token is this that you shall not speak to people for three days but with signals, and remember your Lord much and praise Him at a time nearing sunset and at dawn.

8. al-Quran, al-Imran (3:58).

Thus, We recite to you of some signs and wise admonition

9. al-Quran, al-Imran (3:135).

And those who, when they have committed indecency or wronged their own souls, beg forgiveness for their sins remembering Allah, and who forgives sins save Allah? And do not persist knowingly in what they have done.

10. al-Quran, al-Imran (3:190,191).

Undoubtedly, in the creation of heavens and earth and in the mutual alternation of night and day, there are signs for men of understanding.

Who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides, and contemplate in the creation of heavens and earth; (saying) “O our Lord! You have not made it invain, Hallowed be You, You save us from the torment of the Hell.

11. al-Quran, an-Nisa (4:103).

Then when you have finished your prayer, remember Allah, standing, sitting and dying or your sides; then when you are secure, establish prayer as usual; undoubtedly, the prayer is a fixed time obligation on Muslims.

12. al-Quran, an-Nisa (4:142).

Undoubtedly, the hypocrites are likely to deceive Allah in their own conjecture and it is He who will kill them making them negligent, and when they stand up for prayer they stand up with a defeated soul (lazily) making a show to the people and remember not Allah but little.

13. al-Quran, al-Maidah (5:4).

They ask you O beloved Prophet! What has been made lawful to them, say you, good and pure things have been made lawful to you and what hunting animals you have trained for hunting, teaching them of what Allah has taught you, then eat of what they leave (catch) for you after hunting and pronounce the name of Allah over it, and remain fearing Allah, Undoubtedly, Allah is swift in taking account.

14. al-Quran, al-Maidah (5:91).
The devil (Satan) desires only to put hatred and enmity among you in regard to wine and gambling and to bar you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer, will you then desist?

15. al-Quran, al-Araf (7:63).

And have this surprised you that an admonition has come to you from your Lord through a man from amongst you, so that he may warn you and you be god-fearing and haply you may be shown mercy?

16. al-Quran, al-Araf (7:205,206).

And remember, your Lord within yourself, humbly and fearfully, and without uttering a voice from the tongue, morning and evening and be not you amongst heedless.
Undoubtedly, those who are with your Lord wax not proud from His worship, and chant His hollowness and to Him they prostrate. [^] (SAJDA)

17. al-Quran, al-Anfal (8:2).

Only they are believers whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, and when His Signs are recited to them, their faith get increased and upon their Lord, they put their trust.

18. al-Quran, al-Anfal (8:45).

‘O believers! When you encounter any army, then stand firm, and remember Allah much, that you may attain the goal.

19. al-Quran, ar-Rad (13:27,28).

And the infidels say, ‘why is not a sign from His Lord sent down to him.’ Say you, ‘Allah leads astray whomsoever He will, and guides towards Him one who turns to Him.

They are those who have believed and their hearts find satisfaction with the remembrance of Allah. Behold, in the remembrance of Allah alone there is the satisfaction of hearts.

20. al-Quran, al-Hijar (15:9).

No doubt, We have sent down this Quran, and We most surely are its Guardian.

21. al-Quran, an-Nahl (16:43).

And We sent not before you Any but men to whom We reveal then O people! ask the men of knowledge if you know not.

22. al-Quran, an-Nahl (16:44).

With clear arguments and Books. And O’ Beloved! We sent down to you the Remembrance that you may explain to people what was sent down to them and that haply they may ponder.

23. al-Quran, Bani Israil (17:46).

And We have put coverings over their hearts lest they should understand it and in their ears a heaviness. And when you remember in Quran your Lord alone, they run away fuming their back hatefully.

24. al-Quran, al-Kahf (18:24).

But that Allah please, add remember your Lord when you forget and say like this, ‘it is near that my Lord might make me see the right path nearer than this.’

25. al-Quran, al-Kahf (18:28).

And keep yourself familiar to those who call upon their Lord in the morning and evening seeking His pleasure and your eyes should not see others leaving them; would you like the adornment of the life of this world? And obey not him whose heart We have made neglectful of Our remembrance and who followed his own desire and whose affair exceeded the limit.

26. al-Quran, al-Kahf (18:100,101).

And We shall bring the Hell before the infidels.
Those upon whose eyes there were covering from My remembrance and could not hear the truth.

27. al-Quran, Taha (20:13,14).

And l have chosen you, now listen carefully to what is revealed to you

Verily I am Allah there is none to be worshipped save He. So worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.

28. al-Quran, Taha (20:25-35).

He submitted, ‘O my Lord opens my breast for me.
And make my task easy for me.
And loose the knot of my tongue.
That they may understand my speech.
And make a minister for me from my family.
(He) My brother Haroon.
Strengthen my loin by him.
And associate him in my task.
So that we may glorify You much.
And may remember You much.
Undoubtedly You are seeing us.

29. al-Quran, Taha (20:42).

You and your brother both go taking My signs and do not slacken in My remembrance.

30. al-Quran, Taha (20:99).

Thus We relate to you the preceding news and We have given you from Us a remembrance

31. al-Quran, Taha (20:124-126).

And who-ever turned his face from My remembrance, then undoubtedly, for him there is straightened life, and We shall raise him blind on the Day of Resurrection.

He will say, ‘O My Lord, why you have raised me blind while I possessed sight’?

Allah will say, ‘thus Our signs had come to you, and you did forget them and in the like manner no one will take care of you’.

32. al-Quran, al-Anbia (21:2).

Whenever any admonition comes to them from their Lord, they hear it not but sporting.

33. al-Quran, al-Anbia (21:7).

And if you speak the word loudly, then He knows the secret and that which is more hidden than this.

34. al-Quran, al-Anbia (21:36).

And when the infidels see you, they take not you but, with mockery. Is this he who speaks evil of your gods? While they are themselves the rejecters of the very remembrance of the Most Affectionate

35. al-Quran, al-Anbia (21:42).

Say you, Who keeps watch upon you from (the wrath of) the Most Affectionate by night and by day? Yet, they have turned their faces from the remembrance of their Lord.

36. al-Quran, al-Hajj (22:27,28).

And proclaim among people the pilgrimage. They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel coming from every distant track.’

‘That they may pet their own benefits of it and may mention the name of Allah during the known days over the mute quadrupeds that He has provided for them. So eat yourself there-of and feed the distressed needy.

37. al-Quran, al-Hajj (22:34,35).

And for every nation, We appointed a sacrifice that they might mention the name of Allah over the mute quadrupeds that He has provided to them. But your God is one God, then submit to Him only and O beloved! Give glad tidings to the humble.

That when Allah is mentioned their hearts are filled with fear and bear whatever befalls them and they, observe prayer and spend out of what We have provided.

38. al-Quran, al-Hajj (22:40).

Those who were driven out from their homes without right only on this pretext that they said, ‘Our Lord is Allah. And if Allah had not removed men one by means of other, then necessarily, the cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques wherein the name of Allah is mentioned much would have been pulled down. And undoubtedly, Allah will necessarily help him who will help His religion; verily Allah is necessarily, Powerful, Dominant.

39. al-Quran, al-Mominoon (23:109-110).

Undoubtedly, a group of My bondmen used to say, ‘O our Lord; we believed so forgive us and have mercy upon us and You are the Best of merciful.

‘Then you made them a laughing stock, until in making them such, you forgot My remembrance and at them, you used to laugh”,

40. al-Quran, an-Noor (24:36-38).

In those houses, which Allah has ordered to be raised up and in them His name is remembered, Allah is glorified therein in the mornings and the evenings.

By men whom neither trade nor business diverts from the remembrance of Allah and performing of prayer and paying of the poordue (Zakat) They fear a day in which hearts and eyes shall be turned about.

So that Allah may recompense them for their best works and give them more reward out of His bounty. And Allah provides whomsoever He will without reckoning.

41. al-Quran, al-Furqan (25:17,18).

And the day He will assemble them and those they worship besides Allah, then He will say to those gods, ‘have you led these My bond-men astray or they themselves strayed away from the path’? They will say, ‘Glory is to you, it was not befitting for us that we should take besides You any other patron, but You did allow them and their forefathers to carry on until they forgot Your remembrance and these were the people to be ruined.

42. al-Quran, al-Furqan (25:29).

Undoubtedly, he led me astray from the admonition after it had come to me. And the devil (Satan) leaves the man deserted.

43. al-Quran, ash-Shuara (26:224-227).

And the misguided ones follow the poets.
Have you not seen, that they wander about in every valley?
And they say what they do not act.
But those who believed and did good deeds and remembered Allah much and took revenge after they were opposed. And now the unjust will soon know as to which side they shall return.

44. al-Quran, al-Ankabut (29:45).

‘O beloved! Recite the Book that has been revealed to you, and establish prayer. Undoubtedly, the prayer forbids one from indecency and evil thing. And no doubt, the remembrance of Allah is the greatest. And Allah knows what you do

45. al-Quran, as-Sijdah (32:15).

Those only believe in Our signs, who when they are reminded of them, fall down prostrate and praising their Lord speak His Hollowness and they are not proud. [^] (SAJDA) 9.

46. al-Quran, al-Ahzab (33:21).

Undoubtedly, you have the best in the following of the Messenger, for him who hopes for Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much.

47. al-Quran, al-Ahzab (33:35).

Undoubtedly, Muslims men and women, and the be lieving men and women, and obedient men and women and truthful men and women and enduring men and women and humble men and women, and almsgiving men and women and fasting men and women, and men and women who guard their chastity and men and women who remember Allah much, for all of them Allah has kept prepared forgiveness and great reward.

48. al-Quran, al-Ahzab (33:41,42).

‘O believers! Remember Allah much

And glorify Him morning and evening.

49. al-Quran, Yasin (36:11).

You warn only him who follows admonition and fears the Most Affectionate without seeing, so give him glad tiding of forgiveness and a respectable reward.

50. al-Quran, az-Zumar (39:22,23).

Will he whose heart Allah has opened for Islam so that he is upon a light from his Lord be like him who is hard heartened? Woe, then, is to those whose hearts are hardened from the remembrance of Allah. They are in evident error.

Allah has sent the best Book that from beginning to the end is alike (in beauty and fairness), having two fold descriptions (promise of reward and threat of punishment) at which do shudder the skins of those who fear their Lord, then their skins and hearts soften inclining towards the remembrance of God. This is the guidance of Allah He guides therewith whom He pleases. And he whom Allah -causes to go astray, there is none to guide him.

51. al-Quran, az-Zumar (39:45).

And when Allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who believe not in the Hereafter shrink, and when those besides Him are mentioned, henceforth they rejoice

52. al-Quran, Hameem Sijdah (41:41,42).

Undoubtedly, those who denied the reminder when it came to them, (ask not the condition of their misery) and undoubtedly it is an esteemed Book.
There is no approach of falsehood to it either from before or from behind it. It is a sending down from One All Wise, All Praised.

53. al-Quran, az-Zukhraf (43:5).

Shall We then turn away the Remembrance from you for that you are a people extravagant?

54. al-Quran, az-Zukhraf (43:36).

And whoso blinds himself from the remembrance of the All Affectionate, We assign to him a devil that he may remain his companion.

55. al-Quran, az-Zukhraf (43:43,44).

Therefore, hold you fast to that which has been revealed to you. Undoubtedly, you are on the straight-path.

And undoubtedly, it (The Quran) is an eminence for you and for your people, and soon you will be questioned.

56. al-Quran, an-Najm (53:29).

Therefore, turn your face from them who turned back from Our remembrance and who desired not but the life of the world

57. al-Quran, al-Qamar (54:40).

And undoubtedly, We made Quran easy for remembering. Is there then any one to remember

58. al-Quran, al-Hadeed (57:16).

Has not the time arrived for the believers that their hearts should lean for the remembrance of Allah and for the truth, which has come down. and that they should not become like those who were given the Book before, then the term was prolonged for them, so their ‘hearts were hardened? And many of them are disobedients.

59. al-Quran, al-Mujadilah (58:19).

And those who believe in Allah and His Messengers, they are the perfect truthfuls and witnesses against others before their Lord. For them is their reward and their light, and those who disbelieved and belied Our signs, they are the inmates of Hell.

60. al-Quran, al-Jumah (62:9,10).

‘O believers! When the call is made for the prayer on Friday, hasten towards the remembrance of Allah and leave business. This is better for you if you know.

Then, when the prayer is finished, disperse in the land, seek grace of Allah, and remember Allah much; haply you may prosper.

61. al-Quran, al-Munfiqoon (63:9).

‘O believers! Let not your wealth and your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah and whoever does so, they are really in loss.

62. al-Quran, at-Talaq (65:8-10).

And how many a city rebelled against the Commandments of its Lord and His Messengers then We took a severe account from it, and gave it a horrible punishment.
Therefore it tasted the mischief of its actions, and the end of its affair was loss.

Allah has already prepared for them a severe torment; therefore fear Allah, O men of understanding! Those who have believed. Undoubtedly, Allah has sent down for you an honour;

63. al-Quran, al-Qalam (68:51).

And it seems that the infidels with their bad looks will necessarily, stumble you when they hear Quran and they say, ‘He is surely faraway from wisdom’.

64. al-Quran, al-Jinn (72:17).
In order that we may test them therewith, and whoever turns away from the remembrance of his Lord, He will make him join a rising torment.

65. al-Quran, al-Muzammil (73:8).

Therefore remember the name of your Lord, and be of Him exclusively leaving all others.

66. al-Quran, ad-Dahar (76:24-26).

So be you patient under the order of your Lord, and hear not anyone of them sinner or unthankful.
And remember the name of your Lord morning and evening.
And in part of night, prostrate yourself before Him and magnify Him through the long night.

67. al-Quran, al-Mur silat (77:1-5).

By those sent forth continuously.

Then pushing on with force.
And then after stirring up lifting (things)
Undoubtedly, We have already prepared for the infidels’ chains and iron collars and a blazing fire.
Then by those bringing down the remembrance.

68. al-Quran, al-Ala (87:14,15).

Undoubtedly, he attained to his goal who purified. And offered prayer remembering the name of his Lord.

69. al-Quran, an-Nashr ah (94:4).

And We have exalted for you your remembrance.

Ahaadeeth on Zikr

1. Abu Musa raziallahu anhu narrates that the Holy Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said:

“He who remembers his Lord and he who does not are like the living and the dead.” Bukhari, as-Sahih (5:2353#6044)

2. Abu Musa raziallahu anhu narrates that the Holy Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said:

“The house in which Allah subhanahu wa’ ta’ala is remembered and the one in which Allah subhanahu wa’ ta’ala is not remembered are like the living and the dead.” Muslim, as-Sahih (1:539#779)

3. According to Abu Huraira Raziallahu anhu , the Holy Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said:

Allah Jalla jalaalahu says: I am to My servant as he thinks of Me and I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in his heart (quietly), I remember him in secret ( quietly). If he remembers Me in a gathering (loudly), I remember him in a gathering better than them (loudly). If he draws near Me a span, I get near him an arm’s length. If he draws near Me an arm’s length, I get near him a fathom. And if he comes towards Me walking, I go towar ds him running. Bukhari, as-Sahih (6:2694#6970)

4. Sahl bin Muadh bin Anas raziallahu anhu narrates from his father that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam said:

Allah jalla jalaalahu says: ‘Every time My servant remembers Me in his heart (quietly), I remember him in the assembly of My angels (loudly) and every time he remembers Me (loudly) in an assembly, I remember him (loudly) in the Assembly of Supreme Companionship (ar-rafiq al-ala
Muslim as-Sahih (4:2067#2675), Tirmidhi, al-Jami-us-sahih (5:581#3603)
Ibn Majah, as-Sunan (2:1255#3822), Ahmad bin Hambal, al-Musnad (2:251#7416)

5. Hasan bin Musa raziallahu anhu states:

Abdullah bin Amr and I offered the ritual prayer one evening with the Holy Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam . Then those desirous to stay on stayed while the others went homes. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam then came before people returned to offer the night (isha ) ritual prayer. When the hour came he was breathing heavily with his index finger raised. He raised his index finger towards the sky and said, “Oh party of Muslims, rejoice. This is your Lord who has opened one of the gates of heavens expressing His pride on you in front of angels, saying: ‘O My angels, look at these servants of Mine who have performed one obligatory ritual prayer and are waiting for the next.’ Ahmad bin Hambal, al-Musnad (2:208)

6. Abu Huraira raziallahu anhu narrates:

Holy Prophet ( ص) said, “Surely there are some angels of Allah who conduct patrolling in search of remembrance assemblies (majālis aldhikr).When they find such an assembly, they join and sit with them,,, Muslim, as-Sahih (4:2069#2689), Ahmad bin Hambal, al-Musnad (2:25#7420) 3

7. Abu Huraira raziallahu anhu and Abu Saeed Khudri raziallahu anhu narrate:

That they visited the Holy Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and he said, “Whenever people sit to remember Allah jalla jalalahu , angels cover them (spreading their wings over them) and divine mercy envelops them; inner peace descends on them and Allah jallajalalahu mentions them to those who are with Him.” Muslim, as-Sahih (4:2074#2700), Tirmidhi, al-Jami-us-sahih (5:459#3378), Ibn Majah, as-Sunan (2:1245#3791)

8. Abu Saeed Khudri raziallahu anhu narrates:

That the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam was asked, “Who will be superior in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection?” He said, “The men and the women who remember Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala greatly.” The narrator states: I submitted, “O Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam are they superior even to those who fight in the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala ?” He said, “Even if he wields his swor d among infidels and polytheists until it breaks blood stained, the rememberers of Allah are superior to him in grade.”1
1. Tirmidhi, al-Jami-us-sahih (5:458#3376)
2. Ahmad bin Hambal, al-Musnad (3:75#11738)

9. Abu Huraira raziallahu anhu narrates:

That the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, “Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says, ‘I treat My servant the way he thinks of Me and I am with him when he remembers Me.’”
1. Muslim, as-Sahih (4:2061#2675)
2. Muslim, as-Sahih (4:2067#2675)
3. Tirmidhi, al-Jami-us-sahih (8:581#3602)
4. Ibn Majah, as-Sunan (2:1255#3822)

10. Abu Huraira raziallahu anhu narrates:

from the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, “When My servant nears Me a span, I get near him an arm. When he comes closer to Me an arm I get closer to him two arms. When he gets near Me two wo arms I get near him a lot quicker.”
1. Muslim, as-Sahih, (4:2061#2675)
2. Ahmad ibn Hambal, al-Musnad (2:316#8178)

11. Abu Umāmah Bahili raziallahu anhu narrates,

“I heard the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam say: ‘He who goes to bed pure and lies on bed remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala until he dozes, there is no moment of the night when he rises and begs from Allah the good of this world and of the Hereafter and He does not grant him.’”
Tirmidhi, al-Jami-us-sahih (5:540#3526)

12. Umar ibn Khattab raziallahu anhu narrates from the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam

“Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says, ‘Whoever was not able to beg from Me anything because he was busy remembering Me, I will give him more and better than what is bestowed upon those who beg.’
Bukhari, at-Tarikh-ul-kabir (2:115#1879)

13. Anas ibn Malik raziallahu anhu narrates

Messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, “Whenever people assemble together to remember Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala just seeking His pleasure, a caller calls from heaven, ‘Stand up! You have been forgiven. Your sins have been changed into pious acts.’”1
1. Ahmad ibn Hambal, al-Musnad (3:142#12476)

14. Abdullah ibn Busr raziallahu anhu narrates

That a man said, “O Messen ger of Alla Sallallahu alaihi wasallam the religious duties of Islam are too many for me, so tell me something to which I may cling.” He said, “Your tongue should never be free from remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
1. Tirmidhi, al-Jami-us-sahih (5:458#3375)
2. Ibn Majah, as-Sunan (2:1246#3793)
3. Ahmad ibn Hambal, al-Musnad (4:190)

15. Asma bint Yazid raziallahu anha narrates

that she heard the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam saying, “Shall I not inform you of the best people among you?” The Companions said, “Of course, O Messen ger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam ” He said, “The best people among you are those that mere seeing them inspires you to rememberAllah.
Ibn Majah, as-Sunan (2:1379#4119)

16. Abu Hurayrah raziallahu anhu narrates

I heard the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam saying, ‘Be warned! Indeed this world andwhatever it contains is redundant (and worth throwing away) except remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and what contributes towards it and the teachers and the students.
1. Tirmidhi, al-Jami-us-sahih (4:561#2322)
2. Ibn Majah, as-Sunan (2:1377#4112)

17. Abu Musa n raziallahu anhu arrates

That the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said,
“The house in which Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is remembered and the one in which Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is not remembered are like the living and the dead
1. Muslim, as-Sahih (1:539#779)

18. Abu Huraira raziallahu anhu narrates

That the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said,
“There are seven kinds of people whom Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will shelter beneath His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His:
a just ruler; a young man grown up worshipping his Lord; a man whose heart is attached to mosques; two men who love one another, meet and separate only for the sake of Allah; a man whom a woman of rank and beauty invites towards sin but he says, ‘I fear Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala ; a person who gives charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has spent; a man who remembers Allah in
solitude and his eyes well.
1. Bukhari, as-Sahih (1:234#629)
2. Bukhari, as-Sahih (2:517#1357)
3. Muslim, as-Sahih (2:715#1031)

19. Thawban raziallahu anhu narrates,

“We were with the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam on one of his journeys when the verse ‘…those who gather gold and silver…’ was revealed. One of his Companions said, ‘This verse has come down regarding gold and silver. Would that we knew what wealth is best so that we might acquire it!’ The Holy Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, ‘The best wealth is a tongue which remember s Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala a heart which is grateful and a believing wife who assists him in his faith.’
1. Tirmidhi, al-Jami-us-sahih (5:277#3094)
2. Ibn Majah, as-Sunan (1:596#1856)
3. Ahmad ibn Hambal, al-Musnad (5:282#22490)

20. Abdullah ibn Umar raziallahu anhu narrates

That the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, “Do not talk a lot without remembrance of
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala , because much talk without remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is hardness of heart. And the one who is farthest from Allah is he who has a hard heart.”1
1. Tirmidhi, al-Jami-us-sahih (4:607#2411)

21. Anas ibn Malik raziallahu anhu narrates

That the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, “Sitting with rememberers of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala after the fajr (morning) prayer till sunrise is more pleasing to me than setting free four slaves of the descendants of Ismail, and sitting with rememberers of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala after the asr (afternoon) prayer till sunset is more pleasing to me than setting free four slaves.”1
1. Abu Dawud, as-Sunan (3:324#3667)

22. Anas ibn Mālik raziallahu anhu narrates from the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam

“Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will say, ‘Pull him out of Hell who remembered
Me some day or feared Me at some point.’”
1. Tirmidhi, al-Jami-us-sahih (4:712#2594)

23. Abdullah ibn Abbas raziallahu anhu narrates

That the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, “Satan said, ‘O Lord, Whatever You have created You have also provided it subsistence. So fix my food as well.Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, ‘Everything on which My name is not invokedis your food.

24. Abu Huraira raziallahu anhu narrates

When the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam was travelling on his way to Makkah and came to a mountain called Jumdan, he said, “Go on, this is Jumdan; the mufarradun have gone ahead.” The Companions asked, “Who are the mufarradun, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Those men and women who remember Allah greatly.”
1. Muslim, as-Sahih (4:2062#2776)