Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Monday, 29 April 2013
DHIKR IS THE GREATEST OBLIGATION AND A PERPETUAL DIVINE ORDER
DHIKR IS THE GREATEST OBLIGATION AND A PERPETUAL DIVINE ORDER
Dhikr of Allah is the most excellent act of Allah's servants and
is stressed over a hundred times in the Holy Qur'an. It is the most
praiseworthy work to earn Allah's pleasure, the most effective weapon to
overcome the enemy, and the most deserving of deeds in reward. It is the flag
of Islam, the polish of hearts, the essence of the science of faith, the
immunization against hypocrisy, the head of worship, and the key of all
success.There are no restrictions on the modality, frequency, or timing of dhikr
whatsoever. The restrictions on modality pertain to certain specific obligatory
acts which are not the issue here, such as Salat. The Shari`a is clear and
everyone knows what they have to do. Indeed, the Prophet said that the People
of Paradise will only regret one thing: not having made enough dhikr in
the world! Are not those who are making up reasons to discourage others from
making dhikr afraid of Allah in this tremendous matter?
Allah says in His holy Book: "O
Believers, make abundant mention of ALLAH!" (33:41) And He mentions of His
servants "Those who remember their Lord standing, and sitting, and lying
on their sides" (3:191), in other words at all times of the day and night.
He said (3:190-191): "The creation of heaven and earth and the changes
of night and day are signs for people who have wisdom: -- consider who is
described as having wisdom -- Those who remember (and recite and call) Allah
standing up, sitting, and lying on their sides." `A'isha said, as
narrated by Muslim, that the Prophet mentioned/remembered Allah at all times of
the day and night.
The Prophet said: "If your
hearts were always in the state that they are in during dhikr, the
angels would come to see you to the point that they would greet you in the
middle of the road." Muslim narrated it. Imam Nawawi in his Sharh sahih
muslim commented on this hadith saying: "This kind of sight is shown
to someone who persists in meditation (muraqaba), reflection (fikr),
and anticipation (iqbal) of the next world."
Mu`adh ibn Jabal said that the
Prophet also said: "The People of Paradise will not regret except one
thing alone: the hour that passed them by and in which they made no remembrance
of Allah." Narrated by Bayhaqi in Shu`ab al-iman (1:392 #512-513)
and by Tabarani. Haythami in Majma` al-zawa'id (10:74) said that its
narrators are all trustworthy (thiqat), while Suyuti declared it hasan
in his Jami` al-saghir (#7701).
Allah placed His remembrance above
prayer in value by making prayer the means and remembrance the goal. He said:
"Lo! Worship guards one from
lewdness and iniquity, but verily, remembrance of Allah is greater/more
important." (29:45)
"He is successful who purifies
himself, and remembers the name of his Lord, and so prays." (87:14-15)
"So establish prayer for My
remembrance." (20:14)
Ibn Hajar in his Fath al-bari
(1989 ed. 11:251) relates Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn al-`Arabi's explanation that there
is no good deed except with dhikr as a precondition for its validity, and
whoever does not remember Allah in his heart at the time of his sadaqa
or fasting, for example, then his deed is incomplete: therefore dhikr is the
best of deeds because of this.
Dhikr is, therefore, something of
tremendous importance. Abu Hurayra said that the Prophet said, Peace be upon
him: "The earth and everything in it is cursed, except for dhikr and what
attends dhikr, and a teacher (of dhikr) and a student (of dhikr)."
Narrated by Tirmidhi who said it is hasan, Ibn Majah who said the same,
Bayhaqi, and others. Suyuti cites it in al-Jami` al-saghir from
al-Bazzar's similar narration from Ibn Mas`ud and he declared it sahih.
Tabarani also narrated it in al-Awsat from Abu al-Darda'.
By the words "the world and
everything in it" is meant here all that claims status or existence apart
from Allah instead of in Him. In fact, all creation does dhikr because Allah
said that all creation does praise to Him constantly, and tasbih is a
kind of dhikr. Allah said of the Prophet Yunus, when the whale swallowed him:
"Had he not been one of My glorifiers (musabbihin), he would have
remained inside the whale's stomach until Judgment Day." (37:143-144)
The one who engages in dhikr has the
highest rank of all before Allah. The people who call on Allah without
distraction have been mentioned in Qur'an, as well as the effect that calling
has on their heart: "In houses which Allah has allowed to be raised to
honor and for His Name to be remembered in them; He is glorified there day and
night by men whom neither trade nor sale can divert from the rememberance of
Allah" (24:36-37). "Those who believe, and their hearts find
satisfaction in the rememberance of Allah: By remembering Allah, truly
satisfaction comes to the heart" (13:28).
During the night of Isra' and
Mi`raj, the Prophet was taken up to a point where he heard the screeching of
the Pens (writing the divine Decree). He saw a man who had disappeared into the
light of the Throne. He said: "Who is this? Is this an angel?" It was
said to him, no. He said: "Is it a Prophet?" Again the answer was no.
He said: "Who is it then?" The answer was: "This is a man whose
tongue was moist with Allah's remembrance in the world, and his heart was
attached to the mosques, and he never incurred the curse of his father and
mother." Shaykh Muhammad `Alawi al-Malaki cited it in his collated text of
the sound narrations on that topic entitled al-Anwar al-bahiyya min isra' wa
mi`raj khayr al-bariyya.
In Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah,
and Ibn Hibban declared it fair (hasan): A man came to the Prophet and
said, "O Rasulallah, the laws and conditions of Islam have become too many
for me. Tell me something that I can always keep (i.e. in particular, as
opposed to the many rules and conditions that must be kept in general)."
By reading that the man said there were too many conditions to keep, one must
understand that he was unsure that he could keep them all. He wanted something
that he would be sure to keep always. The Prophet said: "(I am advising
you in one thing:) Keep your tongue always moist with dhikrullah."
It is well-known in Islam that the
best work in the path of Allah is jihad. Yet the Prophet, Peace be upon him,
placed dhikr even above jihad in the following authentic hadiths.
Abu al-Darda' narrates: The Prophet
once asked his companions: "Shall I tell you about the best of all deeds,
the best act of piety in the eyes of your Lord, which will elevate your status
in the Hereafter, and carries more virtue than the spending of gold and silver
in the service of Allah or taking part in jihad and slaying or being slain in
the path of Allah? The dhikr of Allah." Related in the Malik's Muwatta',
the Musnad of Ahmad, the Sunan of Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and the Mustadrak
of Hakim. Al-Bayhaqi, Hakim and others declared it sahih.
Abu Sa`id narrates: The Prophet was
asked, "Which of the servants of Allah is best in rank before Allah on the
Day of resurrection?" He said: "The ones who remember him much."
I said: "O Messenger of Allah, what about the fighter in the way of
Allah?" He answered: "Even if he strikes the unbelievers and mushrikin
with his sword until it broke, and becomes red with their blood, truly those
who do dhikr are better than him in rank." Related in Ahmad, Tirmidhi, and
Bayhaqi.
`Abd Allah ibn `Umar said that the Prophet
used to say: "Everything has a polish, and the polish of hearts is dhikr
of Allah. Nothing is more calculated to rescue from Allah's punishment than dhikr
of Allah." He was asked whether this did not apply also to jihad in
Allah's path, and he replied: "Not even if one should ply his sword until
it breaks." Bayhaqi narrated it in Kitab al-da`awat al-kabir as
well as in his Shu`ab al-iman (1:396 #522), also al-Mundhiri in al-Targhib
(2:396) and Tibrizi mentions it in Mishkat al-masabih, at the end of the
book of Supplications.
The word dhikr has many
meanings. It means:
- Allah's Book and its recitation;
- Prayer;
- Learning and teaching: The author
of Fiqh al-sunna said:
Sa'id ibn Jubayr 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 dhikr are the gatherings where the lawful and the
prohibited things are discussed, for instance, selling, buying, prayers,
fasting, marriage, divorce, and pilgrimage."
Qurtubi said, "Gatherings of
dhikr 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 practised
without any addition or innovation, and without any ulterior motives or
greed."
- Invocation of Allah with the
tongue according to one of the formulas taught by the Prophet or any other
formula;
- Remembrance of Allah in the heart,
or in both the heart and the tongue.
We are concerned here with the last
two meanings, that of mention of Allah, as in the verse, "The believers
are those who, when they hear Allah mentioned, their hearts tremble"
(al-Anfal), and the Prophet's saying in Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah from Ibn Jubayr:
"The best dhikr is La ilaha illallah." The
Prophet did not say, "the best dhikr is making a lecture"; or
"giving advice"; or "raising funds." We are also concerned
here with the meaning of remembrance through the heart, as in the verse:
"The men and women who remember Allah abundantly" (33:35). The
Prophet both praised and explained what is in the latter verse when he said, as
it is related in Muslim, "The single-hearted are foremost." When he
was asked, "O Messenger of Allah, who are the single-hearted?" he
replied, "The men and women who remember Allah abundantly." The
Prophet further elucidated the role of the heart in effecting such remembrance
when he said to Abu Hurayra: "Go with these two sandals of mine and
whoever you meet behind this wall that witnesses that there is no god except
Allah with certitude in his heart, give him glad tidings that he will
enter Paradise." (Narrated by Muslim.)
Dhikr may sometimes mean both inner
remembrance and outward mention, as in the verse "Remember Me, and I shall
remember you" (2:152) when it is read in the light of the hadith qudsi,
"Those that remember Me in their heart, I remember them in My heart; and
those that remember Me in a gathering (i.e. that make mention of Me), I
remember them (i.e. make mention of them) in a gathering better than
theirs." We return to the explanation of that important hadith further
below. Suffice it to say that, broadly speaking, there are three types of dhikr:
of the heart, of the tongue, and of the two together.
Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari
(1989 ed. 11:251) explained that what is meant by dhikr in Abu
al-Darda's narration of the primacy of dhikr over jihad is the complete
dhikr and consciousness of Allah's greatness whereby one becomes better, for
example, than those who battle the diebelievers without such recollection.
In another hadith narrated by
Bukhari, the Prophet compared doers of dhikr among non-doers, to those who are
alive among those who are dead: mathalu al-ladhi yadhkuru rabbahu wa
al-ladhi la yadhkuru rabbahu mathalu al-hayyi wa al-mayyit. (Book of da`awat
ch. 66 "The merit of dhikrullah") Ibn Hajar comments it thus
in his Fath al-Bari (1989 ed. 11:250):
What is meant by dhikr here
is the utterance of the expressions which we have been encouraged to say, and
say abundantly, such as the enduring good deeds -- al-baqiyat al-salihat
-- and they are: subhan allah, al-hamdu lillah, la ilaha illallah, allahu
akbar and all that is related to them such as the hawqala (la
hawla wa la quwwata illa billah), the basmala (bismillah
al-rahman al-rahim), the hasbala (hasbunallahu wa ni`ma al-wakil),
istighfar, and the like, as well as invocations for the good of this
world and the next.
Dhikrullah also applies to diligence in obligatory or praiseworthy
acts, such as the recitation of Qur'an, the reading of hadith, the study of the
Science of Islam (al-`ilm), and supererogatory prayers.
Dhikr can take place with the tongue, for which the one who
utters it receives reward, and it is not necessary for this that he understand
or recall its meaning, on condition that he not mean other than its meaning by
its utterance; and if, in addition to its utterance, there is dhikr in
the heart, then it is more complete; and if there is, added to that, the
recollection of the meaning of the dhikr and what it entails such as
magnifying Allah and exalting Him above defect or need, it is even more
complete; and if all this takes place inside a good deed, whether an obligatory
prayer, or jihad, or other than that, it is even more complete; and if one
perfects one's turning to Allah and purifies one's sincerity towards Him: then
that is the farthest perfection.
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi said:
"What is meant by the dhikr of the tongue is the
expressions that stand for tasbih, tahmid, and tamjid --
exaltation, praise, and glorification. As for the dhikr of the
heart, it consists in reflection on the proof-texts that point to Allah's
essence and His attributes, on those of the obligations including what is
enjoined and what is forbidden so that one may examine the rulings that pertain
to them, and on the secrets of Allah's creation. As for dhikr of the limbs,
it consists in their being immersed in obedience, and that is why Allah named
prayer: "dhikr" when He said: "When the call is
proclaimed on Jum`a, hasten earnestly to the dhikr of Allah"
(62:9). It is reported from some of the Knowers of Allah that dhikr has
seven aspects:
dhikr of the eyes, which consists in weeping (buka');
dhikr of the ears, which consists in listening (isgha');
dhikr of the tongue, which consists in praise (thana');
dhikr of the hands, which consists in giving (`ata');
dhikr of the body, which consists in loyalty (wafa');
dhikr of the heart, which consists in fear and hope (kawf wa
raja');
dhikr of the spirit, which consists of utter submission and
acceptance (taslim wa rida')."
The Prophet praised a man who was awwah
-- literally: one who says ah, ah! -- that is: loud in his dhikr,
even when others censured him. Ahmad narrated with a good chain in his Musnad
(4:159) from `Uqba ibn `Amir: "The Prophet said of a man named Dhu
al-bijadayn: innahu awwah, He is a man who says ah a lot.
This is because he was a man abundant in his dhikr of Allah in
Qur'an-recitation, and he would raise his voice high when supplicating."
Allah said of the Prophet Ibrahim:
"Verily, Ibrahim is awwah and halim" (9:114, 11:75),
that is, according to Tafsir al-jalalayn: "Crying out and suffering
much, out of fear and dread of his Lord." [halim = merciful,
gentle.] The Prophet prayed to be awwah in the following invocation: rabbi
ij`alni ilayka awwahan, "O Allah, make me one who often cries out ah
to you." Narrated by Tirmidhi (book of da`awat #102, hasan sahih),
Ibn Majah (Du`a' #2), and Ahmad (1:227) with a strong chain [Yahya ibn
Sa`id al-Qattan < Sufyan al-Thawri < Shu`ba < `Amr ibn Murra < `Abd
Allah ibn al-Harith < Taliq ibn Qays al-Hanafi < Ibn `Abbas] with the
following wording:
The Prophet used to supplicate thus:
"O my Lord! help me and do not cause me to face difficulty; grant me
victory and do not grant anyone victory over me; devise for me and not against
me; guide me and facilitate guidance for me; make me overcome whoever rebels
against me; O my Lord! make me abundantly thankful to You (shakkaran laka),
abundantly mindful of You (dhakkaran laka), abundantly devoted to You (rahhaban
laka), perfectly obedient to You (mitwa`an ilayks), lowly and humble
before You (mukhbitan laka), always crying out and turning back to
You (awwahan muniban)!...."
The hadith qudsi already quoted,
"Those that remember Me in a gathering," makes gatherings of
collective, loud dhikr the gateway to realizing Allah's promise
"Remember Me, and I shall remember you." It is no wonder that such
gatherings receive the highest praise and blessing from Allah and His Prophet,
Peace be upon him, according to many excellent and authentic hadiths.
In Bukhari and Muslim: The Prophet
said that Allah has angels roaming the roads to find the people of dhikr, i.e.
those who say La Ilaha Illallah and similar expressions, and when they find a
group of people (qawm) reciting dhikr, they call each other and
encompass them in layers until the first heaven -- the location of which is in
Allah's knowledge. (This is to say, an unlimited number of angels are going to
be over that group. He didn't say: "when they find one person."
Therefore it is a must to be in a group to get this particular reward.) Allah
asks His angels, and He knows already (but he asks in order to assure it and
make it understandable for us) "What are my servants saying?" (He did
not say "servant," but `ibadi, "servants" in the
plural.) The angels say: "They are praising You (tasbih) and
magnifying Your Name (takbir) and glorifying You (tahmid), and
giving You the best Attributes (tamjid)." (Can you say that all
this is a lecture or a study group? Can you say that this is silent? Rather,
this is saying "Alhamdulillah" and all kinds of other dhikr.) Allah
says: "Have they seen Me?" The angels answer: "O our Lord! They
did not see You." He says: "(They are praising Me without seeing Me,)
what if they see Me!" The angels answer: "O our Lord, if they saw
You, they are going to do more and more worship, more and more tasbih,
more and more takbir, more and more tamjid!" He says:
"What are they asking?" Angels say: "They are asking Your
Paradise!" He says: "Did they see Paradise?" They say: "O
our Lord, no, they have not seen it." He says: "And how will they be
if they see it?" They say: "If they see Paradise, they are going to
be more attached and attracted to it!" He says: "What are they
fearing and running away from?" (When we are saying, "Ya Ghaffar
(O Forgiver), Ya Sattar (O Concealer)," it means that we are
fearing Him because of our sins. We are asking Him to hide our sins and forgive
us.) They say: "They are fearing and running away from hellfire." He
says: "And have they seen hellfire?" They say: "O our Lord, no,
they did not see hellfire." He says: "And how will they be if they
see fire and hell?" They say: "If they see your fire, they are going
to be running from it more and more, and be even more afraid of it." (Now
listen to this carefully:) And Allah says: "I am making you witness (and
does Allah need witnesses? He needs no witness since He said: "Allah is
sufficient as witness." Why make the angels witnesses? Does Allah change
His word? "Making you witness" here means, "Assuring you")
that I have forgiven them." (Why has Allah forgiven them? Because, as the
beginning of the hadith states, they are a group of people reciting the Names
of Allah and remembering Him with His dhikr.) One of the angels says: "O
my Lord, someone was there who did not belong to that group, but came for some
other need." (That person came for some other purpose than dhikr, to ask
someone for something.) Allah says: "Those are such a group that anyone
who sits with them -- no matter for what reason -- that person will also have
his sins forgiven."
The late Imam Ahmad Mashhur
al-Haddad (d. 1416/1995) said in his book Miftah al-janna (cf. transl.
Mostafa Badawi, Key to the Garden, Quilliam Press p. 107-108):
This hadith indicates what merit
lies in gathering for dhikr, and in everyone present doing it aloud and
in unison, because of the phrases: "They are invoking You" in the
plural, and "They are the people who sit," meaning those who assemble
for remembrance and do it in unison, something which can only be done aloud,
since someone whose dhikr is silent has no need to seek out a session in
someone else's company.
This is further indicated by the hadith
qudsi which runs: "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..." (Bukhari and Muslim) Thus, silent dhikr
is differentiated fron dhikr said outloud by His saying: "remembers
Me within himself," meaning: "silently," and "in an
assembly," meaning "aloud."
Dhikr in a gathering can only be done aloud and in unison. The
above hadith thus constitutes proof that dhikr done outloud in a gathering is
an exalted kind of dhikr which is mentioned at the Highest Assembly (al-mala'
al-a`la) by our Majestic Lord and the angels who are near to Him, "who
extol Him night and day, and never tire" (21:20).
The affinity is clearly evident
between those who do dhikr in the transcendent world, who have been
created with an inherently obedient and remembering nature, namely the angels,
and those who do dhikr in the dense world, whose natures contain lassitude
and distraction; namely, human beings. The reward of the latter for their dhikr
is that they be elevated to a rank similar to that of the Highest Assembly,
which is sufficient honor and favor for anyone.
Allah has bestowed a special
distinction upon those who remember Him. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
"The single-hearted (al-mufarridun) have surpassed all." They
asked, "Who are these single-hearted people, O Prophet of Allah?" He
replied, "Those men and women who remember Allah unceasingly."
(Muslim)
The mountain has overtaken the
people because the mountain is reciting dhikr also. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya in Madarij
al-salikin explains that the term mufarridun has two meanings here:
either the muwahidun, the people engaged in tawhid who declare
Allah's Oneness as a group (i.e. not necessarily alone), or those whom he calls
ahad furada, the same people as (single) individuals sitting alone (in
isolation). From this example it is evident that in the explanation of Ibn
al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, sittings of dhikr can be in a group, and can be all
alone. In another explanation of mufarridun also cited by Ibn Qayyim,
the meaning is ‘those that tremble from reciting dhikrullah, entranced with it
perpetually, not caring what people say or do about them.' This is because the
Prophet said: udhkur Allaha hatta yaqulu majnun "Remember / mention
Allah as much as you want, until people say that you are crazy and
foolish" (Narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih,
and al-Hakim who declared it sahih); that is: do not care about them!
The mufarridun 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)
Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet
said: "When you pass by the gardens of Paradise, avail yourselves of them."
The Companions asked: "What are the gardens of Paradise, O Messenger of
Allah?" He replied: "The circles of dhikr. There are roaming angels
of Allah who go about looking for the circles of dhikr, and when they find them
they surround them closely." Tirmidhi narrated it (hasan gharib)
and Ahmad.
Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri and Abu Huraira
reported that the Prophet, peace by 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."
Narrated by Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Bayhaqi.
Muslim, Ahmad, and Tirmidhi narrate
from Mu`awiya that the Prophet went out to a circle of his Companions and
asked: "What made you sit here?" They said: "We are sitting here
in order to remember / mention Allah (nadhkurullaha) and to glorify Him (wa
nahmaduhu) because He guided us to the path of Islam and he conferred
favours 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 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!" Note that the
hadith stated jalasna -- we sat -- in the plural, not singular.
It referred to an association of people in a group, not one person.
Shahr ibn Hawshab relates that one
day Abu al-Darda' entered the Masjid of Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) and saw
people gathered around their admonisher (mudhakkir) who was reminding
them, and they were raising their voices, weeping, and maiking invocations. Abu
al-Darda' said: "My father's life and my mother's be sacrificed for those
who moan over their state before the Day of Moaning!" Then he said:
"O Ibn Hawshab, let us hurry and sit with those people. I heard the
Prophet say: If you see the groves of Paradise, graze in them, and we said: O
Messenger of Allah, what are the groves of Paradise? He said: The circles of
remembrance, by the One in Whose hand is my soul, no people gather for the
remembrance of Allah Almighty except the angels surround them closely, and
mercy covers them, and Allah mentions them in His presence, and when they
desire to get up and leave, a herald calls them saying: Rise forgiven, your
evil deeds have been changed into good deeds!" Then Abu al-Darda' made
towards them and sat with them eagerly. The hafiz Ibn al-Jawzi relates it with
his chain of transmission in the chapter entitled: "Mention of those of
the elite who used to attend the gatherings of story-tellers" of his book al-Qussas
wa al-mudhakkirin (The Story-tellers and the Admonishers) ed. Muhammad Basyuni
Zaghlul (Beirut: dar al-kutub al-`ilmiyya, 1406/1986) p. 31.
The above shows evidence for the
permissibility of loud dhikr, group dhikr, and the understanding of dhikr as
including admonishment and the recounting of stories that benefit the soul. And
Allah knows best.
Because dhikr is the life of the
heart, Ibn Taymiyya is quoted by his student Ibn Qayyim as saying that Dhikr is
as necessary for the heart as water for the fish. Ibn Qayyim himself wrote a
book, al-Wabil al-sayyib, on the virtues of dhikr, where he lists more
than one hundred such virtues, among them (Quoted in Maulana M. Zakariyya
Kandhalvi, Virtues of Dhikr (Lahore: Kutub Khana Faizi, n.d.) p. 74-76:
- It induces love for Allah. He who
seeks access to the love of Almighty Allah should do dhikr profusely. Just as
reading and repetition is the door of knowledge, so dhikr of Allah is the
gateway to His love.
- Dhikr involves muraqaba or
meditation, through which one reaches the state of ihsan or excellence,
wherein a person worships Allah as if he is actually seeing Him.
- The gatherings for dhikr are
gatherings of angels, and gatherings without dhikr are gatherings of Satan.
- By virtue of dhikr, the person
doing dhikr is blessed, as also the person sitting next to him.
- In spite of the fact that dhikr is
the easiest form of worship (the movement of the tongue being easier than the
movement of any other part of the body), yet it is the most virtuous form.
- Dhikr is a form of Sadaqa
-- charity. Abu Dharr al-Ghifari said: "The Messenger of Allah said:
"Sadaqa is for every person every day the sun rises." I said:
"O Messenger of Allah, from what do we give sadaqa if we do not possess
property?" He said: "The doors of sadaqa are takbir
(i.e. to say: Allahu Akbar, Allah is Greater); Subhan Allah
(Allah is exalted high); al-hamdu lillah (all praise is for Allah); La
ilaha illallah (there is no god other than Allah); Astaghfirullah (I
seek forgiveness from Allah); enjoining good; forbidding evil.... These are all
the doors of sadaqah from you which is prescribed for you, and there is a
reward for you even in sex with your wife." Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn
Hibban, and there is something of similar effect in Muslim.
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 dhikr or remembrance, of Allah. He has commanded us to
remember Him always and ever. Allah says:
"O you who believe! Celebrate
the praises of Allah, and do so often; and glorify Him morning and
evening." (33:41-42)
If anyone remembers Allah, He
remembers that person:
"Remember me, I shall remember
you." (2:152)
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 told him, "Let your tongue be always busy with
the remembrance of Allah." [Narrated by Ahmad with two sound chains, also
Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah through other chains, and Ibn Hibban who declared it sahih
as well as al-Hakim.]
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." (Narrated by Tirmidhi, Ahmad, and Hakim who
declared its chain of narrators sound.)
Remembrance of Allah is also a means
of deliverance from Hell Fire. Mu'adh 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."
(Narrated by Ahmad.)
Ahmad also 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 ordered that He should be
remembered abundantly. Describing the wise men and women who ponder His signs,
the Qur'an mentions:
"Those who remember Allah
standing, sitting and on their sides," (3:191), and
"Those men and women who engage
much in Allah's praise. For them has Allah prepared forgiveness and a great reward."
(3:191, 33:35)
The author of Fiqh al-Sunna
mentioned that 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," and that when asked how much dhikr one should do to be
considered as one of "those who remember Allah much," Ibn as-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 Qur'anic verses
`Ali ibn Abu Talha relates that Ibn `Abbas said, "All obligations imposed
upon man by Allah are clearly marked and one is exempted from them only in the
presence of a genuine cause. The only exception is the obligation of dhikr. 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 journeys 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."
We see by the above evidence that
there is no such thing as too much dhikr. The Prophet is related to say:
"He who loves something mentions it much." (Narrated by Abu Nu`aym in
the Hilya and Daylami in Musnad al-firdaws. Sakhawi cites it in al-Maqasid
al-hasana p. 393 #1050 and does not comment upon it.) We love Allah and His
Prophet, and therefore we mention Allah and His Prophet. No one may declare a
limit to such mention except those who do not have such love and they are
undoubtedly the enemies of Islam.
Imam Ghazali said in the fortieth
book of his Ihya' entitled "The Remembrance of Death and The
Afterlife" (p. 124 in the translation of T.J. Winter, `Abd al-Hakim
Murad):
It is man's soul and spirit that
constitute his real nature... Upon death his state changes in two ways. Firstly
he is now deprived of his eyes, ears and tongue, his hand, his feet and all his
parts, just as he is deprived of family, children, relatives, and all the
people he used to know, and of his horses and other riding-beasts, his servant-boys,
his houses and property, and all that he used to own. There is no distinction
to be drawn between his being taken from these things and these things being
taken from him, for it is the separation itself which causes pain....
If there was anything in the world
in which he had found consolation and peace, then he will greatly lament for it
after he dies, and feel the greatest sorrow over losing it. His heart will turn
to thoughts of everything he owned, of his power and estates, even to a shirt
he used to wear, for instance, and in which he took pleasure.
However, had he taken pleasure
only in the remembrance of Allah, and consoled himself with Him alone, then his
will be great bliss and perfect happiness. For the barriers which lay
between him and his Beloved will now be removed, and he will be free of the
obstacles and cares of the world, all of which had distracted him from the
remembrance of Allah. This is one of the aspects of the difference between the
states of life and death.
On the same topic Imam Habib
al-Haddad said (Key to the Garden p. 104):
Time and days are a man's capital,
while his inclinations, desires, and various ambitions are the highway robbers.
The way in which one profits on this journey lies in succeeding in coming to
Allah and in attaining everlasting happiness, while one loses by being veiled
from Allah, and being consigned to the painful torment of the Fire.
For this reason the intelligent
believer transforms all his breaths into acts of obedience, and interrupts them
only with the dhikr of Allah.
The author of Fiqh al-sunna
writes:
The purpose of dhikr 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." (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." (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 dhikr 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." (7:205)
This verse indicates that doing
dhikr 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." [Muslim]
This hadith underlines the love and
awe a person should feel while engaged in dhikr.
It is related from Sa`d that the
Prophet said: "The best dhikr is the hidden dhikr, and the best money is
what suffices." Ahmad narrates it in his Musnad, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih,
and Bayhaqi in Shu`ab al-iman. Nawawi said the hadith was not firmly
established.
In the Fatawa fiqhiyya of
al-Haytami (p. 48): He was asked about Nawawi's saying at the end of the
chapter entitled "Dhikr Gatherings" in his Commentary on Sahih
Muslim: "Dhikr of the tongue with presence of the heart is preferable
to dhikr of the heart [without]." Ibn Hajar said: "It is not because
dhikr of the heart is an established worship in the lexical sense [i.e.
consisting in specific formulae] that it is preferable, but because through it
one intently means, in his heart, to exalt and magnify Allah above all else.
That is the meaning both of the aforementioned saying of Nawawi and of the
saying of some that "There is no reward in dhikr of the heart." By
denying there is a reward in it, one means "There is no reward in the
words, which are not uttered"; and by establishing that there is reward in
it, one means "in the fact that the heart is present," as we have
just said. Consider this, for it is important. And Allah knows best."
According to the Naqshbandi masters,
dhikr in the heart is more useful for the murid or student for it is
more efficient in shaking the heart from indifference and awakening it. Shah
Naqshband said: "There are two methods of dhikr; one is silent and one is
loud. I chose the silent one because it is stronger and therefore more
preferable."
Shaykh Amin al-Kurdi said in his
book Tanwir al-qulub (Enlightenment of Hearts) p. 522:
Know that there are two kinds of
dhikr: "by heart" (qalbi) and "by tongue" (lisani).
Each has its legal proofs in the Qur'an and the Sunna. The dhikr by tongue,
which combines sounds and letters, is not easy to perform at all times, because
buying and selling and other such activities altogether divert one's attention
from such dhikr. The contrary is true of the dhikr by heart, which is named
that way in order to signify its freedom from letters and sounds. In that way
nothing distracts one from his dhikr: with the heart remember Allah, secretly
from creation, wordlessly and speechlessly. That remembrance is best of all:
out of it flowed the sayings of the saints.
That is why our Naqshbandi masters
have chosen the dhikr of the heart. Moreover, the heart is the place where the
Forgiver casts his gaze, and the seat of belief, and the receptacle of secrets,
and the source of lights. If it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is
unsound, the whole body is unsound, as was made clear for us by the Chosen
Prophet.
Something that confirms this was
narrated on the authority of `A'isha: "Allah favors dhikr above dhikr
seventyfold (meaning, silent dhikr over loud dhikr). On the Day of
Resurrection, Allah will bring back human beings to His account, and the
Recording Angels will bring what they have recorded and written, and Allah
Almighty will say: See if something that belongs to my servant was left out?
The angels will say: We left nothing out concerning what we have learnt and
recorded, except that we have assessed it and written it. Allah will say: O my
servant, I have something good of yours for which I alone will reward you, it
is your hidden remembrance of Me." Bayhaqi narrated it.
Also on the authority of `A'isha:
"The dhikr not heard by the Recording Angels equals seventy times the one
they hear." Bayhaqi narrated it.
Silent dhikr is the dhikr
of the servant who secludes himself away from people. Narrated Abu Sa'id
Al-Khudri: A bedouin came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Who
is the best of mankind?" The Prophet said, "A man who strives for
Allah's Cause with his life and property, and also a man who lives (all alone)
in a mountain path among the mountain paths to worship his Lord and save the
people from his evil." (English Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 76, Number 501)
[Arabic: Ja'a a`rabiyyun ila al-nabi faqala ya rasulallahi ayyu khayru
al-nas? qala rajulun jahidun bi nafsihi wa malih...]
Abu Sa`id al-Khudri said: I heard
the Prophet say: "There will come a time upon the people when the best
property of a Muslim man will be his sheep which he will take to the tops of
mountains and to the places of rainfall to run away with his Religion far from
trials. (English Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 76, Number 502) [Arabic: ya'ti `ala
al-nasi zamanun khayru mali al-rajuli al-muslim...]
Malik narrates in his Muwatta':
that Humayd ibn Malik ibn Khuthaym was sitting with Abu Hurayra in his land of
al-`Aqiq when a group of the people of Madina came to him. They dismounted and
came to him. Humayd said: Abu Hurayra said [to me]: "Go to my mother and
say to her: Your son send his salam and asks you to send us a little
food." I went and she gave me three loaves of bread and some olive oil and
salt. I carried it to them. When I put it in front of them Abu Hurayra said:
"Allahu akbar. Praise be to Allah Who has sated us with bread after the
time when our only food was the two black ones: water and dates." The
people did not leave anything except they ate it. When they went away, he said:
"Son of my brother: be kind to your sheep, wipe their mucus from them,
improve their pastures, and pray in their vicinity, for they are from the
animals of Paradise. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, there will soon come
a time upon people when the flock of sheep will be dearer to its owner than the
sons of Marwan [= human company?]."
Muslim and Tirmidhi narrate on the
authority of Abu Hurayra who said: "While on the road to Mecca the Prophet
passed on top of a mountain called Jumdan (= frozen in its place), at
which time he said: Move on (siru)! Here is Jumdaan Mountain: and the
single-minded (al-mufarridun) are foremost. They said: What are the
single-minded? He said: The men and women who remember Allah much (al-dhakirun
Allah kathiran wa al-dhakirat)." Muslim related it in his Sahih,
beginning of the book of Dhikr.
The version in Tirmidhi has: The
Prophet said: "The single-minded (al-mufarridun) are foremost. They
said: What are the single-minded? He said: Those who dote on the remembrance of
Allah and are ridiculed because of it (al-mustahtirun bi dhikr Allah),
and whose burdens the dhikr removes from them (yada`u `anhum al-dhikru
athqalahum), so that they come to Allah fluttering (fa ya'tun Allaha
khifaqan)."
al-Mundhiri said in al-Tharghib
wa al-tarhib [The Encouragement to Good and the Discouragement from Evil]:
"These are the ones who are fired up with the remembrance of Allah (al-muwalla`un
bi dhikrillah)."
Nawawi writes in Sharh Sahih
Muslim, Bk. 48, Ch. 1, Hadith 4: "Some pronounced it mufridun
(= those who isolate themselves)... Ibn Qutayba and others said: The original
meaning of this is those whose relatives have died and they have become single
(in the world) with regard to their passing from them, so they have remained
remembering Allah the Exalted. Another narration has: They are those who are
moved at the mention or remembrance of Allah (hum al-ladhina ihtazzu fi
dhikrillah), that is, they have become fervently devoted and attached to
His remembrance. Ibn al-I`rabi said: ‘It is said that "a man becomes
single" (farada al-rajul) when he becomes learned, isolates
himself, and concerns himself exclusively with the observance of Allah's orders
and prohibitions.'"
Dhikr in isolation or seclusion (khalwa)
is corroborated by the hadith in Bukhari: "Seven people will be shaded by
Allah..." The seventh is: "A person who remembers Allah in seclusion (dhakara
Allaha khaaliyan) and his eyes get flooded with tears."
In Tirmidhi: `A'isha relates:
"In the beginnings of Allah's Messenger's Prophethood, at the time Allah
desired to bestow honor upon him and mercy upon His servants through him, he
would not have any vision except it came to pass as surely as the sun rises. He
continued like this for as long as Allah wished. Most beloved to him was
seclusion (al-khalwa) and there was nothing he loved more than to be
alone in seclusion." Tirmidhi narrates it and said: hasan sahih gharib.
Bukhari and Muslim narrate something very similar through different chains and
the word khala' is used instead of khalwa.
Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Bari
in the commentary on Bukhari's chapter on seclusion:
Ibn al-Mubarak relates in Kitab
al-raqa'iq from Shu`ba from Khubayb ibn `Abd al-rahman from Hafs ibn `Asim
that `Umar said: "Take your part of fortune from seclusion." And what
a good saying is al-Junayd's saying, may Allah grant us the benefit of his baraka:
"Undergoing the difficulty of seclusion is easier than mixing with society
unscathed." al-Khattabi said in his "Book of Seclusion" (Kitab
al-`uzla): "If there were not in seclusion other than safety from
backbiting and the sight of what is forbidden but cannot be eliminated, it
would have been enough of an immense good." Bukhari's title [Chapter on
Seclusion As Rest From Keeping Company Towards Evil] refers to the hadith cited
by al-Hakim from Abu Dharr from the Prophet with a fair (hasan) chain:
"Isolation is better than to be sociable in committing evil."
However, what is usually retained is that it is a saying of Abu Dharr or Abu
al-Darda'. Ibn Abi `Asim cited it... al-Qushayri said in his Risala:
"The method of the one who enters seclusion is that he must have the
belief that he is keeping people from his evil, not the reverse, for the former
presupposes belittlement of himself, which is the attribute of the humble,
while the latter indicates that he considers himself better than others, which
is the attribute of the arrogant."
Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi writes in Sharh
Sahih Tirmidhi, Book 45 (da`awat), Ch. 4:
If it is said that the times have
become so corrupt that there is nothing better than isolating oneself, we say:
one isolates oneself from people in one's actions, while he keeps mixing with
them with his physical body, however, if he cannot succeed, then at that time
he isolates himself from them physically but without entering into monasticism (ya`taziluhum
bi badanihi wa la yadkhulu fi al-rahbaniyya) which is condemned and
rejected by the Sunna.
Dhikr with the name "ALLAH"
Allah said in His Book: "And
mention the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him with a complete
devotion" (73:8). Qadi Thana'ullah Panipati said in his Tafsir Mazhari
(10:111): "Know that this verse points to the repetition of the name of
the Essence (ism al-dhat)," that is: "Allah."
The same meaning is intimated also by the end of verse 6:91 in Surat al-An`am:
"Say ALLAH. Then leave them to their play and vain wrangling."
The Prophet said: "The Hour
will not rise before Allah, Allah is no longer said on earth." And
through another chain: "The Hour will not rise on anyone saying: Allah,
Allah." Muslim narrated both in his Sahih, Book of Iman
(belief), chapter 66 entitled: dhahab al-iman akhir al-zaman "The
Disappearance of Belief at the End of Times."
Imam Nawawi said in his commentary
on this chapter: "Know that the narrations of this hadith are unanimous in
the repetition of the name of Allah the Exalted for both versions, and that is
the way it is found in all the authoritative books." (Sharh Sahih
Muslim, Dar al-Qalam, Beirut ed. vol. 1/2 p. 537)
Imam Muslim placed the hadith under
the chapter-heading of the disappearance of belief (iman) at the end of
times although there is no mention of belief in the hadith. This shows that
saying "Allah, Allah" stands for belief. Those who say it show
belief, while those who don't say it, don't show belief. Therefore those who
fight those who say it, are actually worse than those who merely lack belief
and do not say "Allah, Allah."
Nawawi highlights the authenticity
of the repetition of the form to establish that the repetition of the words
"Allah, Allah" are a sunna ma'thura (practice inherited from
the Prophet and the Companions) as it stands. Ibn Taymiyya's claim that the
words must not be used alone but obligatorily in contruct, e.g. with a
vocative form ("Ya Allah"), contradicts the Sunna.
One who knows that the dhikr
"Allah, Allah" has been mentioned by the Prophet himself, is not at
liberty to muse whether it was used by the Companions or not in order to
establish its basis. It suffices for its basis to establish that the Prophet
said it.
One who knows that Allah, Allah
is a dhikr used by the Prophet, is not at liberty to object to similar forms of
dhikr such as HU and HAYY and HAQQ. "To Allah belong the most beautiful
names, so call Him by them" (7:180). As for the hadith of the ninety-nine
names, it does not limit the names of Allah to only ninety-nine, as Nawawi made
clear in his commentary of that hadith.
It is established that Bilal used to
make the dhikr Ahad, Ahad while undergoing torture. Ibn Hisham says in
his Sira: Ibn Ishaq narrates [with his chain of transmission] saying:
"Bilal was a faithful Muslim, pure of heart... Umayya ibn Khalaf used to
bring him out in the hottest part of the day and throw him on his back in the
open valley and have a great rock put on his chest; the he would say to him:
You will stay here until you die or deny Muhammadand worship al-Lat and
al-`Uzza. He used to say while he was enduring this: ahad, ahad -- One,
One!" Ibn Hajar cites it in al-Isaba (1:171 #732).
It is noteworthy that the Siddiqi
translation of Sahih Muslim mistranslates the first narration cited
above as: "The Hour (Resurrection) would not come so long as Allah is
supplicated in the world" and the second as "The Hour (Resurrection)
would not come upon anyone so long as he supplicates Allah." This is wrong
as translation goes, although it is right as a commentary, since saying Allah,
Allah is supplicating Him, as is all worship according to the hadith of the
Prophet: "Supplication: that is what worship is." (Tirmidhi and
others narrate it.) However, concerning accuracy in translation, the word form
highlighted by Nawawi must be kept intact in any explanation of this hadith. It
is not merely "supplicating Allah." It is saying: Allah, Allah
according to the Prophet's own words.
- "Hu" and "Hayy"
are a pronoun and name of Allah Almighty in the Qur'an according to ayat
al-Kursi:
Allahu la ilaha illa HU AL-HAYY
al-Qayyum (2:255)
Allah! There is no god except HE,
the LIVING the Self-Subsistent
- "Haqq" is one of
the names of Allah in the hadith in Bukhari and Muslim enumerating the
ninety-nine Names (see below).
Furthermore, the Prophet prayed to
Allah with the following invocations:
(a) "Labbayka ilah al-Haqq"
[At your command, O the God of Truth]. It is narrated in the book of Hajj in
al-Nasa'i's Sunan, and in the book of Manasik in Ibn Majah's.
(b) "Anta al-Haqq"
[You are Truth]. Bukhari and Muslim.
- Allah said: "Wa lillahi
al-asma' al-husna fad`uhu biha" : To Allah belong the Most beautiful
Names, so call Him with them (7:180). These names are not confined to
ninety-nine, as Nawawi explicitly stated in his commentary on the hadith in
Bukhari and Muslim whereby the Prophet said: "Inna lillahi ta`ala
tis`atan wa tis`ina isman, mi'atan illa wahidan, man ahsaha dakhala
al-jannat...": "There are ninety-nine names which belong to
Allah, one hundred less one, whoever memorizes (or recites) them enters
Paradise..."
- The Prophet used to call Allah by
ALL His Names: "Allahumma inni ad`uka bi asma'ika al-husna
kulliha": O Allah, I invoke You with all of Your beautiful Names.
Narrated by Ibn Maja, book of Du`a; and by Imam Malik in his Muwatta',
Kitab al-Shi`r.
- Allah said to the Prophet: "Wa
min al-layli fa tahajjad bihi nafilatan laka" : "And some part of
the night awake for it, a largess for thee" (17:79), and He said:
"Lo! the vigil of the night is a time when impression is more keen and
speech more certain." (73:6).
The superiority of prayer at night
is knows in all books of hadith and fiqh because of the elimination of worldly
distractions at that time. That is why Imam Ghazali wrote on that topic:
"The root of thought is the eye... He whose niyyat (intention) is
fine and who aims high cannot be diverted by what occurs in front of him, but
he who is weak fall prey to it. The medicine is to cut off the roots of these
distractions and to shut up the eyes, to pray in a dark room, not to keep
anything in front which may attract attention and not to pray in a decorated
place. For this reason, the saints used to worship in dark, narrow and
unspacious rooms." Ihya' `Ulum al-Din, Book of Salat.
We have already mentioned above the
version of the hadith of Muslim whereby the Prophet praised the mufarridun
or those who are single-minded in their remembrance of Allah: Nawawi said:
Another narration has: "They are those who shake or are moved at the mention
or remembrance of Allah (hum al-ladhina ihtazzu fi dhikrillah), that is,
they have become fervently devoted and attached to His remembrance."
Imam Habib al-Haddad said in Key
to the Garden (p. 116):
Dhikr returns from the outward feature which is the tongue to the
inward which is the heart, in which it becomes solidly rooted, so that it takes
firm hold of its members. The sweetness of this is tasted by the one who has
taken to dhikr with the whole of himself, so that his skin and heart are
softened. As Allah said: "Then their skins and their hearts soften to
the remembrance of Allah" (39:23).
The "softening of the
heart" consists in the sensitivity and timidity that come as a result of
nearness and tajalli [manifestation of one or more divine attributes].
Sufficient is it to have Allah as one's intimate companion!
As for the "softening of the
skin." this is the ecstasy and swaying from side to side which result from
intimacy and manifestation, or from fear and awe. No blame attaches to someone
who has reached this rank if he sways and chants, for in the painful throes of
love and passion he finds something which arouses the highest yearning....
The exhortation provided by fear and
awe brings forth tears and forces one to tremble and be humble. These are the
states of the righteous believers (abrar) when they hear the Speech and dhikr
of Allah the Exalted. "Their skins shiver" (39:23), and then soften
with their hearts and incline to dhikr of Him, as they are covered in
serenity and dignity, so that they are neither frivolous, pretentious, noisy,
or ostentatious. Allah the Exalted has not described them as people whose
reasons have departed, who faint, dance, or jump about.
Abu Hurayra reported that the
Prophet said: "When a servant of Allah utters the words la ilaha
illallah (there is no god 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." (Narrated by Tirmidhi, who says it is hasan
gharib. al-Mundhiri included in al-Targhib 2:414)
Abu Hurayra also reported that the
Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Renew your faith." "How can
we renew our faith?" they asked. The Prophet replied: "Say always: la
ilaha illallah." (Narrated by Ahmad with a fair chain of authorities)
Jabir reported that the Prophet,
peace be upon him, said: "The best remembrance of Allah is to repeat la
ilaha illallah and the best prayer (du'a) is al-hamdu lillah
(all praise belongs to Allah)." (Narrated by Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and Hakim
who declared its chain sound)
Abu Hurayra reported that the
Prophet said: "There are two phrases that are light on the tongue but
heavy on the scale of rewards and are dear to the Gracious One. These are: subhan
Allah wa bi hamdihi, "Glorified is Allah with all praise to Him,"
and subhan Allah al-`azim, "Glorified is Allah, the Great."
(Narrated by Bukhari, Muslim, and Tirmidhi)
Abu Hurayra also reported that the
Prophet said: "I love repeating: subhan Allah, wa al-hamdu lillah, wa la
ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar: "Glorified is Allah, and Praise be to
Allah, and There is no God but Allah, and Allah is most Great," more than
all that the sun shines upon." (Narrated by Muslim and Tirmidhi)
Abu Dharr reported that the Prophet
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
dearest to Allah are: subhan Allah wa bi hamdihi "Glorified is
Allah with all praise to Him." (Narrated by Muslim and Tirmidhi)
In Tirmidhi's version, we also find
the following: "The words most dear to Allah which He has chosen for His
angels are: subhana rabbi wa bi hamdihi subhana rabbi wa bi hamdihi,
"Glorified is my Lord with all praise to Him, Glorified is my Lord with
all praise to Him!"
Jabir reported that the Prophet
said: "Whoever says: "Glorified is Allah, the Great, with all praise
to Him" will have a palm tree planted for him in Paradise." (Narrated
by Tirmidhi, who said it is hasan)
Abu Sa`id reported that the Prophet
said: "Perform the enduring goods deeds (al-baqiyat al-salihat)
more frequently." They asked, "What are these enduring good
deeds?" The Prophet replied: Takbir [allahu akbar], Tahlil [la
ilaha illallah], Tasbih [subhan allah], al-hamdu lillah, and la
hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. (Narrated Nasa'i and Hakim, who said its
chain is sahih.)
`Abd Allah ibn Mas`ud reported that
the Prophet said: "During the Night Journey I met Ibrahim who said to me:
O Muhammad, convey my greetings to your Community, and tell them that the
Paradise is of pure land, its water is sweet, and its expanse is vast, spacious
and even. And its seedlings are:
subhan allah: Glory to Allah
wa al-hamdu lillah: and Praise to Allah
wa la ilaha illallah: and there is no god but Allah
wallahu akbar: and Allah is greatest.
(Narrated by Tirmidhi and Tabarani
whose version adds: "There is no power nor strength save through
Allah.")
Samura ibn Jundub reported that the
Prophet said: "The dearest phrases to Allah are four: subhan Allah, wa
al-hamdu lillah, wa la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar: "Glorified is
Allah, and Praise be to Allah, and There is no God but Allah, and Allah is most
Great," There is no harm in beginning them in any order you choose while
remembering Allah." (Narrated by Muslim)
Ibn Mas`ud reported that the Prophet
said: "If anyone recites the last two verses of Surat al- Baqara at night
(2:285-286), they will suffice for him." (Narrated by Bukhari and 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 Khuzayma in
his Sahih mentioned it under the chapter "The Recitation of the
Qur'an Equivalent in Reward to a Night Prayer."
Abu Sa`id al-Khudri narrated that
the Prophet asked: "Can anyone of you recite a third of the Qur'an during
the night?" The Companions considered this difficult and they said:
"Who among us can do so, O Prophet of Allah?" Thereupon the Prophet
said: "Allah, the One, the Eternally-Besought [i.e. surat
al-Ikhlas] is a third of the Qur'an." (Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim)
Abu Hurayra reported that the
Prophet said: "Whoever says: la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah,
lahu al-mulku wa lahu al-hamd, wa huwa `ala kulli shay'in qadir -- There is
no god but Allah, alone, without partner. His is the sovereignty, and His the
praise, and He has power over everything -- a hundred times a day will have a
reward equivalent to the reward for freeing ten slaves. In addition, 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." (Narrated by Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i and Ibn
Majah)
In the version of Muslim, Tirmidhi,
and Nasa'i, we find this addition: "Whoever says: subhan Allah wa bi
hamdihi -- Glorified is Allah with all praise to Him -- 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 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." (Narrated by Tirmidhi who said it is hasan
sahih.)
`Abd Allah ibn `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." (Narrated by Abu Dawud, Nasa'i, Ibn
Majah, and Hakim, who said its chain of authorities is sound.)
Juwayriyya bint al-Harith, one of
the wives of the Prophet, reported that one day the Prophet 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 said to her: "You have been in the same place since I left
you?" She said: "Yes." Thereupon the Prophet said: "I
recited four words three times after I left you and if these are to be weighed
against what you have recited since morning these would outweigh them, and
these words are:
subhan allahi wa bi hamdihi `adada
khalqihi wa rida nafsihi wa zinata `arshihi wa midada kalimatihi
"Glory to Allah and praise to
Him to 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." (Muslim and Abu Dawud)
Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet
told them, "A servant of Allah said: ya rabbi laka al-hamdu kama
yanbaghi li jalali wajhika wa li `azimi sultanik. My Lord! All
praise belongs to You as much as befits Your Glory and Sublime Majesty. 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 said: My Lord! All praise belongs to You as much as befits Your Glory and
Sublime Majesty. Allah said to them: Write it down as My servant has said until
he should meet Me and I reward him for it." (Narrated by Ibn Majah)
Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn al-As said:
"I saw the Prophet counting the glorifications of Allah on his right
hand's fingers." (Narrated by Tirmidhi who said hasan gharib,
Nasa'i, Abu Dawud, and Ahmad.)
Yusayra bint Yasir reported that the
Prophet commanded them (the Emigrant women) to be regular in remembering Allah
by saying tahlil (la ilaha illallah) and tasbih (subhan allah)
and taqdis (allahu akbar) 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. (Narrated by Ahmad, Tirmidhi who said it is gharib, Abu
Dawud, and al-Hakim. Shawkani in Nayl al-awtar 2:316 said that
Suyuti declared sound (sahih) its chain of transmission.)
Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas reported that
once the Prophet saw a woman who had some date-stones or pebbles which she was
using as beads to glorify Allah. The Prophet said to her, "Let me tell you
something which would be easier or more excellent for you than that." So
he told her to say instead:
subhan allahi `adada ma khalaqa fi s-sama',
subhan allahi `adada ma khalaqa fi al-ard,
subhan allahi `adada ma khalaqa bayna dhalik,
subhan allahi `adada ma huwa khaliq,
Allahu akbaru 'adada ma khalaqa fi al-sama',
Allahu akbaru 'adada ma khalaqa fi l-'ard,
Allahu akbaru 'adada ma khalaqa bayna dhalik,
Allahu akbaru 'adada ma huwa khaliq,
al-hamdu lillahi `adada ma khalaqa fi al-sama',
al-hamdu lillahi `adada ma khalaqa fi l-'ard,
al-hamdu lillahi `adada ma khalaqa bayna dhalik,
al-hamdu lillahi `adada ma huwa khaliq,
la ilaha illallahu `adada ma khalaqa fi al-sama',
la ilaha illallahu `adada ma khalaqa fi al-ard,
la ilaha illallahu `adada ma khalaqa bayna dhalik,
la ilaha illallahu `adada ma huwa khaliq,
la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi `adada ma khalaqa fi
al-sama',
la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi `adada ma khalaqa fi
al-ard,
la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi `adada ma khalaqa bayna
dhalik,
la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi `adada ma huwa khaliq.
"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."
and then repeat all of the above four times but substituting
"Glory be to Allah" by:
- "Allah is the most great" in the first
repetition,
- "Praise be to Allah" in the second repetition,
- "There is no god but Allah" in the third
repetition, and
-
"There is no change and no power except with Allah" in the fourth
repetition. (Narrated by Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi who said it is hasan, Ibn
Majah, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, al-Nasa'i, and al-Hakim, who said it is sahih
according to the criterion of Muslim. Dhahabi concurred.)
Safiyya bint Huyayy the Prophet's
wife said: The Prophet came in to see me and in front of me there were four
thousand date-stones with which I was making tasbih [counting subhan
Allah]. He said: "You make tasbih with so many! Shall I teach
you what surpasses your number of tasbih?" She said: "Teach
me!" He said: "Say: Subhan Allah `adada khalqihi -- Glory to
Allah the number of His creation." Narrated by Tirmidhi who said it is gharib,
and both al-Hakim and Suyuti declared it sahih.
Allah says in His Holy Book to His
Holy Prophet, "Remind people, for reminding benefits them." The
reminder of Muslims has various forms, public and private. A public form of
this reminder is the adhan. The masbaha or sibha or tasbih,
or prayer-beads, has had since the earliest Companions the function of a
private reminder. It is for that reason that the tasbih was called by them mudhakkir
or mudhakkira -- "reminder," and there is a narration traced
to the Prophet whereby he said: ni`ma al-mudhakkir al-sibha: "What
a good reminder are the prayer-beads!" Shawkani narrates it from `Ali ibn
Abi Talib as evidence for the usefulness of prayer-beads in Nayl al-awtar
(2:317) from Daylami's narration in Musnad al-firdaws with his chain,
and Suyuti cites it in his fatwa on prayer-beads in al-Hawi li al-fatawi
(2:38).
The statement propagated nowadays by
"Salafis" whereby counting dhikr on beads is an innovation, is
undoubtedly false. The use of beads for counting dhikr is definitely
established as a practice allowed by the Prophet and a Sunna of the Companions.
This is proven by the sahih hadith of Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas, who related
that the Prophet once saw a woman using some datestones or pebbles (nawan aw
hasan), and did not prohibit her to use them. This hadith is found in Abu
Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nisa'i, Ibn Maja, Ibn Hibban, and Hakim. Dhahabi declared it sahih.
Another sahih hadith to that effect was related by Safiyya, who was seen
by the Prophet, Peace be upon him, counting "Subhan Allah" on four
thousand date stones. This hadith is found in Tirmidhi, Hakim, and Tabarani,
and was confirmed as sahih by Suyuti. It is also related from the
Prophet's freedman, Abu Safiyya, that a mat would be spread for him and a
basket made of palm leaves brought which was filled with pebbles with which he
would make tasbih until mid-day. Then it would be taken away, and then
brought back after he had prayed, and he would make tasbih again until
evening. This is narrated in Ibn Hajar's Isaba (7:106 #652) with his
chain, who says that Bukhari narrates it [in his Tarikh], as well as
al-Baghawi through two chains. Shawkani cites it, as seen below.
Shawkani said in Nayl al-awtar
(2:316-317):
The Prophet justified the counting
of dhikr on the fingers by the fact that the fingers will be questioned
and will speak, that is, they will witness to that effect. It follows that
counting tasbih on them, because of this aspect, is better than using
dhikr-beads or pebbles. But the two other hadiths [of Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas and
Safiyya bint Huyayy] indicate the permissibility of counting tasbih with
date-stones and pebbles, and similarly with dhikr-beads because there is no
distinguishing factor between them in the Prophet's stipulation to the two
women concerning it, and no disapproval of it. As for directing to what is
better: this does not negate permissibility (la yunafi al-jawaz). There
are reports to that effect.
It is related in Hilal al-Haffar's
monograph through Mu`tamar ibn Sulayman from Abu Safiyya the Prophet's freedman
that a mat would be spread for him and a basket made of palm leaves brought
which was filled with pebbles with which he would make tasbih until
mid-day. Then it would be taken away, and then brought back after he had
prayed, and he would make tasbih again until evening. Imam Ahmad
narrates it in Kitab al-zuhd [with his chain].
Ahmad also narrates from al-Qasim
ibn `Abd al-Rahman that Abu al-Darda' had a bag filled with date-stones and
that whenever he prayed the noon prayer he would bring them out one by one and
make tasbih on them until they were finished.
Ibn Sa`d in his Tabaqat
narrates [with his chains] that Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas used to count tasbih
on pebbles, and that Fatima bint al-Husayn ibn `Ali ibn Abi Talib used to make tasbih
with a thread stringed with knots, and that Abu Hurayra made tasbih with
a string of pebbles (al-nawa al-majmu`).
`Abd Allah the son of Imam Ahmad
narrated in Zawa'id al-zuhd that Abu Hurayra had a thread stringed with
one thousand knots and that he would not sleep until he had counted tasbih
on them.
al-Daylami narrates in Musnad
al-firdaws through Zaynab bint Sulayman ibn `Ali, and from Umm al-Hasan
bint Ja`far from her father from her grandfather from `Ali, and it is traced
back to the Prophet: "What a good reminder are the prayer-beads!"
Suyuti related reports with their
chains in his monograph on the subject entitled al-Minha min al-sibha
and it is part of his collected fatwas. He says towards the end of it: "It
is not related from any one of the Salaf nor the Khalaf that it is forbidden to
count tasbih on the sibha (dhikr-beads). On the contrary, most of
them used to count tasbih on it, and they did not consider it disliked."
The Indian hadith scholar Zakariyya
al-Khandlawi similarly relates in his book Hayat al-sahaba that Abu
Hurayra said: "I recite istighfar (formula of asking forgiveness)
12,000 times daily" and that, according to his grandson, he had a piece of
thread with 1,000 knots and would not go to sleep until he had said subhan
allah (Glory to Allah) on all of these knots. According to her
grand-daughter through Imam al-Husayn, Fatima also used to count her dhikr on a
thread with knots.
Mawlana Zakariyya continues,
"It is well-known that many other Companions of the Prophet, Peace be upon
him, used beads in their private devotions, such as Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas himself,
Abu Safiyya the slave of the Prophet, Abu Sa`d, Abu Darda', and Fatima, May
Allah be pleased with them all. Stringing or not stringing the beads together
does not make any difference."
It is well-established that counting
dhikr is a Sunna of the Prophet, Peace be upon him. He himself advised his
wives, `Ali, and Fatima to count tasbih (subhan allah), tahmid
(al-hamdu lillah), and takbir (allahu akbar) thirthy-three times
each before going to bed at night. Ibn `Amr relates that he saw the Prophet,
count the times he said subhan allah on his right hand. This does not
mean that it is not allowed to use the left also, as the Prophet simply said:
"Count [the dhikr] on your fingers."
Imam Suyuti recounted in one of his
fatwas entitled al-Minha fi al-sibha (The profit derived from using
dhikr-beads) the story of `Ikrima, who asked his teacher `Umar al-Maliki about
dhikr-beads. `Umar answered him that he had also asked his teacher Hasan
al-Basri about it and was told: "Something we have used at the beginning
of the road we are not desirous to leave at the end. I love to remember Allah
with my heart, my hand, and my tongue." Suyuti comments: "And how
should it be otherwise, when the prayer-beads remind one of Allah Most High,
and a person seldom sees prayer-beads except he remembers Allah, which is among
the greatest of its benefits."
As for Albani's statements against
the prayer-beads, his rejection of the hadith ni`ma al-mudhakkir al-sibha
(see his Silsila da`ifa #83), and his astounding claim that whoever
carries dhikr-beads in his hand to remember Allah is misguided and innovating,
then we direct the reader to their refutation in Mahmud Sa`id's Wusul
al-tahani bi ithbat sunniyyat al-sibha wa al-radd `ala al-albani (The
alighting of mutual benefit and the confirmation that the dhikr-beads are a
Sunna, and the refutation of Albani).
As for the idea that the
prayer-beads come from Buddhism or Christianity, it was one of the Hungarian
scholar Ignaz Goldziher's (fl. 1897 CE) legacies to orientalism.
Allahumma salli `ala muhammadin wa
`ala ali muhammadin wa sallim.
O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the Family of Muhammad, and
grant them peace!
We have already expounded elsewhere
on the fact that there is no such thing as invoking too much salawat on
the Prophet and that we should be clear of anyone who makes such a claim. We
will only mention here some evidence on this topic by way of a reminder.
Abu Hurayra reported that the
Prophet said: "If people 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." (Narrated by Tirmidhi, who graded it hasan.)
The author of Fath al-`allam
said: "This hadith proves that it is incumbent on one to remember Allah
and invoke blessings on the Prophet while sitting in an assembly, for whether
we take the words "cause of grief" 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."
Excerpts
on the remembrance of Allah from `Abd al-Rahman al-Sufuri's (d. 894)
NUZHAT
AL-MAJALIS WA MUNTAKHAB AL-NAFA'IS
(The
Pleasant Gatherings and the Select Precious Matters)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
"Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest!" (13:28). If
it is asked: How is the meaning of this verse reconciled with that of His
saying: "They only are the true believers whose hearts feel fear (wajilat
= tremble or shake) when Allah is mentioned" (8:2), the answer is that in
the latter the purpose of Allah's mention is to bring to mind His greatness and
the intensity of His vengeance against those who disobey Him. This verse was
revealed at a time when the Companions had a disagreement concerning the spoils
of the battle of Badr. Therefore the mention or the remembrance of what is
fearsome became appropriate. As for the former verse, it concerns whoever Allah
guided and who has turned to Allah with love. Therefore the mention of Allah's
mercy became appropriate.
The two meanings of fearsomeness and
mercy are reunited in Surat al-Zumar: "Allah hath now revealed the fairest
of statements, a Scripture consistent, wherein promises of reward are paired
with threats of punishment, whereat doth creep the flesh of those who fear
their Lord, so that (thumma = and then) their flesh and their hearts
soften to Allah's reminder (or: to the celebration of Allah's praises; or: to
Allah's remembrance)" (39:23), meaning, to Allah's mercy and generosity.
The Prophet said: "He who
remembers Allah much, Allah loves him," and he said: "The night that
I was enraptured to my Lord I passed by a man extinguished within the light of
Allah's Throne. I asked, Who is this, and is he an angel? I was told No, and I
asked again, Is it a Prophet? I was told No, and I said, Who then? It was said:
This is a man who, while he was in the world, his tongue was constantly moist
with the mention of Allah and his heart was attached to the mosques."
On the authority of Mu`adh ibn
Jabal, the Prophet said that Allah said: "No servant of Mine mentions me
in himself except I mention him in an assembly of My angels, and he does not
mention Me in an assembly except I mention him in the Highest Company."
On the authority of Abu Hurayra who
said that while on the road to Mecca the Prophet passed on top of a mountain
called Jumdan, at which time he said: "Move on, for here is Jumdan which
has overtaken the single-minded." They said: "What are the single-minded
(mufarridun)? He said: "The men and women who remember Allah
much" (33:35). Muslim related it.
The version in Tirmidhi has:
"It was said: And what are the single-minded? He replied: Those who dote
on the remembrance of Allah and are ridiculed because of it, whose burden the
dhikr removes from them, so that they come to Allah fluttering!"
Al-Mundhiri said in al-Targhib wa
al-tarhib (The encouragement to good and the discouragement from evil]:
"The single-minded and those who dote on the dhikr and are ridiculed for
it: these are the ones set afire with the remembrance of Allah."
The Prophet said:
"The-one-who-mentions-or-remembers-Allah
among those who forget Him is like a green tree in the midst of dry ones";
"The one who mentions or
remembers Allah among those who forget Him, Allah shows him his seat in
Paradise during his life";
"The one who mentions or
remembers Allah among those those who forget Him is like the fighter behind
those who run away";
"The one who mentions or
remembers Allah among those who forget Him, Allah looks at him with a look
after which He will never punish him";
"The one who mentions or
remembers Allah among those who forget Him is like a light inside a dark
house";
"The one who mentions or
remembers Allah among those who forget Him, Allah forgives him sins to the
amount of every eloquent and non-eloquent speaker," that is, the number of
animals and human beings;
"The one who mentions or
remembers Allah in the the marketplace, will have light in every hair of his on
the Day of Resurrection."
The Sufis say that:
- dhikr has a beginning, which is a
truthful application;1
- it has a middle, which is a light
that strikes;
- its has an end, which is a
piercing difficulty;
- it has a principle, which is
purity;
- it has a branch, which is loyalty;
- it has a condition, which is
presence;
- it has a carpet, which is
righteous action;
- it has a peculiar characteristic,
which is the Manifest
Opening [cf. 48:1].
Abu Sa`id al-Kharraz2 said:
"When Allah desires to befriend a servant of His, He opens the door of
dhikr for that servant. After the latter takes pleasure in dhikr, He opens the
door of proximity for him. After that, He raises him to the meetings of
intimacy and after that he makes him sit on a throne of Oneness. Then He
removes the veils from him and He makes him enter the abode of Singleness and
unveils Majesty and Sublimity to him. When the servant beholds Majesty and
Sublimity, he remains without "he". He becomes extinguished, immune
to the claims and pretensions of his ego, and protected for Allah's sake."
Someone else said: "Dhikr is
the medicine (lit. tiryaq = triacle) of the sinners, the familiarity of the
estranged, the treasure of those who practice reliance, the repast of those who
possess certitude, the adornment of those who are connected, the starting-point
of knowers, the carpet of those brought near Him, and the intoxicant of
lovers."
The Prophet also said:
"Remembrance of Allah is firm knowledge of one's belief, immunity from
hypocrisy, a fortress against satan, and a guarded refuge from the fire."
It was mentioned by al-Layth al-Samarqandi.
Ibn al-Salah was asked about the
measure by which the servant is estimated to be among "those who remember
Allah much". He said: "If he perseveres in the forms of dhikr
inherited in the Sunna morning and evening and in the various times and
occasions, then he is of those who remember Allah much."
Musa said: "O my Lord! Are you
near, so that I may speak to you intimately, or are you far, so that I may call
out to you?" Allah inspired to him: "I am sitting next to the one who
remembers Me." He said: "O my Lord, we are sometimes in a state of
major impurity and we hold You in too high regard to dare remember You at that
time." He replied: "Remember me in every state." Ghazali
mentioned it in the "Ihya".
(`Abd al-Rahim ibn al-Hasan)
al-Isnawi (al-Shafi`i, 1305-1370 CE) said in his Alghaz (Riddles):
"A man in a state of minor impurity is forbidden from certain forms of
dhikr, as illustrated by the nullification of the act of worship incurred when
entering such a state during the Friday sermon, because ritual purity is a
condition for its validity."
Someone related in Qushayri's Risala
(Treatise on tasawwuf) that he entered a jungle and found a man remembering
Allah while attended by a huge beast. He asked: "What is this?" The
man replied: "I have asked Allah to empower one of His dogs to watch me in
case I became heedless from remembering Him."...
"The seven heavens and the
earth and all that is therein praise Him, and there is not a thing but hymneth
his praise; but ye understand not their praise. Lo! He is ever Clement,
Forgiving." (17:44)
Ibrahim al-Nakha`I3 said
concerning Allah's saying: "There is not a thing but hymneth his
praise" (17:44): "Everything praises Him, including the door when it
squeaks." Someone else said: "The verse is general, and it applies particularly
to the one endowed with speech, as in Allah's saying: "Everything was
destroyed,"4 whereas
the houses of `Ad were not destroyed, and in His saying concerning Sheba
(Balqis): "And I have been given all things" whereas she had not been
given Sulayman's kingdom."
It was also said that the verse
(17:44) has a universal meaning whereby the one endowed with speech glorifies
Allah by word, while the silent one glorifies through his state. This is by
virtue of his being in existence: he testifies to His Maker through having been
made.
I have seen in Taj al-Din Ibn
al-Subki's Tabaqat al-shafi`iyya al-kubra -- may Allah be pleased with
him, that the interpretation favored by our school (Shafi`is) is that all
things make glorification through actual utterance, because such a thing is not
impossible and it is indicated by many proof-texts. Allah the Exalted said:
"We have placed the mountains under his dominion, they praise Allah at
nightfall and at sunrise." The mountains' glorification through actual
utterance does not necessitate that we hear it. I have seen in al-Wujuh
al-musfira `an ittisa` al-maghfira [The Faces Made Radiant By the Vastness
of Mercy] the following commentary: "It is more likely that they literally
glorify, except that this phenomenon is hidden from the people and is not
perceived except through the rupture of natural laws. The Companions heard the
glorification of food and other objects placed before the Prophet.
"Concerning Allah's saying at
the end of the verse: "Lo! He is ever Clement, Forgiving": it applies
to the state of those addressed by the verse in three ways. First, in the vast
majority of cases people are distracted from glorifying Allah the Exalted, unlike
the heavens and the earth and all that is therein: these distracted ones become
in need of clemency and forgiveness. Second, they do not understand the praise
of all these objects, and this may be because they do not sufficiently
contemplate and reflect upon them: they become in need of clemency and
forgiveness. Third, the fact that they do not hear their praise may cause them
to feel contempt towards them and drive them to neglect their rights: they
again become in need of clemency and forgiveness.
"Without doubt he who beholds
with full understanding the glorification of things in existence, honors and
magnifies them in respect to this glorification, even if the Lawgiver ordered
him to disdain them in another respect."
The author of al-Wujuh al-musfira
cited the following story: "One of Allah's slaves sought to perform the
purification from going to stool with stones. He took one stone, and Allah
removed the veil from his hearing so that he was now able to hear the stone's
praise. Out of shame he left it and took another one, but he heard that one
praising Allah also. And every time he took another stone he heard it
glorifying Allah. Seeing this, at last he turned to Allah so that He would veil
from him their praise to enable him to purify himself. Allah then veiled him
from hearing them. He proceeded to purify himself despite his knowledge that
the stones were making tasbih, because the one who reported about their tasbih
is the same Law-giver who ordered to use them for purification. Therefore in
the concealment of tasbih there is a far-reaching wisdom."
This is true, and I also saw in
Fakhr al-Din Razi's Tafsir that what the scholars have agreed upon is
that whoever is not alive is not empowered with speech, and it has been firmly
established that inanimate objects praise Allah through the medium of their
state. And Allah knows best.5
- The Ranks of Dhikr
One of the
commentators of Qur'an said concerning Allah's saying: "But among them are
some who wrong themselves and among them are some who are lukewarm, and among
them are some who outstrip others through good deeds, by Allah's leave"
(35:32) that they are respectively the rememberer by tongue, the rememberer by
heart, and the one who never forgets his Lord.
Ibn `Ata'
Allah6 said:
"The one who utters the Word of Oneness needs three lights: the light of
guidance, the light of sufficiency, and the light of divine help. Whoever Allah
graces with the first light, he is immune (ma`sum) from associating a
partner to Allah; whoever Allah graces with the second light, he is immune from
committing great sins and indecencies; and whoever Allah graces with the third
light, he is protected (mahfuz) from the corrupt thoughts and motions
that typify those given to heedless actions. The first light belongs to
"the ones who wrong themselves," the second to "those that are
lukewarm," and the third to "the ones who outstrip others through
good deeds."
Al-Wasiti7 was asked
about the remembrance of Allah, may Allah have mercy on him. He said: "It
is the exiting from the battlefield of heedlessness into the outer space of
direct vision (mushahada) on the mount of victory over fear and
intensity of love."
One of the
special attributes of the remembrance of Allah is that it has been placed in
direct correspondence with Allah's own remembrance of us. Allah the Exalted
said: "Remember Me, and I shall remember you" (2:152). Musa said -
peace be upon him: "O my Lord, where do you dwell?" He replied:
"In the heart of my believing servant."8 The
meaning of this is the heart's rest brought about by His remembrance. Something
like this will be mentioned in the last chapter on love (mahabba) insha Allah.
Muhammad
ibn al-Hanafiyya9 said -
may Allah be well pleased with him: "Verily the angels lower their gaze in
the presence of the rememberer of Allah, just as the people lower their gaze
before lightning."
- Remittance of Sins Through Dhikr
It is
related that a servant of Allah will join the gatherings of dhikr with sins the
like of mountains and then rise and leave one such gathering with nothing left
of them to his name. This is why the Prophet called it one of the groves of
Paradise when he said: "If you pass by the groves of Paradise, be sure to
graze in them," and someone said: "What are the groves of
Paradise?" to which he replied: "The circles of dhikr." It will
be mentioned again in the chapter on Allah-wariness (taqwa) insha Allah.
`Ata' said
- may Allah the Exalted have mercy on him: "Whoever sits in a gathering in
which Allah is remembered, Allah will remit for him ten evil gatherings of
his."
Abu Yazid
al-Bistami was told - may Allah be well pleased with him: "I have
entrusted you with a secret for which you shall render Me an account under the
Tree of Bliss (shajarat tuba)," whereupon he said: "We are
under that tree as long as we remain in the remembrance of Allah."10
It is
related on `Ali's authority - may Allah be well pleased with him - that Allah
manifests Himself (yatajalla) to the rememberers during dhikr and the
recitation of Qur'an. The Prophet said: "No group gathers and remembers
Allah seeking nothing other than Him except a caller from heaven calls out to
them: "Arise forgiven, for your bad deeds have been turned into good
ones!"" Abu al-Darda' said that the Prophet said: "Allah verily
will raise on the Day of resurrection people bearing light in their faces,
carried aloft on pulpits of pearl, whom the people will envy. They are neither
prophets nor martyrs." Upon hearing this a beduin Arab fell to his knees
and said: "Show them to us (ajlihim), O Prophet of Allah!" -
that is: "describe them for us." He replied: "They are those who
love one another for Allah's sake alone. They come from many different tribes,
countries, and cities. They gather together for the remembrance of Allah the
Exalted, remembering Him."
Someone
said concerning Allah's saying with reference to Sulayman -- peace be upon him:
"I verily will punish him with hard punishment" (27:21) that it
means: "Verily I shall drive him far from the gatherings of dhikr"...
Al-Junayd said -- may Allah be well pleased with him -- concerning Allah's
saying: "And (He is the One) Who causeth me to die, then giveth me life
again" (26:81), that this means: "He causes me to die with
heedlessness (of Him), then He causes me to live with remembrance (of
Him)." Al-Hasan al-Basri said -- may Allah have mercy on him: "No
people sit remembering Allah the Exalted with one of the people of Paradise in
their midst except Allah grants him to intercede for all of them."
- Dhikr of the Frogs
Dawud said
- peace be upon him: "I shall praise Allah with a kind of praise that none
among his creatures ever used before." Thereupon a frog called out to him:
"Do you pride yourself before Allah for your praise, while for seventy
years my tongue has been moist from remembering Him, and I have eaten nothing
in the past ten nights because I kept busy uttering two words?" Dawud
said: "What are these two words?" The frog replied: "O Praiser
of Thyself with every tongue, O remembered One in every place!"
It is
related in Nuzhat al-nufus wa al-afkar [The Recreation of Minds and
Thoughts] that an angel once said to Dawud: "O Dawud, understand what the
frog is saying!" whereupon he heard it saying: "Glory and praise to
You to the farthest boundary of Your knowledge!" Dawud said: "By the
One Who made me a Prophet, verily I shall sing my Lord's praise in this
way." The commentators have said that the frogs' words are: "Glory to
the King, the Holy One!" (subhan al-malik al-quddus) while
al-Baghawi has: "Glory to my Lord Most Holy!" (subhana rabbi
al-quddus), and of `Ali's words - may Allah be well pleased with him - is
"Glory to the One Who is worshipped in the abysses of the sea!"
- Dhikr of the Prophet Jonah
`Ali said
- may Allah be well pleased with him: "In the time of Jonah - peace be
upon him - was a frog which had lived past the age of four thousand years. It
never rested from glorifying Allah. One day it said: "O my Lord, no-one
glorifies You like I do!" Jonah said: "O my Lord, I say what it
says!" and he said: "Glory to You by the number of times each of your
creatures says "Glory to You," and glory to You by the number of
times each of Your creatures does not say "Glory to You," and glory
to You according to the expanse of Your knowledge and the light of Your
countenance and the adornment of Your throne and the reach of Yours
words!"
- The Plagues of Egypt
The frog
in a dream represents the righteous person. The frog poured water over
Ibrahim's fire - peace be upon him - to help put it out. As for a multitude of
frogs, they represent punishment.
The
Exalted said: "So We sent them the flood and the locusts and the vermin
and the frogs and the blood -- a succession of clear signs. But they were
arrogant and became guilty" (7:133). Al-Razi said: "... The nation of
Pharaoh said to Musa - peace be upon him: "Whatever signs you bring us, to
us it is nothing other than mere magic and we shall not believe in you."
Musa invoked Allah against them, and Allah sent down the flood upon them day
and night. They sought help from Pharaoh, who sought help from Musa, who sought
help from Allah. Allah then withheld the rain from them and sent down the
winds. The earth grew vegetation and fruit in over-abundance. When they saw
this they said: "Is this what we were anxious about? It is a great good
for us!" and they disbelieved again. Allah then sent the locusts upon
them, and they ate up all the vegetation until hardship became extreme and the
sun was covered by the swarm of locusts. They sought help from Musa who sought
help from his Lord. Allah then sent a wind which hurled the locusts into the
sea. At this they said: "Whatever is left from what we had planted is
enough for us," and they disbelieved again. Allah then sent the lice upon them.
Sa`id ibn Jubayr said this is the maggot which issues from wheat. Tha`labi said
it is a kind of tick. `Ata' al-Khurasani said it is the well-known lice, and it
was also said that it means mosquitoes, and also wingless locusts. They did not
leave a single green leaf except they ate it, and something like smallpox smote
the bodies of the people. They sought help from Musa who sought help from his
Lord. Allah sent a hot wind which burnt the lice. They still did not believe,
so Allah sent upon them a swarm of frogs as thick as a pitch-dark night. The
frogs entered their plantations, their food, and their beds cubit by cubit.
They sought help from Musa again, and he sought help from his Lord. Allah
caused the frogs to die and he sent down rain which carried them to the sea.
They still disbelieved. Allah then sent down blood upon them so that their
rivers ran red with blood. It is also said that Allah inflicted a state of
permanent nosebleed upon them. For seven days they drank blood. Then they said:
"O Musa, if you remove the filth (al-rijz) from us verily we shall pledge
our belief for you." [Cf. 7:134: "If thou removest the terror from us
we verily will trust thee and will let the Children of Israel go with
thee."] Sa`eed ibn Jabir said that the "filth" (or
"terror") was a sixth kind of punishment which is the plague, while
others said that it is an expression for the five kinds already mentioned.
Al-Razi said - and this is the strongest opinion: "Wahb said that they
underwent each affliction for a period of forty days."
- Lengthening the Pronounciation of LA ILAHA ILLALLAH
Ibn `Abbas
said -- may Allah be well pleased with him and his father -- that the Prophet
said: "The day Allah created the heavens and the earth he created an angel
and ordered him to say: "There is no god except Allah alone" (LA
ILAHA ILLALLAH). The angel lengthens his delivery as he utters it and will not
rest from this until the trumpet is blown." One of the Companions said
that whoever says: "No god except Allah" and lengthens his pronounciation
intending thereby to magnify Allah, Allah will remit four thousand grave sins
for him, and if he did not commit four thousand, Allah will remit the
difference for his family and neighbors. It is related in the hadith:
"Whoever says "No god except Allah" and lengthens his
pronounciation intending thereby to magnify Allah, four thousand of his sins
are struck thereby from the register of his sins." Hence it is
praiseworthy to lengthen one's pronounciation upon uttering it, as Nawawi said,
may Allah the Exalted have mercy upon him. The Prophet also said: "Whoever
lengthens his pronounciation upon saying "No god except Allah," Allah
will make him dwell in Paradise in the Abode of Majesty by which he has named
Himself when He said: "There remaineth but the countenance of thy Lord of
Might and Glory" (55:27), and Allah will grant him to behold His gracious
countenance."
Anas ibn
Malik said - may Allah be well pleased with him - from the Prophet: "O
human beings! Whoever says "No god except Allah" in astonishment at
something, Allah creates from each letter of his utterance a tree with as many
leaves as the days of this world, each leaf asking forgiveness for him and
praising Allah on his behalf until the Day of judgment."... It has been
related that this phrase has on the side of Iblis the effect which a gangrenous
sore would have on the side of a human being. al-Qadi `Iyad11 relates
in the "Shifa" from Ibn `Abbas that written on the door of Paradise
is the inscription: "There is no god but Allah alone, Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah: Whoever says this, I shall not punish him."
I saw the
following account as part of the explanation of Allah's saying: "And speak
(O Musa and Aaron) unto him (Pharaoh) a gentle word" (20:44): Musa said:
"O Lord, how can a word be gentle?" Allah replied: "Say to him:
"Would you like a good compromise? You have followed your own self for
four hundred and fifty years; follow our intent but for one year, and Allah will
forgive you all your sins. If not one year, then one month; if not, one week;
if not, one single day; if not, one single hour. If you do not (wish to humor
us) for all of an hour, then say in a single breath: "There is no god but
Allah" so that I shall be able to bring peace to you."
After Musa
conveyed the message, Pharaoh gathered his armies and said to them: "I am
your Most High Lord!" (79:24) At this the heavens and the earth shook and
pleaded before Allah the Glorious and Exalted that Pharaoh be put to death.
Allah said: "He is like the dog: only the stick is good for him. O Musa,
cast your staff" (cf. 7:117, 27:10, 28:31). Musa cast his staff (which
became a huge snake) and the magicians (of Pharaoh's court) immediately
submitted. Pharaoh fled to his bedchamber. Musa said: "If you don't come
out, I shall order it to enter where you are." Pharaoh said: "Give me
a little respite." Musa answered: "I have no permission to respite
you." But Allah the Exalted inspired to him: "Respite him, for verily
I am the Clement, I do not hasten to punish."
Pharaoh
began to relieve himself forty times a day while previously he would relieve
himself only once every forty days. Musa gave him a respite. When the day came
Pharaoh exceeded his bounds and rebelled. Allah therefore "seized him and
made him an example for the afterlife and the former" (79:25); that is, He
punished him with drowning because of his former word ("I am your Most
High Lord") and He punished him with Gehenna because of his latter word,
when he said: "I know not that ye have a god other than me" (28:38).
Ibn `Abbas said: "This is the former word, while the other came later, and
between them lay forty years."
I saw
mentioned in the book Zumrat al-`ulum wa zuhrat al-nujum (The Array of
the Sciences and the Brightness of Stars) from the Prophet: He said:
"Gabriel told me: "I stood in wait before Allah at the time Pharaoh
said: "And what is the Lord of the Worlds?" (26:23) whereupon I
outstretched two of my wings to smite him with punishment, but Allah the Exalted
said: "Wait, O Gabriel! He hastens to punish who fears the lapse of
time."
It was
also mentioned in that book that when Pharaoh said: "I am your Lord the
Most High" (79:24) Gabriel wanted to shake the earth from under his feet,
but when he sought permission from his Lord the Exalted He did not give it to
him and ordered him to ignore Pharaoh instead.
Al-`Ala'I12 said in
his explanation of the sura of the Story (al-qasas) that Iblis entered
Pharaoh's presence as the latter was in the bath and said: "O Pharaoh, I
enticed you with every transgression, but I never told you to claim absolute
Lordship!" Then he gave him forty lashes and left him in anger. Pharaoh
said to him: "O Iblis, should I take back this claim?" He replied:
"It would not be right for you to take it back after making it."
A group of
the disbelievers of Quraysh gathered among whom was the Pharaoh of this
Community -- Abu Jahl -- at Abu Talib's house during the latter's last illness.
Abu Jahl said to him: "You know what has taken place between us and your
brother's son. Therefore obtain what is rightfully ours from him and what is
righfully his from us before you die." Abu Talib called the Prophet and
said: "O my nephew, these are the nobility of your people, so leave them
be and they shall leave you be." He replied: "Do they agree to obey
me if I ask them to say but one word?" Abu Jahl said -- may Allah curse
him: "Nay, we shall obey you if you ask us to say ten!" The Prophet
then said: "Say: La ilaha illallah," whereupon they said: "Are
you asking us to reduce all our gods to only one? Truly you are asking us for
the strangest thing!" and they dispersed. Abu Talib said: "O
Muhammad, you have asked them for nothing excessive." That is: You have
not asked them for anything difficult.
Concerning
Allah's saying: "Judge aright between us and be not unjust (lit. do not
exceed the proper bounds)" (38:22) -- that is: Do not swerve in your
judgment -- the Prophet hoped that his uncle would profess Islam, so he said to
him: "Say it (the phrase: There is no Allah but Allah alone), so that I
will be permitted to intercede for you on the Day of the rising." Abu
Talib replied: "Were it not that people -- that is: the Quraysh -- might
think that I said it out of fear (of death), indeed I would say it." More
will be said about this matter in the section on the Prophet's miracles insha
Allah.
Al-Razi
said in his explanation of the sura of Cattle (al-an`am): "Abu Talib said:
"Ask me to say other than this because your people hate it." The
Prophet replied: "I will never say other than this even if they were to
dislodge the sun from its place and put it in my hand." They said:
"Then stop cursing our gods, otherwise we will curse you and Him Who orders
you to do this," whereupon Allah's saying was revealed: "Revile not
those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they wrongfully revile Allah
through ignorance" (6:109).
If it is
said: "To curse the idols is among the most meritorious acts of obedience
to Allah; why then did Allah forbid it?" The answer is: Allah forbade it
because cursing them might lead to the gravest of transgressions -- exalted is
Allah far above the saying of wrong-doers -- namely cursing Allah and His
Messenger, and it is an obligation to take precautions against it.
Allah compared the Phrase of
Declaring Oneness (kalimat al-tawhid):
- to water because water cleanses:
similarly this phrase cleanses from sins;
- to soil because the soil gives
forth much in exchange for a single seed: similarly this phrase multiplies its
return;
- to fire because fire burns and
this phrase burns sins;
- to the sun because the latter
sheds light on the worlds, and this phrase illumines even the grave;
- to the moon because it dispels the
darkness of night, and this phrase sheds light with the same certainty;
- to the stars because they are
guides for travellers, and this phrase is a guide for the people of misguidance
to follow the right way;
- to the date palm when He said:
"A goodly tree, its root set firm, its branches reaching into heaven,
giving its fruit at every season by permission of its Lord" (14:24-25).
- The date palm does not grow in
every land; similarly this phrase does not grow in every heart.
- The date palm is the tallest fruit
tree: similarly the root of this phrase is in the heart and the top of its
branches are under the Throne.
- The value of the fruit does not
diminish because of the pit: similarly the value of the believer does not
diminish despite the disobedience lodged between himself and Allah the Exalted.
- The bottom of the date palm is
thorns while its top is moist dates; similarly the initial stages of this
phrase are duties, and whoever fulfills them reaches the fruit which is to
behold Allah the Exalted.
The Phrase of Oneness is the key to
the Garden of Paradise; "every key must have teeth,"13 and its
teeth are to forsake all that is forbidden and do what is ordained. Allah the
Exalted says: "Therefore know that there is no god but Allah alone"
(47:19) and the Prophet said: "Whoever said: There is no god but Allah
alone, taking care that it is unalloyed (mukhlisan bihi) and from the heart,
enters Paradise." It was asked in what being-unalloyed (ikhlas) consisted.
He said: "In barring one from what Allah the Exalted has declared
forbidden." The Prophet also said: "O Abu Hurayra! Every good deed on
your part shall be weighed on the Day of rising except the Witnessing that
there is no god but Allah alone, for verily it can never be placed in the
Balance."
The king of the Byzantines wrote to
our Master `Umar ibn al-Khattab - may Allah be well please with him: "O
Commander of the Faithful, Allah's Messenger has related to me that you have a
certain tree whose fruit grows like the ears of donkeys, then splits into
clusters more beautiful than pearls, then turns green so that it resembles emerald,
then reddens and yellows like fragments of gold and ruby, and when it ripens it
is more delicious than the soft honey-cake (faludhaj), and when it dries it is
nourishment for the dwellers and provision for the travellers. If he spoke the
truth, then verily this is a tree from Paradise!" `Umar ibn al-Khattab
wrote back: "Yes, he spoke the truth, and this is also the tree under
which `Isa was born (cf. 19:23) and therefore it never invokes another god
together with Allah."
Al-Razi said that there is a relation
and a resemblance between the palm tree on the one hand and animals and human
beings on the other which does not exist between the latter and the other types
of trees; this is why the Prophet said: "Honor your stepmother the palm
tree for she was created from the remainder of Adam's clay." This is
because when Adam fell to earth his hair grew long and his body became soiled,
whereupon Gabriel came with scissors, cut his hair and nails, removed the dirt
from his body, and buried everything in the ground. Then Adam slept and when he
woke up he saw that Allah had created the palm tree by his side: its body--
that is its trunk -- was from his body, its fiber or luffa was from his hair,
and its stalks were from his nails. It drinks from the top down while other
trees drink from the bottom up.
Our Master `Ali said -- may Allah be
well pleased with him: "The first tree that stood on the face of the earth
is the palm-tree." Allah the Exalted mentioned it in the Qur'an :
"Tall date-palms with shoots of fruit stalks, piled one over another"
(50:10).14
The Prophet used to tell people to
eat balah or green dates together with tamr or dried ripe dates15 for when
the sons of Adam eat them shaytan is angry and says: "The sons of Adam are
eating the new together with the old!" This is because green dates are
cold and dry while dried ripe ones are hot and moist, and each possesses
benefits that complement those of the other. The Prophet would join together
cucumbers, rutab or fresh ripe dates, sha`ir or barley bread, and
tamr or dry ripe dates, as well as mix cold water with honey and drink
it on an empty stomach. All this makes for lasting good health, because good
health endures when (foods of) hot and cold (elements) are joined. Physicians
forbid eating fish together with eggs, or fish together with yogurt, and they
forbid drinking honey with cold water after eating fish or before sleep, also drinking
water after sexual intercourse, and entering the bath after drinking milk.
Al-Samarqandi said in "Bustan al-`arifin" (The Orchard of Gnostics):
"Whoever enters the bath on a full stomach and becomes afflicted with
colic has no-one to blame but himself."
The Prophet said: "Let the one
who fasts break his fast with rutab or fresh ripe dates," for
fasting weakens the stomach and the liver, and sugar reaches the liver fastest
because it likes sugar and accepts it, especially rutab. The Prophet
said: "When the (time of) rutab comes, wish me well, O
`A'isha."
Tamr or dry ripe dates are the best food in any land. The pith
of the palm (jummar) confines the stomach and helps against jaundice and
fever. Adding to its benefit is the consumption of ginger preserve following
it. Finally, there is nothing better than rutab for the menstruating
woman, and nothing better than honey for the sick.
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