“O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance”
(Quran 33:41).
Allah loves the one who praises and glorifies him, and His love for you increases.
What is Dhikr?
Remembrance of God with verbal repetitions is known as Dhikr. It is a direct way of strengthening your relationship with the supremely high being. It’s a way of expressing God that despite getting busy in the daily hustle of life I am still in connection with You and that I haven’t forgotten you.
While doing the constant repetition of certain verses/God’s names & attributes you tend contemplate on the meaning there by realizing your in-capabilities and the ultimate authority of God, this will have a direct effect on your heart, thus increasing your connection with God.
“Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest”
(Quran 13:28).
On the flip side, if we stop doing Dhikr / remembrance of God or have fallen behind for some reasons we fall into spiritual stagnation, just like stagnant water is the home to bacteria, this stagnation of the soul leads to spiritual, mental & physical problems.
Allah says, “Is he who was dead and We gave him life and set for him a light whereby he can walk amongst men, like him who is in the darkness from which he can never come out?” [6:122].
Spiritual Benefits:
Like water is to Fish, Dhikr is to the heart & soul, hence we need to nourish our soul by engaging in constant Dhikr/remembrance of our Lord.
By doing frequent dhikr, the person fulfills a tradition that says ‗.. (Hadith e Qudsi,) Allah says:
“Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him.”
[Bukhari]
The summary from the above hadeeth is, we can attract ALLAH’s attention and love by doing supererogatory acts (of course after performing/fulfilling the Obligatory – Fardh). Therefore when you’re doing these supererogatory-(nafil) acts, it shouldn’t be out of routine or for the sake of doing Dhikr rather needs to be done with sincerity and Love and so for when you give or do Dhikr of Allah with love, Allah returns with more love as is another hadeeth:
“When my servant comes to me walking I go to him at speed”
In connection to this, there is another hadeeth..
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “When Allah loves a slave, calls out Jibril and says: ‘I love so-and-so; so love him’. Then Jibril loves him. After that he (Jibril) announces to the inhabitants of heavens that Allah loves so- and-so; so love him; and the inhabitants of the heavens (the angels) also love him and then make people on earth love him”.
[Al- Bukhari and Muslim].
Medical /Mental Benefits?
Apart from so many benefits stated in the above ahadeeth, there are scientific evidences on the benefits of repetition & remembrance. By practicing the daily Adhkar/ remembrance, certain regions of the brain are engaged and become active. This results in bio-electrical flow in those neural groups of the brain, in turn, this overflows and new sets of neurons are put to work and so, some other regions of the brain become active.
Therefore, the brain begins to expand. The brain starts to bring out new meanings, perspectives and commentaries which it had not previously used before the practice of dhikr. (this has been scientific proven in Scientific American’, December 1993, laboratory findings which described the practicing of dhikr-remembrance, namely the repetitions of nouns in the brain, increases neural activity)
Benefits of Meditation are not hidden from anyone. Meditation increases the brain size, and dhikr is also nothing but meditation, repetition of certain words/phrases, focusing the attention on each word keeping the distraction away, contemplating on their meanings there by being in the present (being mindful) all these are part of meditation.
In the spiritual context, doing Dhikr (uttering the words) Nur leaves your mouth & travels to Heaven and the opposite is true with darkness, such as lying, backbiting or any bad language, and their effects – Nur for doing Dhikr & Darkness for bad language are reflected on the person’s overall personality – his speech, his body language, his behaviour and even on his health.
The Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) 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 in remembrance of Allah, and when they find a group of people reciting dhikr, they call each other and encompass them in layers until the first heaven.
[Bukhari, Muslim]
From this we can conclude. By remembering God we get angelic traits while doing the opposite we embody bad satanic behavior. Hence, we its of paramount importance that we are watchful of how we are spending our time (thoughts), remember Shaytan runs through our blood and has access to our heart. And that is why narrations say we need to seek refuge in ALLAH from Satan on slightest sign of evil or anger.
And for this reason, we need to be mindful of breathing and thoughts through Dhikr., during the day about 70,000/- of thoughts crosses our mind, we should take account /observe these thoughts are there productive, positive & angelic or unproductive, negative & satanic. We need to take conscious efforts and aim to observe every breath we inhale and exhale so that we do not stray into forgetfulness and thus being in state of mindfulness. Though it is bit challenging to be constantly aware of our breathe, we can seek help of ALLAH by seeking forgiveness of ALLAH and seeking refuge from Satan in ALLAH.
As dhikr is so easy and carries great reward, this is a form of worship that we should strive to increase in our daily lives and this remembrance should be a quality one with contemplation on its meaning to reap max. benefits.
Some Easy Adhkhar One Can Practice:
33 times Dhikr:
He who recites after every prayer: Subhan-Allah (Allah is free from imperfection) 33 times; Al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah) 33 times; Allahu Akbar (Allah is Greatest) 33; and completes the hundred with: La ilaha illallahu, wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu, wa Huwa ‘ala kulli shai’in Qadir (there is no true god except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him. His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent), will have all his sins pardoned even if they may be as large as the foam on the surface of the sea. (Muslim)
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100 times Dhikr:
He who utters a 100 times in a day these words: ‘La ilaha illallahu, wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu, wa Huwa ‘ala kulli sha’in Qadir (there is no true god except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him; His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent),’ he will have a reward equivalent to that for emancipating ten slaves, a hundred good deeds will be recorded to his credit, hundreds of his sins will be blotted out from his scroll, and he will be safeguarded against the devil on that day till the evening; and no one will exceed him in doing more excellent good deeds except someone who has recited these words more often than him.
Declaring ALLAH’s Oneness
There is not anyone upon the earth who says: ‘None has the right to be worshiped but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest, and there is no might nor power except by Allah, (La ilaha illa Allah, wa Allahu akbar, wa la ḥawla wa la quwwata illa billah) except that his sins shall be pardoned, even if they were like the foam of the sea. (Jami` At-Tirmidhi)
Istighfar
“The one who (regularly) says Istighfaar, that is, frequently repent to Allah Ta’aala for sins committed, Allah Azza Wa-Jal will open a path from poverty and difficulties. All sorrow and hardship will be removed, and in its place prosperity and contentment granted. One will receive sustenance from unimagined and unexpected sources.”
Adhkar after Salah
The Sunnah (Prophetic guidance) is for the Muslim to say after every obligatory prayer, whether he prayed as an imam (leader) or behind an imam or on his own: Astaghfirullah (I ask Allah for forgiveness) three times, then Allahumma anta al-salam wa minka al-salam tabarakta ya dhal-jalali wa’l-ikram (O Allah, You are the One Who is free from all defects and deficiencies and from You is all peace, blessed are You, O Possessor of majesty and honour). Then he should turn to face the people if he was the imam, then he and the other worshippers, and similarly the one who prayed on his own should say: La ilaha ill-Allah wahdahu la shareeka lah, lahu’l-mulk wa lahu’l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadeer. La hawla wa la quwwata illa Billah wa la na’budu illa iyyah. Lahu’l-ni’mah wa lahu’l-fadl wa lahu’l-thana al-hasan. La ilaha ill-Allah mukhliseena lahu’l-deena wa law kariha’l-kafiroon. Allahumma la mani’a lima a’tayta wa la mu’tiya lima mana’ta wa la yanfa’u dha’l-jaddi minka al-jadd (There is no god but Allah Alone, with no partner or associate His is the sovereignty and to Him be praise, and He is Able to do all things. There is no power and no strength except with Allah, and we worship none but Him. From Him (alone) come all blessings and favours, and all good praise is due to Him. There is no god but Allah and we make our worship purely for Him (alone) however much the disbelievers may hate that. O Allah, none can withhold what You give and none can give what You withhold, and no wealth or majesty can benefit anyone for from You is all wealth and majesty)
After Fajr & Magrib
After the Maghrib (sunset) and Fajr (dawn) prayers he should say, as well as the words mentioned above: La ilaha ill-Allah wahdahu la shareeka lah, lahu’l-mulk wa lahu’l-hamd yuhyi wa yumeet wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadeer (there is no God but Allah alone, with no partner or associate, His is the Dominion and to Him be praise, He gives life and gives death, and He has power over all things) ten times. Then after that he should say Subhan Allah wa’l-hamdu Lillah wa Allahu akbar (Glory be to Allah, praise be to Allah and Allah is most great) 33 times, and to complete one hundred he should say: La ilaha ill-Allah wahdahu la shareeka lah, lahu’l-mulk wa lahu’l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli shayin qadeer (There is no god but Allah Alone, with no partner or associate His is the sovereignty and to Him be praise, and He is Able to do all things).
