Zikr In Hadith Qudsi

Fiqh-us-Sunnah.

Book 64. Azh-Zhikr (Remembrance Of Allah).


Volume 004 : Funerals and Dhikr. Fiqh 4.100.
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Section : How Much zhikr is Required?.
Allah, the Exalted, ordered that He should be remembered a lot. Describing the wise men and women who ponder His signs, the Qur'an mentions, "those who remember Allah standing, sitting and on their sides,'' Qur'an 3.191 and "those men and women who engage much in Allah's praise. For them has Allah prepared forgiveness and a great reward.'' Qur'an 33.35 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."

When asked how much zhikr one should do to be considered as one of "those who remember Allah much," Ibn Al-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 b. Abi Talha relates that Ibn 'Abbas said, "All obligations imposed upon man by Allah are clearly marked and one is exempted from them in the presence of a genuine cause. The only exception is the obligation of zhikr. 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 journey 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."

Volume 004 : Funerals and Dhikr. Fiqh 4.101.
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Section : Zhikr as an Integral Part of Worship.

Sa' id b. Jubair 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 zhikr are the gatherings where the lawful and the prohibited things are discussed, for instance, selling, buying, prayers, fasting, marriage, divorce, and pilgrimage." Al-Qurtubi said, "Gatherings of zhikr 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 practiced without any addition or innovation, and without any ulterior motives or greed."

Volume 004 : Funerals and Dhikr. Fiqh 4.101A.
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Section : Etiquette of Zhikr.

The purpose of zhikr 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.'' Qur'an 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.'' Qur'an 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 zhikr 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.'' Qur'an 7.205

This verse indicates that doing zhikr 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." This hadith underlines the love and awe a person should feel while engaged in zhikr.

A part of this etiquette is the requirement that a person wishing to do zhikr be clean in body and dress, and smell sweet and fragrant. This will give him a fresh zeal and he will feel invigorated. One should face the qiblah during zhikr, for the best assemblies are those that face the Ka'bah.

THESE ARE SOME OF THE NARRATIONS WHICH ARE IN THE FIQH-US-SUNNAH. I HOPE THIS WILL CLARIFY SOME PEOPLES VIEW ABOUT ZIKR OF ALLAH(swt)AND ANY MISCONSEMPTIONS TOWARDS PEOPLE WHO DO ZIKR IN GATHERINGS.