Remembering Allah Frequently

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

This week we continue highlighting the stages in God consciousness. 

We started out by addressing the benefits of engaging in the remembrance of Allah.  Last week we spoke of the best time to remember Allah.  This week we address what Allah makes mention of in many places in the Qur’an;

O you who believe!  Remember Allah with much remembrance.  (33:41)

Don’t only remember Allah when you are in a tranquil state of mind.  True, these times are more optimal but remember your Lord throughout the day and night. 

How is this possible, especially when we’re preoccupied with our job, family etc?  Allah gives us the answer in the Qur’an in the story of Zachariah.  Allah records in Surah Imran;

There did Zachariah pray to His Lord, saying: “O My Lord! Grant unto me from Thee a progeny that is pure”: for Thou art He that heareth prayer!  While he was standing in prayer in the chamber, the angels called unto him: “(Allah) doth give Thee glad tidings of Yahya, witnessing the truth of a word from Allah, and (be besides) noble, chaste, and a Prophet, - of the (goodly) company of the righteous”.  He said: “O My Lord! How shall I have a son seeing I am very old and my wife is barren?”  Thus was the answer doth Allah accomplish what He willeth”.  He said: “O My Lord! Give me a Sign!"  Thy Sign, was the answer, Shall be that Thou shalt speak to no man for three days but with signals.  Then celebrate the praises of Thy Lord again and again, and glorify Him in the evening and in the morning”.  (3:38-41)

Based on this the scholars have conclude that you don’t have to remember Allah only with your speech, but you can engage in God consciousness with your heart.  

One way of achieving this is through Zikirullah.  Cultivating your heart and body to engage in the glorification of Allah.  In relation to the Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said “the eyes of Allah's Apostle sleep but his heart does not sleep”.  Regardless of what activity he was engaged in his heart was glorifying Allah.

Allah loves all His servants and He wants us to love Him.  If you become overflowing in your love for your Lord it’s obvious that you will remember Him constantly.  And He will look after you and take care of your affairs.  It goes hand in hand.  

Once a man came to Prophet Muhammad (pboh) and said, “O Rasulallah, the laws and conditions of Islam have become too many for me.  Tell me something that I can always keep”.  Prophet Muhammad (pboh) said: “Keep your tongue always moist with zikirullah”.

It cannot be that you are making all this effort to remember Allah and He will let you down.  And what we are teaching you in our weekly zikir sessions is the technique to cultivate your entire personality to engage in the remembrance of Allah.

You can actually reach a stage where you can sit and listen to your heart palpitations glorifying Allah.  So no matter what you are doing you can engage in some form of Godly remembrance.  And this is what true success is; when your personality can remain in the remembrance of Allah regardless of the time and environment.

With this in mind can you imagine the personality of our Prophet Muhammad (pboh)?  He reached such a stage where his physical countenance shown with light.

May Allah enable us to cultivate our personalities to such an extent that we are capable of remembering Him constantly and continuously.