Engaging in silent zikir

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Surah Araaf, translated as The Heights, tells us a lot of how to get closer to Allah . In the 205th ayat Allah says;

‘and remember your Lord within yourself (your nafs), humbly and with fear, without loudness in words in the mornings, and in the afternoons and be not of those who are neglectful’. (7 : 205)

Zikir is usually translated as remembrance of Allah , and in this context Allah is commanding us to remember Him with the nafs. The nafs is basically the energy that is derived from the workings of the physical body. It also denotes the lower self of man.

Hazrath Anas Bin Malik narrated that Hazrath Rasoolallah (SAS) says that he who sits after Fajr prayer remembering Allah till sun rise and says two rakats of prayer will be rewarded like a person who has performed Hajj and Umrah.

Allah is commanding us to make zikir in the mornings and evenings and to do so silently. One technique that is usually taught in the discipline of tassawuf is to cultivate your nafs, i.e. your physical organs to makes zikir. And one discipline teaches the students to cultivate their personalities to resound ‘Allahu’. i.e. you actually hear your heat-beat saying Allahu

If done properly you will actually hear your organs saying Allahu, when they are cultured to do so after perfecting this zikr with your heart. (qalb).

Hazrat Abu Bark reported that the Sahabas used to sit so silently in front of Prophet that the desert crows used to pick their heads. What do you think they used to be listening to? The Ashabus Suffa were those blessed companions who used to learn directly from Prophet and they used to actually live in the masjid and only leave out of necessity. What do you think they used to be doing night and day? They were learning the technique of making zikr.

Those who are true believers will truly understand how close Allah is, and how merciful and Compassionate He is. They will begin to develop a special kind of love for Him and it will continue to grow and grow. Remember Allah says He is our Wali; ‘Allah is the wali of those who have faith’. A wali is a person’s closest, most senior, protecting friend. Part of our mission in this world is to realise how close our Lord is to us. Develop the right concept. Don’t think of Him as a vengeful God who will issue punishment at the first chance; instead know that He is every-ready to help with compassion and love.

By engaging in zikir in this manner we can actually culture the heart to make zikir, even when we are pre-occupied with other things. For example it has been reported by Jabir bin Abdullah (ra) that some angels came to the Prophet while he was asleep. Some of them said, “He is sleeping.” Others said, “His eyes are sleeping but his heart is awake.”

Make your organs resound Allahu. This isn’t impossible for us to achieve. It is based on our effort. No material things can help you achieve this. It is a real Jihad and proof can be found in the narration where Prophet told his Companions “I have returned from the small Jihad (Jihad Asghar) to the big Jihad (Jihad Akbar)”. The Sahabas enquired “what is the big Jihad?” Prophet said “the Jihad al nafs (inner desires).”

Satan will try to divert you but try to take control of yourself. Make proper usage of your time and try to benefit from what is being offered. Forget about the baseless argument of those who will argue that zikir is haram. Take control of the nafs and cultivate it to make the zikir of Allah and insha Allah you would have achieved something of great benefit in this world and the next.

Allah’s Barakat

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Always remember that evil cannot go back to Allah . It cannot go beyond the skies. Allah says;

‘We have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars,- (for beauty) and for guard against all obstinate rebellious evil spirits, (so) they should not strain their ears in the direction of the Exalted assembly but be cast away from every side’ (37:6-8)

Satan had a taste of Paradise and he also had the good experience of attaining closeness to Allah so he knows how beautiful it is. He would therefore have some sort of inclination to go back there. Besides he likes to know what is going on or taking place in the heavens. As such Allah has protected the lower heavens from Satan and his minions.

‘but those who reject Our Signs and treat them with arrogance,- they are companions of the fire, to dwell therein (for ever)’ (7:36)

Allah has given so many indications that He is ‘in charge’. For example in the Qur’an a lot of chapters are named after things of nature, and this is one of the means by which we can understand the Greatness of Allah . He showed so many signs to Pharaoh and his followers but still they took no heed. Pharaoh never thought that Allah was giving them signs. And even today we see that some groups of people feel as though that they don’t need God.

About them Allah says that they will be confined to the earth. When Pharaoh and his followers did not take heed to the message of Moses Allah sent His wrath upon them. Meanwhile the Bani Israel was prospering.

One of the consequences of not submitting humbly to Allah is that such people will be denied of Allah's blessings. He says:

'Verily, those who reject Our Signs and treat them with arrogance, (for them) there will be no opening of the gates of the skies, nor will they (be able) to enter Paradise, until the camel can pass through the eye of a needle'. (7:40)

It will be impossible for the materialistically inclined to penetrate the skies in order to go back to Allah . It is reported in one commentary that when the souls of the inhabitants of hell are being taken up to the heaven the angels will block them from proceeding any further.

In our meditation there are some who can sit and actually experience paradise. This is difficult to explain since it is outside the realm of scientific reason and logic. Ordinary human beings can experience something of paradise.

Worry not of those who argue by saying such a thing is ‘haram, bidah or shirk. These things are difficult to explain because they are outside the realm of reason and logic. It’s something that you have to experience.

If we aspire to do good Allah will open up the skies and bestow His barakat upon us. Allah tells us about this in the following verse:

'If the people of the town had but believed and feared Allah; We should indeed have opened out to them all kinds of blessings from the skies and the earth. But they rejected the truth, and We took them to task for their misdeeds'. (7:96)

It is up to us to make an effort. Remember every day we must ‘hasten to ask for forgiveness from our Lord’. Our life-span in this world is fixed and our mission is to manage it properly in order to attain maximum benefit in both the worlds.