BASICS OF ISLAM : Allah ( God Almighty ) : Dhikr ( Recitation of God's Names ).Part2
Invoking and calling upon Him brings forth His favors.
One who remembers Him even while going about his or her daily affairs and preoccupations will find all obstacles removed in both this world and the next. His company will always be felt, and He will befriend one left alone and in need of friends.
•If one remembers and mentions Him during times of ease and comfort, His Mercy will reach one during times of trouble and pain.
•Those who struggle in His cause to spread His Name will be saved from humiliation in both this world and the Hereafter.
Such sincere endeavors will be rewarded with special favors and ranks that one cannot now imagine.
▪The desire to mention Him and recite His Names will be rewarded with Divine help, so that such activities can continue and guidance can be increased. The continuation of the second part of the above verse (2:152), that is:
Give thanks to Me and do not show ingratitude to Me,
suggests a virtuous circle in which a believer passes from recitation to thankfulness, and from thankfulness to recitation.
Recitation is the essence of all types or acts of worship, and the origin of this essence is the Qur’an.
▪Then come the luminous, celebrated words of the Prophet. All recitation, whether audible or silent, attracts and embodies the manifestations of the light of God’s Glorified “Face.” It also is the proclamation of God to all human beings and jinn, and the spreading of His Name throughout the world in order to show one’s thankfulness for His manifest and hidden favors.
When there is almost no one left to proclaim His Name, existence will be meaningless. According to the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, the universe’s total destruction will take place when there are almost no people left to proclaim His Name.
Recitation, irrespective of its style, is the safest and soundest way leading to God.
▪Without recitation, it is difficult to reach God. When the traveler remembers Him in his or her conscience and puts this remembrance into words with his or her tongue and other faculties, an inexhaustible source of support and (spiritual) provision is tapped.
Recitation signifies a journey toward Him.
▪When one starts to mention Him or recites His Names both verbally and through feelings and actions, as well as in one’s heart as a chorus, one enters a mysterious vehicle that ascends to the realm where spirits fly. Through the slightly opened doors of the heavens, indescribable scenes are beheld.
There is not a specific time for reciting God’s Names.
▪Although the five prescribed daily Prayers, the chief act of worship, are performed at the five appointed times and cannot be performed at certain times (e.g., during sunrise and sunset, and when the sun is at the zenith at noon), a believer can mention God and recite His Names whenever he or she wishes:
They mention God standing, sitting, and lying down (3:190).
There is no restriction of time or manner concerning the recitation of God’s Names.
▪It is hard to find in the Qur’an, the Sunna, and the books of the early righteous scholars anything more strongly recommended than the recitation of God’s Names. From daily Prayers to holy struggle in His cause, it is like the soul or blood of all worship. The profundity of recitation is proportional to the depth of feeling for God. Sufis call this “peace of heart,” or “vision” or “spiritual observation.”
▪Some mention God Almighty and reach Him in their hearts via a mysterious way; others know Him through their consciences and feel His constant company by means of the points of reliance and seeking help in their inner worlds. Since they remember Him uninterruptedly, always mentioning Him with their heart and conscience, always feeling Him in their being, and living fully aware of His constant presence, they regard mentioning Him verbally at certain times as being a sign of heedlessness and ignorance of Him.
One who has reached this degree of dhikr says:
God knows that I do not remember and mention Him just now. How should I remember and mention Him now, given that I have never forgotten Him?
O God! Make me one who mentions You much, thanks You much, fears You much, and eager for You and devoted to You, and ever-turning to You in penitence and contrition. And bestow blessings and peace on Muhammad, who always remembered and mentioned You, and on his Family and Companions, devoted and penitent.
