remembrance (dhikr)

8/9/2019 Remembrance (Dhikr)

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REMEMBRANCEREMEMBRANCE (DHIKR)(DHIKR)ANDAND THE PATH OF MERCYTHE PATH OF MERCY

"And whoever turns himself away from the remembrance (dhikr) of al-

Rahman (The Compassionate), We appoint for him a shaitan (a satan),

so he becomes his close companion (and associate). And most surely

they (the satan's) turn them away from the path, though they (the

people) persistently imagine that they are rightly guided...." (Qur'an

43:36-37)Wa many-yashu an-zikrir-Rahmaani nuqayyiz lahou Shaytaanan-fahuwalahou qareen. Wainnahum layasuddou-nahum anis-sabeeli wa yahsabouna

annahum-muhtadoun.

Barang siapa yang berpaling dari pengajaran Tuhan Yang Maha

Pemurah (Al Qur'an), Kami adakan baginya setan (yang menyesatkan)

maka setan itulah yang menjadi teman yang selalu menyertainya. Dan

sesungguhnya setan-setan itu benar-benar menghalangi mereka dari



This ver se, highlights a repeatedly ar ising theme in the Qur'an - theimpor tance of dhikr (remembrance of llah) - but highlights it in aunique and powerfully crucial manner. It links the tur ning away from asteady and steadfast contemplation and remembrance of llah in theaspect of is er cy and compassion with the entr y of Shaitan (Satan)into one's affair s. nd as ver se 43:37 indicates, this entr y is an invisible, unper ceived arr ival so that the per son remains unaware that he has been tur ned and def lected away from a felicitous path but instead imagines that he "is r ightly guided". This theme of people

tur ning away from llah name of er cy (al-Rahman) and compassion recur s in several places in the Qur'an and is per haps due to thesepeople desir ing a special recognition or concession for their group,their viewpoint, their tr ibe, or their social and political status.

Wa maa ya¶teehim-min-Zikrim-

minar-Rahmaani muhdasin illaa kaanou anhu mu¶rizeen. "No

remembrance comes to them from the All-Merciful newly arrived but

they turn away from it." (Qur'an 26:5) Instead they are faced with ageneral benef icence that does away with special pleading and levels all hierar chies except that of consciousness and awareness of llah and beauty of conduct.



Rahman and Rahim are two denotations of mer cy used through out theQur'an. The Rahman is considered an all-embracing univer sal mer cy and compassion (linked to llah ajesty) which pervades existence and from

which ever ything existence der ives benef it, while Rahim is def inedmore specialized and focused mer cy. ere (43:36) we are invoking,through dhikr of the name al-Rahman, the entr y into our hear ts of that generalized mer cy through which all creation obtains benef it - which is not restr icted only to par ticular groups, and which is not withheld fromanything or any creature in existence. nd the invocation is an

invitation for that mer cy to enter and settle into our hear ts.When (dhikr) of llah is connected with the aspect of is mer cy andcompassion, that quality of mer cy begins to manifest within one's own character - it gains a real, living presence and the hear t expands with it's growth. ne's thinking, words, actions, and all one's relationships within families, communities, and in the wider wor ld begins to display this mer cy. This dhikr then becomes a shield against the countless invisible ways in which Shaitan in jects himself into people's lives,even into their religious lives so that, as the ver se indicates,"...they

(the people) persistently (and mistakenly) imagine that they are rightly

guided...." ( Qur'an 43:37 ) though they are def lected from correct guidance.



This is why we f ind Imam li (a.s.) provided a guideline for determining the character of a people. e said: "Be not mislead by their prayers and

fasting...rather, try them when it comes to telling the truth and fulfilling trusts." (Nahjul

Balagha)

When weighing a per son's trustwor thiness and their religious ethos, theImam said not to look at their prayer, fasting, and hajj but to look intotheir character and how this character displays itself in the wor kings of life. Then we can see where their attachments lie, what their desires lead to, and what pr inciples manifest in their behaviour and aspect.

This is because the prayer, fasting, etc. are a means. lthough initially they may be an end in themselves, they are an extraordinar y means of remembrance through wor ship (and they always remain a necessar y obligation since they never cease to be an ever expanding means).

emembrance is a means of awakening a slumber ing consciousness,which is in tur n a means of transformation, and this transformation leads to inner up-lif tment, and this up-lif tment makes it possible todraw near to the one to Whom we pray. rayer is the means and each prayer is an oppor tunity to advance in this process. So the question becomes: what has our prayer made of us?



The rophet said that "whoever has no worldly life has no religious life" . By this hedid not mean that we should plunge our selves into wor ldly pur suits but that the one who separates his inner religious self from his lifewithin the tr ials and distractions of the wor ld has not grasped the full purpor t and meaning of religion. If we pray and fast, attend the mas jid,perform the r ituals and consider this the entirety of religious life weare, in a sense, secular izing our religion. ur inner religious self has never had its mettle tested in the wor ld if it remains safely andcomfor tably within these conf ines. When it is tested, will the wor ld get

the better of us, or will our faith (our iman) guide and direct the quality of our behaviour in the wor ld?

We are to take the elevated character, the manner s, the freedom fromlower attachments that sincere adherence to the pillar s of the religion can unfold within us, out into the wor ld. We are to apply this in our day to day affair s - both the easy and the diff icult. Truthfulness, patience,

fulf ilment of trusts, good speech and manner s, generosity, kindness,humility, char ity, mer cy, guarding the weak, involving our selves in thebest affair s of society, in the guardianship of r ights - and we are to dothis in an ihsan (beautiful) manner - without crudeness, without being rough in action or speech.



Like rophet Yusuf (Joseph) who, in a foreign countr y, living among aforeign people with a foreign religion, rose to the highest prominencethrough his reliance on God's mer cy and acted with the patience,truthfulness, and beauty of character which emer ged from this unwaver ing reliance. s Sura Yusuf says:

"...most surely (man's) self (nafs) is wont

to command (him to do) evil, except those who (are connected with) their Lord's mercy Wa maaa¶ubarri¶u nafsee; innan-nafsa la¶am-maaratum-bis-souu¶i illaa maa rahima Rabbee; inna Rabbee Gafou-rur-Raheem. Qur'an 12:53

.... W e reach

with Our mercy whom W e please, and W e do not waste the reward of those who do good (who act in the most

beautiful manner).³ Wa kazaalika makkannaa li-Yousufa fil¶ardi yata-baw-wa¶u min-haa haysu yashaaa¶. Nuseebu

bi-Rah-matinaaman-nashaaa¶u wa laa nuzee¶u ajral-Muh-sineen. Qur'an 12:56

That society in which Yusuf rose to prominence did not look at his prayer and r itual practices (af ter all, these would have been foreign r ituals tothem) but they looked at his character, his truthfulness, his patience,his elevated knowledge, his sincer ity, his fulf ilment of trusts. Without these, which are among the fruits of eff icacious prayer and fasting,can it be said that we have truly prayed and fasted. The people of

gypt reacted to how Yusuf compor ted himself within that society. edid not seek to blend in, that was not his goal - but he became known through the excellence of his conduct. "For the righteous are only known by that

which God causes to pass concerning them on the tongues of His servants. So let the dearest of

your treasuries be the treasury of righteous action....Infuse your heart with mercy, love and

kindness...." (Imam Ali's letter to Malik al-Ashtar)



Unfur ling this level of awareness within our selves is a diff icult matter.or, as the Qur'an states, humans have a tendency to be for getful and

heedless when they interact in the wor ld. In our thoughts it is easy toimagine our selves behaving with dignity when faced with diff iculty,hardship, heavy pressures and danger s alight upon us. But when thereality surrounds us, our minds desperately seek escape or seek tostr ike out against the per ceived causes of our diff iculty and our hear ts twist and tur n confused and without direction. In such situations wemay grasp, in our distress, at any direction that provides a path of

action. When our hear ts are per turbed and made uneasy by events, the best

direction to tur n is towards the remembrance of llah, for Allazeena aamanou wa tatma-innu qulou-buhum-bi-

zikriLLaah. Alaa bi-zik-riLLaahi tatma-innul-quloub. "...surely by Allah's remembrance are the

hearts set at rest." ( Qur'an 13:28) And the dhikr , the remembrance, that encompasses Allah aspect of er cy through is name Al-Rahman, will stand as a protecting guard over error, arrogance, and an invisible,and deceptive enemy. therwise Wa many-ya¶shu an-zikrir-Rahmaani nuqayyiz lahou Shaytaanan-fahuwa lahou qareen.

"...whoever turns himself away from the remembrance (dhikr) of al-Rahman, W e appoint for him a

Shaitan (a Satan)...." ( Qur'an 43:36)



This safeguarding dhikr begins on the tongue, enter s the mind with concentrated consciousness, settles into a hear t sof tened andcleansed through remembrance of Al-Rahman, and manifests in the

myr iad small actions a per son engages in each day. It becomes ashield and a truly beautiful means of drawing near to the mer cy of the

ost- er ciful (al-Rahman) who has promised to be the companion of the one who engages in is dhikr.

"I am the close companion of the one who remembers Me." (hadithQudsi)

I THERE IS AN I EDI ENT TO THIS ROCESS - TO ENGAGING IN A

REMEMBRANCE WITH THE HEART - I WE FIND IT DIFFICULT TO OPEN THISDOOR IT IS, PERHAPS, BECAUSE WE OURSELVES ARE THE DOOR - AND IFTHE DOOR IS LOCKED, IT IS LOCKED THROUGH OUR FORGETFULNESS,NEGLIGENCE, AND THROUGH THE CARELESS HABITS ACQUIRED OVER A

LIFETIME WHICH HINDER A TRUE INWARD CONSCIOUSNESS AND

AWARENESS FROM ARISING WITHIN US. WHEN WE ARE IN THIS STATE,THEN THE DHIKR IS FIRST A RECOGNITION OF THE DOOR, THEN AN

APPROACH TO THE DOOR, THEN A KNOCKING ON THE DOOR, AND FINALL Y

AN OPENING OF THE DOOR OF OUR HEART.

And for a people, a community, who live in a state of sincereremembrance, all things become possible.

remembrance (dhikr)

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