Remembering Allah
All praise and thanks is for Allah SWT. Please and blessings on our Prophet, his family and his companions.
Today’s reminder is on remembering Allah SWT
Dear brothers and sisters, as Muslims our aim in life is quite simple. It is to follow the steps laid out in the Quran and the Sunnah to worship Allah SWT through our deeds and our intentions.
However, everything we do for Allah SWT stems from a single source and that is the acknowledgement and remembrance of Him.
Allah SWT has mentioned dhikr (or remembrance of Allah) over a hundred times in the Glorious Quran. In Sura Al-Imran, ayat 190 and 191, Allah SWT says:
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the day and night there are signs for people of reason.
˹They are˺ those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth ˹and pray˺, “Our Lord! You have not created ˹all of˺ this without purpose. Glory be to You! Protect us from the torment of the Fire.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we look at these ayat. amongst the many lessons is one of the need for us to remember Allah SWT wherever we may be.
But how can we remember Allah throughout the normal course of our day without withdrawing from the routine of our daily worldly life?
One way we can attempt to do this is to remind ourselves of the reward of remembering Allah SWT. This was mentioned by the imam in todays reminder and a few of those references are mentioned now.
Firstly, Sura Ar-Ra’d, ayat 28 is translated to say:
those who believe and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of Allah. Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find comfort.
And Sura Al-Ahzab, ayat 35 which is translated to say:
Surely ˹for˺ Muslim men and women, believing men and women,1 devout men and women, truthful men and women, patient men and women, humble men and women, charitable men and women, fasting men and women, men and women who guard their chastity, and men and women who remember Allah often—for ˹all of˺ them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.
Dear brothers and sisters, it might seem a mighty task at first, but one we can accomplish with some ease.
And so what follows then are four states of consciousness that we must strive to develop by remembering certain things, absorbing them and reminding ourselves of them often.
- Say to ourselves: “I am in Allah’s presence; He
is watching me.”
If ever we are alone, He is the second and that if we are two, He is the third. He is with us wherever we are.
The imam emphasised this through the following hadith in which Allah SWT conveyed the following to the messenger SAWS. It is translated to say:
I am near to the thought of My servant as he thinks about Me, and I am with him as he remembers Me. And if he remembers Me in his heart, I also remember him in My Heart, and if he remembers Me in assembly I remember him in assembly, better than his (remembrance), and if he draws near Me by the span of a palm, I draw near him by the cubit, and if he draws near Me by the cubit I draw near him by the space (covered by) two hands. And if he walks towards Me, I rush towards him.
Lets try to remind ourselves of this as often as we can, and throughout the day every time we begin a new task, and every time we speak.
- Say to ourselves. “Everything I have has been
given to me by Allah.”
All that there is surrounding us, on us and in us comes from Allah alone. There is none that creates or gives anything but Allah. Therefore, reflect upon all the blessings that He has blessed us with and be thankful to Him. Say Alhamdullilah. In all the sayings that our beloved Prophet (SAWS) has taught us to remember Allah with, gratefulness to Allah is a constant theme.
- Say to ourselves: “Nothing in this world can
happen without His permission.”
Everything lies in the hands of Allah. No harm can befall us and no benefit can reach us except as Allah ordains.
- And finally, Say to ourselves: “I am going to
return to Allah one day and that day could be today.”
Dear brothers and sisters, we do not know when we will leave this world. It may be that this hour is our last hour, or even, that this moment is our last moment. Such an uncertainty does not, of course, justify a complete withdrawal from this life.
However, we should aim that we are always conscious of this uncertainty, to the extent that it motivates us to spend every moment of our remaining life seriously, considering it as a gift from Allah and spending the resources He has blessed us with such as time, ability and energy as Allah has advised.
Dear brothers and sisters, the rememberce of Allah SWT comes from living life, not on autopilot without thought but from pondering over the life we have been given. By doing so we can aim to be of those who remember Allah SWT and are of those who were spoken of by the Prophet SAWS in the following hadith:
“Would you like me to tell you the best and purest of your deeds in the estimation of your King, those which raise your degrees highest, those which are better for you than spending gold and silver, and are better for you than that you should meet your enemy and cut off one another’s head?” On receiving a reply in the affirmative he said, “It is remembering God.”
May Allah SWT enable us to remember Him in all states. May Allah SWT enable us to adhere to these four points mentioned above. And May Allah SWT reward us for our efforts in remembering Him.
Ameen Walhamdullilahirabilalameen.
