We all seek to remember Allah. While many of us believe that remembrance is practised only by uniting the heart and the tongue, and only in that way, others ask questions. What is the best way to remember our Lord ? When should it be done? It is questions of this kind that we will try to answer.
The intention to remember Allah
What does the believer seek when he wants to remember Allah if not to draw closer to Him ? No other act of worship is more able to grant us this connection with the Most High, and none surpasses it in reward. The remembrance of Allah is thus the act by which the faithful draws closest to Allah, and this is mentioned in the Quran many times, as we shall see.
Thus, when the believing man or woman enters into a state of contemplation to invoke Allah. He or she forms the intention to be as close as possible to Him, to mention Him as He deserves, to humble oneself before one's Lord. By this remembrance of Allah, he bears witness to being His servant, and this connection satisfies him while he seeks His Satisfaction.
To feel the fruits of this remembrance of Allah is achieved only through the diligent practice of this act of worship, while everything in life and in society presses us and distracts us from it.
Mention, remembrance, evocation and invocation, so many terms with which Allah speaks to us in the Quran about remembrance and tells us what He expects of us.
Several terms for the word Dhikr, what is the difference?
The most frequently used term in the Quran for remembrance is indeed the Dhikr. This is, however, translated into French in many ways.
While the word dhikr in all its forms, verbal and nominal, is used in Arabic, French translates it sometimes as “remembrance”:
Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 152 So remember Me. I will reward you. Give thanks to Me and be not ungrateful toward Me !
sometimes as “remembrance” :
Surah Al-Ankabut Verse 45 Recite what is revealed to you of the Book and establish the Salat. Truly the Salat preserves from indecency and wrongdoing. And the remembrance of Allah is certainly the greatest thing. And Allah knows what you do.
sometimes as evocation:
Surah Al-Ahzab Verse 41 O you who believe ! Remember Allah with much remembrance.
Conduct during the remembrance of Allah ?
The attitude to adopt during the Dhikr is also mentioned in the Quran by Allah. First, the remembrance is to be practised :
- abundantly, as mentioned in the verse :
Surah Al-Jumua Verse 10 Then when the Salat is completed, disperse over the land and seek [some effect] of the bounty of Allah, and remember Allah much so that you may be successful.
- fervently, and with more regard and devotion than a person shows toward their parents:
Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 200 And when you have completed your rites, then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, and yet more fervently.
- With humility and in an intimate and secret manner
Surah Al-A'raf Verse 205 And remember your Lord within yourself, in humility and fear, without loudness of speech, in the morning and the evening, and be not among the heedless.
- without letting oneself be distracted
Surah Al-Munafiqun Verse 9 O you who have believed ! Let neither your wealth nor your children distract you from the remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that... then those are the losers.
- The servant seeking to draw closer to his Lord must be as much as possible in a state of purity to mention Him. And the proof of this is that remembrance is often linked to prayer, during which we are in a state of ritual purity.
At what times should we invoke Allah ?
Prayer
Part of remembrance is to remember Allah, to mention Him, inwardly or aloud, on every occasion. Prayer is therefore the first form of remembrance of Allah, the most privileged, since it entails stopping all activity to remember Allah and give Him thanks, as He, Glorified be He, says in this verse :
Surah Ta-Ha Verse 14 Indeed, it is I who am Allah: there is no deity except Me. So worship Me and establish the Salat to remember Me.
Prayer is an obligation, a pillar of Islam, but it is also considered the highest degree of remembrance for the believer who will stop what he is doing when Allah calls him, as He, Glorified be He, asks of us :
Surah 2 Verse 186 And when My servants ask you about Me... then I am indeed near: I respond to the call of the one who calls upon Me when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to My call, and let them believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided.
Prayer indeed constitutes the act by which the believer obeys Allah. In it he invokes his Lord with the terms He has taught us, he recites the Quran, Dhikr par excellence, and asks Him for what he needs in his own words.
Responding to Allah by embracing Islam makes us Muslims. Responding to Him each time the call to prayer is made makes us worshippers of Allah, believing in Him and in His Laws, diligent in their obligatory rites and practices. To mention Him at all times makes us servants conscious of their servitude and humble.
After each prayer
After each prayer, the multiplying of the request for forgiveness is recommended, and it represents the type of supplication most cited in the Quran. Indeed, one must remember Allah to :
- ask Him for forgiveness and repent : AstaghfiruLlah (Istighfar)
- thank Him for His blessings : El HamduliLlah (Tahmid)
- proclaim His Greatness as He has guided us : Allahu Akbar (Takbir)
- glorify Him : SubhanaLlah (Tasbih)
Surah An-Nisa Verse 103 When you have completed the Salat, remember the name of Allah, standing, sitting or lying on your sides. Then when you are secure, establish the Salat (normally), for the Salat remains, for the believers, a prescription at determined times.
At every moment of our life !
But the remembrance of Allah is not done only at the times of prayers, as Allah tells us in these verses of the Quran :
Surah Al 'Imran Verse 190 and 191 Truly, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for those endowed with understanding,
who, standing, sitting, lying on their sides, remember Allah and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth (saying): « Our Lord ! You have not created this in vain. Glory be to You ! Guard us from the punishment of the Fire.
In the face of the enemy
Whatever happens to us in life, and in the face of any adversity, the best conduct to have is to entrust ourselves to Him and to invoke Him as He recommends to us :
Surah Al-Anfal Verse 45 O you who believe ! When you meet an (enemy) troop, be firm, and remember Allah much so that you may succeed.
Those who do not invoke Allah are :
- hypocrites:
Surah An-Nisa Verse 142 The hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but Allah turns their deception (back against themselves). And when they rise for the Salat, they rise with laziness and to be seen by people. Hardly do they remember Allah.
- corrupt:
Surah Al-Hashr Verse 19 And be not like those who forgot Allah; [Allah] then made them forget their own selves; those are the corrupt.
- have a tormented life :
Surah Ta-Ha Verse 124 And whoever turns away from My Remembrance will certainly have a life full of hardship, and on the Day of the Resurrection We will raise him blind to the gathering ».
- arrogant :
Surah Ghafir Verse 60 And your Lord says: « Call upon Me, I will respond to you. Those who, out of arrogance, refuse to worship Me will soon enter Hell, humiliated.»
Conclusion
How can we not seek to draw closer to Allah through remembrance when we read all the benefits that He promises us, He who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves ?
The remembrance of Allah keeps the heart of the believer alive, and raises the one who is diligent in it in degrees before his Creator.
Among its countless delights, in addition to the closeness felt with Him, and the fact of being honoured by seeing one's supplications answered, we count among the blessings upon us :
- The tranquillity of the heart:
Surah Ar-Ra'd Verse 28 those who have believed, and whose hearts are tranquillised by the remembrance of Allah. » Is it not by the remembrance of Allah that hearts are tranquillised ?
- And the reward of Paradise :
Surah Al-Ahzab Verse 35 (...), the men who remember Allah often and the women who remember Him: Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and an immense reward.
May we be firm in our certainty of seeing Allah draw us closer to Him through the multiplying of the remembrance of His Name, exalted be He, so that we continue to practise it in every place and at every time. Amin
According to Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him),
the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
« When one of you invokes Allah, let him not say: " O Lord! Forgive me if You will", but let him rather be resolute in his supplication, and let him make great requests (such as entering Paradise or being forgiven), for nothing is beyond the power of Allah ».
May Allah answer each of our supplications and make of our hearts places of tranquillity where the love of Allah reigns. Amin
At what moment of your life have you felt closest to Allah through supplication ?