Dhikr or \u2018Remembrance\u2019 essentially pertains to the heart, but in so far as the tongue is the interpreter of the heart the oral recitation of a Divine Name or a verse of the Holy Qur\u2019an is also described as Dhikr. In other words, oral Dhikr can be worth the name only when it is accompanied by the \u2018remembrance\u2019 of the heart. As the great Sufi poet Rumi points out, the recitation of a Divine name can have no efficacy if one keeps thinking of cows and donkeys while repeating it mechanically with the tongue. One must, however, bear in mind that even a mechanical Dhikr without the heart being engaged in it is not altogether futile. It is related that the great Sufi Abu Uthman, hearing a man complain of such a situation, remarked that one should be grateful to Allah even for this favour of having drawn at least one organ of the body into His service. (Qurtubi)
\nThe merits of Dhikr are, indeed, innumerable. What greater merit could one wish for than the assurance that when a man \u2018remembers\u2019 Allah, He too \u2018remembers\u2019 him. Abu Uthman once claimed that he knew the time when Allah remembered His servants. The listeners grew curious as to how he could determine this. He replied that, according to the promise made in the Holy Qur\u2019an, when a Muslim remembers Allah, He too remembers him, and thus everyone can know for himself that as soon as he turns to Allah and remembers Him, Allah too remembers him.
\nLet us add that Verse 152 means to say that if men \u2018remember\u2019 Allah by obeying His commandments, He will \u2018remember\u2019 them by granting His pardon and His rewards. The commentator Sa\u2019id ibn Jubayr has, in fact, interpreted the Dhikr or \u2018remembrance\u2019 of Allah as obedience and submission to Him. He says:
\n\u201cHe who has not obeyed Him has not remembered Him, even though he has kept himself externally busy in offering (nafl: supererogatory) prayers and reciting His praises.\u201d
\nThis explanation is fully supported by a hadith cited by Al-Qurtubi on the authority of Ahkam Al-Qur\u2019an by Ibn Khuwayz Mandadh. The Holy Prophet (\u0635\u0644\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647 \u0639\u0644\u064a\u0647 \u0648\u0633\u0644\u0645) has said that one who has been obeying Allah \u2013 that is, following the injunctions with regards to the Halal and Haram \u2013 has truly been remembering Allah, in spite of being deficient in (nafl: supererogatory) prayers and fasting, while one who has been disobeying divine commandments has, in fact, forgotten Allah, in spite of devoting long hours to nafl prayers, fasting and recitation of His praises.
\nThe great Sufi Master Dhu al-Nun al-Misri has said that the man who remembers Allah in the full sense of the term forgets everything else, and that, in reward of such a total absorption, Allah Himself takes care of all his concerns, and grants him something far more valuable for everything he loses. Similarly, the blessed Companion Mu\u2019adh (\u0631\u0636\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647 \u062a\u0639\u0627\u0644\u0649 \u0639\u0646\u0647)has remarked that in so far as winning absolution from the divine wrath is concerned, no good deed on the part of man can compare with Dhikr. And in a hadith reported by the blessed Companion Abu Hurayrah (\u0631\u0636\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647 \u062a\u0639\u0627\u0644\u0649 \u0639\u0646\u0647), Allah Himself says that so long as the servant keeps remembering Him and his lips keep moving in Dhikr, Allah is with him.<\/p>\n
[Tafsir Mariful Qur\u2019an Surah Baqarah Verse 152]<\/strong><\/em> Dhikr or \u2018Remembrance\u2019 essentially pertains to the heart, but in so far as the tongue is the interpreter of the heart the oral recitation of a Divine Name or a verse of the Holy Qur\u2019an is also described as Dhikr. In other words, oral Dhikr can be worth the name only when it is accompanied […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c85-al-quran"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSource: haqislam.org<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"