بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله رب العالمين
والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله
Zikir is the Rukun of the Path
– A Rukun is a pillar, a part of the foundation. If the pillar is remove the whole building collapses.
– One has to have 1) Consistency 2)Sacred Courtesy/Adab 3)Presence of Heart/’Hudur’.
– When a person approaches this practice sincerely with the 3 things mentioned, the minimum that one will experience is the sweetness that if one were to compare any sweetness of the dunia, it will be considered pathetically insignificant to that.
– The highest pinnacle of the practice (Zikir) is that one goes into a state of Fana (annihilation of Self) with the One youre remembering. Level of consciousness is so high and absorbed with the One, one could say its like drowning.
– Sheikh Abu Bakr Salim in his book when he was 17 yrs old said “ The heart is like a mirror and when its polished and refined it will start to reflect. But when its dirty and soiled it becomes blind (rusty). And a vessel if its empty and clean, when you place something in, it preserves and protects it. But if its full and dirty, its not going to preserve anything. Now this is the nature of the state of the Heart, if it becomes filled to the love and attachment of the Dunia (anything tt distracts you from Allah) it will bring you away from the Eternal Home. “
– “Go away from anything that distracts you in this dunia and the people of this dunia”
– Allah is Ever Present. Theres nothing like Him.
– One of the way to purify the Heart is thru Zikr, when its in this process one will start to see glimmering instances of Him and start to intuit that everything is from Him.
– The heart is so Important. Its where the Khilafa is placed. Its the place that holds the reality of Maarifa.
– Imam Alhaddad said about the Adab of Zikir;
– 1) To be in a state of Wudu’
– 2) To face the Qibla with your limbs still
– 3) To lower your head. (All of this is not really prescriptive but to brings oneself in presence of the heart. The people of Allah have specific clothes and special perfume just for Allah when they are alone with Him at night. And it has a huge effect on the heart, it brings about a deeper sincerity and intimacy with Allah.)
– 4) Bring the heart onto a presence of the One youre remembering.
– The one that does with all the 3 sets and the 4 subsets within Adab will see a Clear effect in ones life. And if a person is consistent in this state, the illuminating Light will start to radiate in the Heart and the secrets of the Unseen will start to be expose to him.
– What should be the one that is engaging in Zikr feel and bring to heart?
– 1) You should be preoccupied with the meaning. Absorb yourself in contemplating the meaning. This is the 1st point of entry. Not halfway in the meaning and halfway thinking of food etc. Its hard and its going to take a long time to realise those distractions and to detox & condition the mind. But its all about effort.
– 2) They should bring to heart that we are sat in the presence of the One that has Perfect Awareness of the innermost thought and whisperings of the Soul.
– 3) Then one should run the meaning of the Zikr onto the heart over and over whilst uttering with the tongue. So your heart becomes full with the meanings of Tauhid when you say La Illahillah.. it will get more elated and deep.
– La IllahaillaAllah “Theres nothing i aim for other than Allah” “theres nothing that can exist besides Allah created it” “ theres nothing that is witnessed besides Allah that is in it” etc.
– Alhamdulillah; to bring all the blessings you have and had in your life to heart. Especially in our times when there is SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR.
– Allahuakbar; to bring to heart awe and reverence. To think of something, He, as pure and unique.
– Selawat: to bring to heart like youre there present in his Noble Raudhah. Now in english its called Imagine but imagine has a connotation of make belief. But the Arabic term used for the translation of ‘Imagine’ is to be literally in that place. Its the connection of the heart. So youre actually drawing that spiritual nourishment from that place when you summon it to heart.
– So what is Zikr, what is this that we need to have adab with?
– Zikr we cld say is like meditation. But on the semantic level, the Prophetic Meditation cld be describe as; Having the Mind directed and focone particular Reality, Thing or Concept.
– The Prophet Saw was always in this deep state of Self Awareness and Being Witnessed ( Muraqabah and Musyahadah) not on the limbs and mind but in the Heart as well. ( own reflection; his order of being to able cultivated this, is through his sunnahs eg. not being fully satiated, optimistic, always giving thanks and rights to other people)
– There are many forms of Zikr, the best form of it is La Illa Ha IllaAllah.
– Zikr is one of the greatest form of worship. When one can’t do the nawafils during asar-maghrib eg. One can fill it up with Zikr.
– Imam Alhaddad said about the fruits and benefits, he said that this is not just about having the heart in that state of peace and tranquility but Zikir furthermore unlocks and pin point certain part of the heart so to polish them and turn them to receive the Divine Grace and Nourishment.
– When one is really constant in this state it’s a sign of the lights of Wilayah (Sainthood) being shone onto the person because a sign that Allah is starting to Love that person is He busies the Servant’s tongue with His Remembrance and With the people of Zikr.
– The general public takes the Madad (spiritual nourishment) from the People of Zikr.
– So how do we cultivate Presence?
– The Shuyukh said there are places and time to be especially present. And there are 4 times of the day if you pay respect to it Allah will put Barakah in your day and in your entire Life;
– 1) Just before Fajr. ( even if you cant be bothered to wake up and pray 2 rakaat, at least recite La Illahi Ha Illaha illaAllah MuhammadaRasulullah) ( or just doa informally if you really cant get up, doa to give the strength to leave sins and do good etc)
– 2) between Fajr to Ishraq.
– 3) just before Maghrib.
– 4) between Maghrib and Isyak. (Traditionally they will engage with the Quran)
– The best way to practice this art of Zikr is to have a schedule around the Prayer.
– One of the best is to Selawat and do 10 in the morning and 10 evening.
– We need to remember the purpose of our existence is to ‘worship Him’ which is understood by as ‘to know Him’. To reach this true potential and live up to being the Khilafah of this Dunia. And not just to attached ourselves to this lowly Dunia that Allah have created as a test.
– One of the best is recite لا إله إلله الملك الحق المبين. ( given to Fatimah Ra) 100 x before or after Zuhr.
– One of the best also is Tasbih, Tahmid, Takbir x33 just before we go to sleep.
– When you do anything that is Mubah, do add in some aspects of Zikr in that period. Because you’re still in the Vessel of Time throughout this life and the Mubah/Neutral period takes up a lot of that life.. you need to have Adab with Time, especially anything that is precious. So if you keep in mind of this adab you will see great openings and barakah in the things you do in the life.
– But also its very good to have an intensive form of Zikr especially in the middle of the night or any specific time you can allocate to just meditate and let the meaning run over your heart and mind.
– We can only be doing Zikr, thru the Izin of Allah. Allah will only honour the one that deserves to say such profounds on their tongues. Its a gift and blessings again for us to be in Zikr.
– The reality and essence of Zikr is to be with the One youre Remembering.
– How many a times do we say this Epic phrases in the Prayer like Subhanallahil Azhim wa bihamdih. Like Praise be to Allah the Vast and Magnificent! and the heart is elsewhere. The prayer is one of the highest form of Zikr/Meditation at one level, because your whole limbs are still.
– If we understand that Meditation(i.e Solat & Zikr) is an engagement of Allah, a focus on Allah, a devotion to Allah and ultimately a DETOX FROM ALL ELSE, now this is actual one of the most intense form of that practice. (to remove all else in the mind and soul for other than Allah)
– Someones ask how do we be present in the prayer or meditation?
Ans; Now the nature of Heart is it cannot just flip. Like if initially one state is in such a heedlessness and then suddenly start doing the Takbir (for prayer) and wonder why we dont experience all these amazing things?
– We need to warm up and cool down the heart just a bit before and after, and its tiring. It requires exertion. Even if its just reading ayatul kursi before the prayer so we can get the heart in line and out of the heedless state
– The Solat is the Gift of the Prophet personally from Allah. It wasnt thru Jibril. The tassyahud was a communion with Allah when the Prophet went passed the Lote Tree. It was a special meeting that no other creation has ever done and it was to give the Prophet Saw this gift for the Ummah. And know the doa and of sentence ‘Assalamualaina wa ala’ ibadillahis-soliheen’ is him saw not forgetting his Ummah in such an intimate and special meeting. Its from his love and mercy to his ummah. Saw..
– Now when a believer is more righteous and devoted in the straight path they are more affected by this doa of peace upon the righteous servant that is unlock by the prophet saw and receiving this peace from Allah swt. If that is not intense and not making you focus then what is.. This is the whole point of life.
wa billahi Taufiq~
and Allah knows best.
Seedlings 