Ibaadah - Worship & Obedience of Allah ﷻ
Remember Him and He will remember you The Quran teaches that zikr (remembrance) of Allah ﷻ is connected to peace within our hearts which happens as a result of Allah’s response to our zikr (remembrance) of Him: “…and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah. Surely in Allah's remembrance do hearts find rest.”[1] “So remember Me and I shall remember you; give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful to Me for My favors.”[2] Our remembrance by Allah ﷻ is certainly greater than our remembrance of Him. The remembrance of Allah ﷻ finds its way in to our hearts as a result of our remembrance of Him, in the form of peace and gives solace within the heart that our entire body, mind and soul attains peace and this is something which can only be experienced, no words can fully express. The achievement of this state is possible when a believer engages in much worship in addition to the obligatory salah (5 times prayers) such as nawafil (voluntary prayers), making much dua (invocations, supplications) and doing much zikr[3]. A few ahadith of the Prophet ﷺ may also shed some light for us to better comprehend in what ways Allah ﷻ remembers us and in what way does it give solace and peace to our hearts. Such as the prophetic advice to one of his companions, Abdullah ibn Abbas (radiAllahu anhu), that if we were to remember Him in good times through obedience, worship and gratefulness then He will remember us by assisting us in our difficult and worst times: “Safeguard the Commandments of Allah, you will find Him before you. Remember Him in prosperity and He will remember you in adversity.”[4] His assistance in adversity and divine help that removes dangers is a form of His remembrance of us, which is also a source of peace for our lives. An illustration of such remembrance in the form of divine assistance can be understood by referring to a prophetic hadith where Allah ﷻ commands His angels to love the one whom He loves and this love gradually trickles down the heavens till it reaches the angels of the earth who inspire the people’s hearts to love that individual and then he or she becomes beloved and honored by those around them: “If Allah loves a person, He calls Archangel Jibreel (Gabriel), saying, "Allah loves so and so, O Gabriel love him" So Gabriel would love him and then would make an announcement in the Heavens: "Allah has loved so and-so therefore you should love him also." So all the dwellers of the Heavens would love him, and then he is granted the pleasure of the people on the earth.”[5] Such is one of the many instances of Allah’s remembrance of His servant when His servant remembers Him in their own hearts as well as by displaying obedience to Him in all matters of their lives. When Allah ﷻ created Adam (alaihi salaam) and informed the angels about His decision to place him on earth then the following conversation took place in which angels said: “‘How can You put someone there who will cause damage and bloodshed, when we celebrate Your praise and proclaim Your holiness?" but He said, "I know things you do not.’”[6] Whoever among humankind does good on earth by obeying Allah ﷻ and acting righteous then Allah ﷻ praises them to an assembly of heavenly angels, and reminds them about His earlier claim about humankind when He said “I know things you do not.” This is confirmed in another hadith (qudsi) where we are told: “Allah the Exalted says: "I am as my servant expects me to be, and I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me inwardly, I will remember him inwardly, and if he remembers Me in an assembly, I will remember him in a better assembly (i.e., in the assembly of angels), And if he seeks to draw nearer to Me by a hand span, I draw nearer to him by a forearm length.”[7] Allah's praise of an obedient servant of His in the presence of higher angels is also considered His remembrance of His servants as a result of their remembrance of Him in their hearts, obedience of His commandments, inspiring and calling others towards His obedience, and worship of His in their daily lives. A good example of such persons are the righteous teachers, scholars, saints, Imams, preachers, writers etc. There are also other instances of His remembrance of ours in which He responds to our invocations and pleas that we express during our duas and this is explained in another prophetic hadith: “To any Muslim who makes a dua, provided it does not contain anything sinful or breaking family ties, Allah ﷻ will give one of the three things: He will quickly grant him what he asked for, or save the reward for him for the hereafter, or turn away from him a similar hardship (that would have hit him in the absence of that dua).” Those who heard it said they would greatly increase their duas, the Prophet ﷺ replied, “Allah has even more.”[8] Thus, remember Him and He will remember you in plenty of ways and His remembrance of us is greater. References: [1] Al Quran 13:28 [2] Al Quran 2:152 [3]1 The most basic form consists of reciting following on fingertips: tasbih (subhanAllah meaning Glorified is Allah), tahmeed (alhamdulillah meaning all praise is due to Allah), takbir (Allahu Akbar meaning Allah is the greatest). [4] Riyad as-Saliheen Book 1, Hadith 62 [5] Sahih al-Bukhari 6040 [6] Al Quran 2:30 [7] Riyad us-Saliheen Book 16, Hadith 28 [8] Recorded in Musnad Ahmad – Munajaat e Maqbool – Maulana Ashraf Ali Thaanvi.
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Ibaadah AuthorZaid Shaw Archives
August 2019
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