Will you give information about Dhikr?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Dhikr means mentioning, remembering and memorizing. It is used for the words that are advised for praising Allah and praying Him. Some scholars define dhikr as all kinds of deeds that make man gain thawabs.

Dhikr is often used related to sufism (tasawwuf). In sufism, it means to repeat a certain word, phrase or sentence in order to express the loftiness of Allah and to reach spiritual maturity. It is done by using Allah's beautiful names and the phrase of oneness (La ilaha illallah).

Dhikr is derived from the word "dhakara". It is used as dhikr. It means the same as dhukr. Its plural forms are adhkar and dhukur. Dhikra is the exaggerated form of dhikr; it means making dhikr a lot.

Dhikr is mentioned in approximately three hundred places in the Quran including the words of the same root.

Allah orders us to make dhikr in various verses: One of those verses is as follows:

"Then do ye remember Me; I will remember you. Be grateful to Me and reject not faith" (al-Baqara, 2/152).

Allah mentions dhikr and shukr (gratitude) together in this verse. Dhikr is divided into three like shukr. They are dhikr with the tongue, heart and body. Dhikr with the tongue is mentioning Allah with His beautiful names, praising Him, glorifying Him, reading the Quran and praying. There are many verses mentioning this kind of dhikr. Some of them are as follows:

"And this is a blessed Message which We have sent down: will ye then reject it?" (al-Anbiya, 21/50).

Dhikr with the heart means to remember Allah with the heart. It is a kind of meditation.

Dhikr with the body takes place when all of the organs of the body fulfill the orders of Allah and avoid His prohibitions. This happens when a person keeps all of his organs in the way of Allah. (al-Isfahani, al-Mufradat, Istanbul,1986 259 ff,; Mehmet Zeki Pakalın, Osmanlı Tarih Deyimleri ve Terimleri Sözlüğü, İstanbul 1971, 659)

The phrase "Then do ye remember Me; I will remember you" in the verse above has been interpreted differently by scholars. These interpretations can be summarized as follows:

"Make dhikr of Me through worshipping and obedience so that I will make dhikr of you with my mercy. Make dhikr of Me with prayer (dua) so that I will accept your prayers. Make dhikr of the boons I gave you with praise so that I will increase My boons to you. Make dhikr of Me in the world so that I will make dhikr of you in the hereafter. Make dhikr of Me when you are in welfare and comfort so that I will make dhikr of you when you are in trouble and hit by misfortunes. Make dhikr of Me by making jihad in My way so that I will make dhikr of you with My guidance. Make dhikr of Me with loyalty and sincerity so that I will make dhikr of you by saving you from problems and increasing your knowledge and specialization. Make dhikr of Me by recognizing Me as your Lord with your worshipping so that I will regard you among My beloved slaves and forgive you." (ar-Razi, Mafatihul-Ghayb, Egypt 1937, IV,143 ff)

Some other verses that mention the importance of dhikr and that give orders and advice about dhikr are as follows:

"Men who celebrate the praises of Allah standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (with the thought): "Our Lord! Not for naught hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire." (Aal-i Imran, 3/191)

"Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction" (ar-Ra'd, 13/28).

"For Muslim men and women― for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves) for men and women who guard their chastity and for men and women who engage much in Allah's praise― for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward." (al-Ahzab, 33/35).

"O ye who believe! Celebrate the praises of Allah, and do this often; And glorify Him morning and evening." (al-Ahzab, 33/41, 42)

As it is seen in the verses above, Allah mentions women and men of dhikr with Muslims, believers, worshippers, honest people, patient people, people who fast, people of charity and thawabs and chaste people.

Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) expressed the importance of making dhikr by kalima at-tawhid in the religion of Islam as follows: "The most virtuous dhikr is La ilaha illallah and the most virtuous dua (prayer) is alhamdu lillah." (Ibn Majah, Adab, 25). As it is known, the basic element of dhikr is to make dhikr of Allah by forgetting, and even ignoring, other beings. Therefore, kalima at-tawhid, which expresses Allah's existence and oneness, is accepted as the best dhikr. Kalima at-tawhid is as follows in its full form: "La ilaha illallah Muhammadurrasulullah". La ilaha illallah uttered in dhikr is the first half of kalima at-tawhid. It also has two parts. The first part is “La ilaha”, which is the first part of the sentence. It means "there is no god". This negative part is called "nafy". The second part is "illallah". It means "only Allah exists". This part is called "ithbat". This part of tawhid is also called tahlil. (Necmüddin Kübra, Tasavvufi Hayat, translated by Mustafa Kara, İstanbul 1980, 59 ff)

According to the people of tasawwuf, Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) taught and advised the four caliphs four different types of dhikr. He taught Hz. Abu Bakr khafiyy (secret/silent) dhikr, Hz. Umar and Hz. Ali jahri (loud) dhikr and Hz. Uthman qalbi (of heart) dhikr. (Mehmet Ali Aynî, Tasavvuf Tarihi, 1340,198 ff) However, such a narration does not exist in sound hadith resources.

Tariqahs of tasawwuf have various dhikr types and methods peculiar to them. (for detailed information regarding the issue, see Mustafa Kara, Tasavvuf ve Tarikatlar Tarihi, İstanbul 1985, 200 ff)

Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) states the following about dhikr in another hadith:

"When people come together and make dhikr of Allah, angels surround them, mercy covers them and Allah records them as people who are close to Him."

Once, Abu Hurayra went to the marketplace and addressed the people there as follows: "The inheritance of the Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) is being distributed in the mosque and you remain here!" The people in the marketplace went to the mosque at once. However, they could not see any inheritance there. They approached Abu Hurayra and said to him, "O Abu Hurayra! We did not see any inheritance being distributed in the mosque." Abu Hurayra asked them, "What did you see?" They said, "We saw some people making dhikr of Allah and reading the Quran." Thereupon, Abu Hurayra said, "That is the inheritance of the Prophet (pbuh)." (al-Ghazzali, al-Ihya, Beirut n.d., I, 296)

There are more hadiths of Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) about the virtue of dhikr and its being a means of forgiveness for various sins. (see Muhammad b. Allan, Dalilul-Falihin, Egypt 1971, IV, 210 ff.)

As it is understood from the verses and hadiths that are explained above, dhikr prevents people from the effect of all kinds of evils of the beings except Allah, ensures man adherence to Allah and maintains all kinds of oneness. In addition, it gives peace to man’s heart and enables him to attain bliss of the world and the hereafter.

Nureddin TURGAY

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