Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi - The call of ALLAH

YOUR INFINITE WISDOM AND JUSTICE.

Then begins the deep, reverent remembrance, dhikr: “And bethink thyself (dhikr) of thy Sustainer humbly and with awe, and without raising thy voice, at morn and at evening; and do not allow thyself to be heedless (ghafla).” (7:205)

Through fasting and dhikr, the nafs comes to understand that it is not in this world to rule in splendid isolation. It starts turning to the light of the soul and begins to serve the soul – and the soul always knows that it belongs to Allah alone.

The opposite of dhikr is ghafla , namely the slumbers of forgetting. In His love and compassion, Allah shows us what this does to us: “and be not like those who are oblivious of God, and whom He therefore causes to be oblivious of [what is good for] their own selves: […].” (59:19)

We all know about forgetting and some of us blame ourselves almost cruelly when we have fallen into ghafla or become entangled in other weaknesses.

Come out of this state of blame by immediately holding your weaknesses to Allah and saying astaghfirullāh and alhamdulillāh!

Astaghfirullāh, I take refuge in You and I ask You to forgive me for all my weaknesses, my heedlessness, my ghaflas .

Alhamdulillāh, You are forever praised for the eternal mercy and kindness You keep bestowing upon me.

And together: astaghfirullāh and alhamdulillāh for all the states and possibilities which, in Your kindness, You keep giving me to come closer to You.

Remain in dhikr, in the remembrance of your heart. Through dhikr, through your trust and your gratefulness, teach your mind to free itself from the negative, always doubting and self-pitying interpretations, and to open to Allah’s light and love.

Dhikr is an inner act of surrender which expresses itself on the outer level by participating in shaping this world:

“[and] who remember God when they stand, and when they sit, and when they lie down to sleep, and [thus] reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: […].” (3:191)

We human beings are inclined to the good as well as to the bad, but we can only find our inner peace by being close to God and by remembering Him, for our true nature knows God.

Yet the most beautiful thing about dhikr is that Allah tells us that when we remember Him, He remembers us: “so remember Me, and I shall remember you; and be grateful unto Me, and deny Me not.” (2:152)

MAY OUR FAST BE NURTURED BY DHIKR.

PRACTICE SUGGESTED FOR TODAY

Today, try and remember or recite, silently or aloud, as often as you can

astaghfiru llāh wa-I-ḥamdu li-llāh

astaghfiru llāh, I take refuge in You and I ask You to forgive me for all my weaknesses, my heedlessness, my ghaflas .

al-ḥamdu li-llāh, You are forever praised for the eternal mercy and kindness You keep bestowing upon me.

DID YOU KNOW…

The now common prayer beads ( masbaḥa in Arabic, subha in Turkish and Farsi) were not used in the early days of Islam. The believers would either use their fingers or pebbles to count formulas.

The first caliph, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, introduced the first type of masbaḥa in the form of a knotted rope.

The masbaḥa as we know it today was introduced by Junayd Al-Baghdadi (d. 910), one of the main authorities on Sufism, who wanted to give his students a permanent tool for remembrance as well as something to hold on to and orientate themselves by.

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