Elevating Our Worship: Moving Beyond The Bare Minimum With Dhikr

Jumu'ah Khutbah — Mawlana Muhammad Patel

I begin by praising Allah, the one to whom all praise belongs. And I send peace and blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, his pure wives, his noble companions, and all those who follow him till the last day.

Our Natural Disposition Toward the Bare Minimum

We as human beings, we often have a tendency or a natural disposition of restricting ourselves to only those things that are required from us. We restrict ourselves to only those things that are demanded of us. And we make sure not to exceed that, except if we are compensated in some way. We operate based on a reward system. And this is our natural disposition.

For example, when it comes to worldly matters, for those of us who are students at high school or a college, if our professor gives us a five-page essay to type up, the requirement is a five-page essay. We ensure that whatever happens, we may increase the font size, we may double-space it, we may add some extra words in there, just to reach that threshold of five pages. And once we reach that threshold of five pages, we don't go beyond that. We ensure that we don't go beyond that. We stick to the bare minimum.

For those of us who have the responsibility of earning for our families and we have jobs, we ensure that whatever extra hours that we're required to put in, we're compensated for. If we have a long weekend such as the Thanksgiving long weekend, and our job requires us to come on site, we make sure and we ensure that we are being compensated for that. And so this is the natural disposition, the fitrah, that Allah has created all of us with.

And this is no different when it comes to acts of ibadah. And that is why Allah didn't require from us to perform five times daily salah, to pay zakah, to perform hajj, and to do all these various forms of ibadah, without any compensation — that on the Day of Judgment we will have the same outcome as animals. Animals are not mukallaf. And so they will be turned to dust on the Day of Judgment. However, human beings, we are mukallaf, we are responsible. And so with all of these different acts of ibadah being legislated, required, and mandated from us, we are going to be compensated for them on the Day of Judgment.

And so Allah, knowing the nature with which He created us, He constructed this reward system — that whatever good deed that we do, we will be rewarded for it. However, despite this reward system being set in place, we still tend to restrict ourselves to the bare minimum when it comes to the matters of deen. No doubt we do this with regards to the worldly matters. But when it comes to the matters of deen, even though there is a reward system in place, even though we are being promised rewards, jannah, in compensation for the good deeds that we do, we still restrict ourselves to the bare minimum.

When it comes to performing salah, we know exactly how many raka'at we need to perform for Salatul Dhuhr. We need to perform four raka'at. And so we stick to the bare minimum. We follow the motions, we go up and down, we recite whatever we have to, and we just restrict ourselves to that. However, the khushu' and khudu' in salah — the salah itself, the tilawah of the Quran — all of these important aspects of salah, they are devoid of the most important element of ibadah, which is mindfulness, which is being present — or otherwise known as the state of dhikr.

What Is Dhikr?

When we think of dhikr, we oftentimes think of a person sitting in a corner with a long tasbih, saying لا إله إلا الله، سبحان الله، الله أكبر. This is a definition of dhikr. This is encompassed within the definition of dhikr, but this is not what dhikr is limited to.

Dhikr linguistically in the Arabic language refers to being present-minded, being attentive, having concentration. And so who are we present-minded of? Who are we conscious of? We are conscious of Allah. And so when we're performing salah, we are conscious of Allah. What did the Prophet ﷺ say?

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 50; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 8 — from the famous Hadith of Jibril)

In the famous hadith of Jibril ﵇, the definition of ihsan is that you worship Allah as though you see Him. And if you cannot get to that level, then worship Allah with the consciousness that Allah is observing you. And so this is the state of dhikr. And this is the essence of all ibadah in our deen.

Salah and the Purpose of Dhikr

When we take one of the most important integral aspects of our deen — salah — this is the first action that is going to be asked about on the Day of Judgment. As the Prophet ﷺ referred to in the hadith, this is the factor that differentiates a mu'min from a kafir, a believer from a disbeliever. Such an integral aspect of our deen. When Allah instructs us to perform salah in the Quran, what does He say?

Establish salah. For what purpose? لِذِكْرِي — For My remembrance, for the sake of My remembrance. All of these acts of ibadah, in essence they serve to remind us of Allah. They serve to remind us of our purpose in this life. And so everything goes back to dhikr. And that is why the majority of the scholars consider dhikr as the most virtuous of all ibadah — because it is a purpose in and of itself, whereas all the other forms of ibadah lead to dhikr.

Dhikr After Hajj

And so this is why, for example, when a person performs hajj — another integral aspect of our deen. We all know how expensive hajj can be. A person who travels thousands of miles to perform hajj expends a large sum of wealth. He exerts a large amount of energy. And finally, after he has performed all the sacred rituals of hajj and has completed it, you may think that such a person deserves a break — that he should relax and take a rest. And so what does Allah say in the Quran?

When you have finished and concluded all of the various ritual acts of hajj — then what do you do? What's the next step? Remember Allah just as how you used to remember your forefathers. Rather, أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا — rather, remember Allah even more.

So dhikr is a mode of living. It's a lifestyle. It's not that once we have completed hajj, once we have concluded our five daily prayers, that we take a break. Rather, dhikr is a mindset. It's a lifestyle in which we are conscious of Allah in every single second that we live.

Dhikr After Jumu'ah

In Surah al-Jumu'ah, when Allah is describing Salat al-Jumu'ah, He says that after we come here, listen to the khutbah, and perform salah — what do we do after the salah has concluded?

When salah has finished, when Salat al-Jumu'ah has finished, then spread out in the land and seek rizq, seek from the bounty of Allah. However — وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ — right after finishing a form of ibadah, Allah says: continue to remember Allah abundantly, so that you may be successful.

Dhikr Has No Limits

When we analyze the various forms of ibadah in our deen, we see that everything has a stipulation in terms of quantity and in terms of the time at which it is performed. When we look at salah, it has a quantity associated with it. For example, the fard of Salatul Fajr is two raka'at. For Salatul Jumu'ah, it is two raka'at. No matter how spiritual I may be feeling, I cannot decide that I'm going to perform four raka'at of Salatul Jumu'ah — instead of getting reward for my intention, I'll be incurring sin.

When we look at zakah, once again there is a specific quantity associated with it — 2.5% of our wealth. If we choose to give beyond 2.5%, it's not going to be considered as zakah, it's going to be considered as sadaqah. When we look at hajj, it has to be performed in a set time frame. So all of these various forms of ibadah have some sort of quantity associated with them, some time frame.

However, when Allah orders us in the Quran to remember Him, what does He say?

Remember Allah abundantly. There's no quantity associated. There's no cap. There's no limit that's set to it. Rather, the more you do, the better.

Additionally, we see that certain forms of ibadah have a certain posture associated with them. For example, salah must be performed standing up — of course with exceptions when a person is excused, but the default is that a person must perform salah standing up. However, when Allah refers to those who ponder upon His creation, He says:

Those who remember Allah standing up, sitting down, and laying down on their sides. So we see that when it comes to dhikr, Allah has associated no fixed amount, no fixed time, and no fixed posture.

What conclusion do we arrive at? The conclusion is that dhikr is, as I mentioned, a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle that we must adopt — to always be conscious of Allah, to always be in the constant remembrance of Allah.

Turning Dunya Into Deen Through Intention

Sometimes we fall under the false dichotomy of separating deen and dunya. We say that for my deen I'm going to do such and such, and for dunya I'm going to do this — and we create a dichotomy between deen and dunya. However, we all know the famous hadith with which Imam Bukhari begins his book, and which many books of hadith begin:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1907)

Actions are based on their intentions. And so we must learn how to turn our dunya into deen. If we just rectify our intentions, then we can be rewarded for mundane actions. The benefit of intentions is to distinguish ibadah — actions of worship — from mundane activities. We're going to go to sleep, we're going to eat, we're going to relieve ourselves, we're going to enter and exit our houses, we're going to do all of these actions. But if we associate the correct niyyah to all of these, if we're in the state of dhikr, in the state of remembrance, then all of these actions can be turned into forms of ibadah, and we will be rewarded for them.

For those of us who are going to school, if we have the niyyah that we are going to school to earn a degree, to get a job, to provide for our families so that we can sustain ourselves physically and thereby worship Allah — all of these actions will become acts of worship. For those of us who have jobs and we make the niyyah that we are providing food for our families so that they can worship Allah — our going to work will become a form of ibadah. When we go to sleep and we make the niyyah that we are sleeping to become re-energized to worship Allah — once again, all of these actions become ibadah.

The Du'as of the Prophet ﷺ: Keeping Us in a State of Dhikr

There are so many du'as narrated to us in hadith from the Prophet ﷺ. And what is the purpose of all of these du'as? The Prophet ﷺ has given us du'as for practically every single aspect of our daily lives — entering and exiting the bathroom, before beginning a meal, in the middle of consuming a meal, after consuming a meal, going to sleep, after waking up, exiting and entering the house, entering a vehicle or mode of conveyance. All of these actions in our life that we do on a daily basis have du'as associated with them that the Prophet ﷺ taught us. And the purpose of these du'as essentially is to keep us in a state of dhikr, of remembrance of Allah.

A person who is constantly mindful of all of these du'as is mindful of Allah. And as I mentioned in the beginning of the khutbah, dhikr linguistically means to be present-minded, to be attentive. It is the exact opposite of ghafla. Ghafla means to become absent-minded. And sins are committed as a result of either a lack of yaqeen or ghafla. But if a person is in the constant remembrance of Allah, it will be very difficult for such a person to commit sin — because this person is constantly in the remembrance of Allah.

Seeking Assistance Through Dhikr: The Example of Musa and Harun ﵈

An additional point I wanted to make before I conclude: we should create a habit in ourselves, in our families, and in our friends, that we seek assistance from Allah through dhikr and du'a. This is a practice of the anbiya and of all the previous pious predecessors, the salaf as-saliheen.

We look at the famous story of Musa ﵇ and Harun ﵇. Allah mentions how He orders Musa ﵇ and Harun ﵇ to approach Fir'aun — perhaps one of the most tyrannical kings to ever reign. Fir'aun was one who:

He would slaughter the newborn boys born in his kingdom, and he would enslave the women. And so, in front of such a tyrannical king, Musa ﵇ and Harun ﵇ were ordered to give da'wah and present Islam. And so they said to Allah:

O Allah, indeed we fear that he may attack us, or that he may transgress against us. So Allah in response said:

You and your brother, O Musa — go in front of Fir'aun with My signs, and do not become lax in My remembrance. Even at such a moment, Allah is reminding Musa ﵇ and Harun ﵇ to remember Him, to seek assistance through dhikr.

We live in Darul Asbab — a world that operates based on physical means. And no doubt we are required to adopt those physical means. But at the same time, we shouldn't neglect the metaphysical means in the form of dhikr. There is a verse in the Quran where Allah addresses the believers:

O you who believe — when you encounter the enemy army, remain firm. And even at such a tense moment, when you are meeting the opposing army, Allah is reminding the Muslim soldiers: وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ — remember Allah abundantly, so that you may be successful.

The Prophet ﷺ as the Supreme Example of Dhikr

The seerah of the Prophet ﷺ is replete with examples where he would encounter an obstacle or difficulty and would immediately resort to du'a and dhikr, seeking assistance from Allah. There are many examples, such as the Battle of Badr, where the Muslims were outnumbered at a ratio of one to three. And the Prophet ﷺ, right before the battle, entered his tent and began to cry in front of Allah, seeking His assistance.

We see that when the Prophet ﷺ received prophethood, all the odds were stacked against him. He was an orphan, he was not considered from amongst the leaders of Quraysh. Yes, he had a noble lineage, but he wasn't considered amongst their leaders. And when he began to first give da'wah, only the poor were accepting Islam. And so they used to call him abtar — someone whose lineage is cut off. They would mock the Prophet ﷺ and say that after you pass away, your legacy is going to be forgotten.

But what do we see? He ﷺ is the single man who revolutionized the entire Arabian Peninsula. His name spread to the far corners of the world. Instead of being abtar — na'udhu billah — millions are named after the Prophet ﷺ. Millions perform pilgrimage annually to Madinah al-Munawwarah to visit him. And so how did the Prophet ﷺ, despite not perhaps possessing the physical means, have such a profound influence across the globe?

When we see his life, throughout the day he would be exerting a large amount of energy and effort in giving da'wah to the people. But at night, when the opportunity of rest would finally approach, instead of retiring to bed, the Prophet ﷺ would stand in front of Allah for long hours at a time — crying, seeking assistance, engaging in dhikr.

Conclusion

Whatever calamities come our way — may Allah keep us with aafiyah — whatever difficulties come in our way, whether financial or health-related, we should always make it a habit that our first course of action is to engage in dhikr, to engage in the remembrance of Allah.

I ask Allah that He allows us to live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to Him, that He allows us to always be in a state of remembrance, and that He grants us tawfiq to act upon what has been said.

Announcements

Our brothers and sisters are requested to perform the sunnah. A couple of announcements before the adhan:

Please stand up and move forward. Do not leave any gaps and make space for others. Please pass the donation boxes from left to right and donate generously. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah.

Registration for the winter intensive is now open. Tickets are available at a reduced price for a limited time. You may purchase your tickets in the lobby at the kiosks, or online at masjidds.org/winter.

As for the weekly programs: we have Saturday's team Fajr, which will inshallah continue tomorrow — Fajr iqamah at Dar es Salaam is at 6:15 a.m. We also have the Bukhari Dars, which will be resuming from December 5th, inshallah. And the Tuesday Tafsir program after Salatul Isha will be continuing with Surah al-Anbiya — be sure to join us with your friends and family. And as always, we have the weekly Salawat gathering on Thursdays after Salatul Isha.