The Power of Dhikr | Hidden Treasures Episode 18 | Shaykh Ammar Alshukry

The Power of Dhikr — Hidden Treasures Episode 18

The dhikr of Allah is the greatest spiritual exercise that a person can do for a healthy heart. Allah says in Surah Al-Hadid:

"Has not the time come for those who have believed that their hearts be softened to the dhikr of Allah, to the remembrance of Allah. And that they not be like those who were given the Book from before — the distance became long for them, their hearts became hard, and many of them were transgressors."

That is, many of the people who were given the Book from before us — the practice, the routine, it just became too long for them. And in the process, even though on the outside they were praying, even though on the outside they seemed like they were religious people, their hearts were actually becoming hard.

A person might see that at a point in time in their life, they might have actually had a lot of spiritual rejuvenation. When a person first starts practicing Islam, or when a person converts to Islam, there's a lot of sweetness to their ibadah. They enjoy the salah. They enjoy reading the Qur'an. They're always seeking to do more. They enjoy closeness to Allah.

And then over time they might find that they allow themselves to do certain things that are haram. There's a fiqh difference of opinion over here. They're not trying to stay away and practice as much as they used to. Now they have a lot of knowledge maybe, but they lack the spirituality and they lack the sweetness.

And so Allah says their hearts became hard. And what was the result of that? وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ — "And many of them were transgressors." That if you actually close the doors on them, if the blinds were let down, and if they know that nobody's around, they might actually be people who commit major sins. They might be completely different than their public persona.

The Cure for the Hard Heart

And so Allah says:

"Know that Allah brings life to the earth after its demise."

But what is the thing that resolves it? What is the thing that cures this ailment? Allah says: the dhikr of Allah, the remembrance of Allah.

And I found that the dhikr of Allah is something that the Prophet ﷺ would give as a prescription to everybody who complained that they were too old or too weak or too burdened.

When a person comes to Rasulullah ﷺ and says, "The legislations of Islam are too much for me — tell me one thing that I can hold on to," he says:

("Let your tongue be moist with the remembrance of Allah." — Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3375)

When Umm Hani comes to the Prophet ﷺ and she says, "I am old and I am weak — tell me something that I can do while sitting down," the Prophet ﷺ tells her:

("Say SubhanAllah a hundred times, Alhamdulillah a hundred times, La ilaha illallah a hundred times, Allahu Akbar a hundred times." — Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 26572)

And he says that nobody will have done more than you on that day except for somebody who does what you have done and increases.

Dhikr — An Act for Every Stage of Life

The dhikr of Allah is what a person should do and can do at any point in time. That is one of the beautiful aspects of the dhikr of Allah — that you can do it anywhere. You can do it while you're in your morning commute. You can do it while performing surgery. You can do it while you're juggling the five kids that you have at home — not physically juggling them, but just running back and forth between them, hectic schedules and all of that. You can always, always keep your tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah.

So it is actually the greatest exercise. You can do it in your 20s, in your 30s, in your 40s, in your 50s — older than that, younger than that. You won't be able to do all of the acts of worship that you used to do when you were in your 20s and your 30s, or all of the acts of worship that you used to do in your 30s and your 40s. You can't. But the dhikr of Allah is something that — and that's why I think that it is one of, if not the greatest, spiritual action that a person can do.

Just like if you ask the doctors and you say to them, "What's the greatest exercise you can do for your physical health?" — they'll tell you: walking. And walking isn't as exciting as pickleball. It's not as exciting as soccer. It's not as exciting as weightlifting. It's not as exciting as all of these things. But it is the most consistent exercise that a person can do in every stage of their life.

And the dhikr of Allah — it might not be as exciting as Hajj, it might not be as exciting as a wide variety of actions. But it is an act that a person can consistently do every single day of their life.

The Greatest of Those Who Fast

And the Prophet ﷺ was asked, "Which of those who fast is best?" And he said: the ones who remember Allah the most.

And so the remembrance of Allah — Allah says:

"And the remembrance of Allah is greater."

And He leaves it open-ended to indicate that the remembrance of Allah is greater than anything else.