The Human Nature Of Remembering Allah Through Love

Opening

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the most honored of prophets and messengers, and upon his family and all his companions, and upon those who follow them in good faith until the Day of Judgment.

As for what follows, Allah, the Exalted in His Glory, has said in the final revelation — I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan:

"Those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth. Our Lord, You have not created this in vain. Exalted are You, so protect us from the punishment of the Fire."

And Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

"The example of one who remembers his Lord and one who does not remember is that of the living and the dead."

The Nature of Love and Remembrance

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, Allah has given us the amazing opportunity to be in the masjid today for the prayer of Jumu'ah. Many people do not get this opportunity. Many people are busy at work, many people have workplaces that do not allow them to come for Jumu'ah. And we have been blessed with the ability to be in the masjid, to gain the reward, and to be written amongst the people who attend the Jumu'ah prayer.

Now, it is in our human nature that when we desire something, when we are in need of something, we will be constantly thinking about the object of our need and desire. Think about a time when we are hungry, extremely hungry. The only thing we can think about, the only thing that goes through our mind at that moment, every moment while we are hungry, is: where can I get food? What can I have to eat? What can satiate my hunger?

When we are thirsty, the only thing we think about — our lips are chapped, our mouth is dry — the only thing we think about is: I need some water, I need something to drink, I need something to quench my thirst. In the same way, when we are in love with someone or something, we are constantly thinking about that thing. We are constantly thinking about the object of our love.

This is human nature. And it is not possible for us to go against this nature, because it is the way Allah has created us. Many of us have children, we love our children. Many of us have spouses, we love our spouses. All throughout the day, we think about that object of our love. We think about what we can do, what we can make, what we can do to gain their love, what we can do so that we are in constant thought about them.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, the one who truly loves Allah, the one who understands his need of Allah, will always, constantly, be thinking about Allah. It is not possible for that person to go a day, to go an hour without thinking about Allah. It is not possible that a person realizes his need, that a person understands that he is in need of Allah, that he is in need of the Creator, except that he will be incessantly thinking about Allah — such is human nature, and such is the way Allah has created us.

What is Dhikr?

Therefore, a sign of iman, a sign of our belief in Allah, is to be constantly thinking about Allah, is to always be remembering Allah. And this remembrance in our deen is called dhikr. Dhikr is a very broad topic, a very broad subject.

Anything can be classified as dhikr. Your salah is dhikr, you coming to the masjid is dhikr, you just thinking about Allah — you say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ once, الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ once — anything at all, that is dhikr of Allah, that is the remembrance of Allah.

And Allah says in the Qur'an, in the ayah that I recited previously:

What does this ayah mean? It is speaking about those who remember Allah while standing, in qiyam, while sitting, وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ and laying on their sides. وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ — and they are thinking about, they are pondering over the creation of the heavens and the earth. And they are saying رَبَّنَا to their Lord: رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَٰذَا بَاطِلًا — "Oh Allah, You have not created this in vain. You have not created this for no reason." سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ — "All glory be to You, and please save us from the hellfire."

Now Allah is showing us the virtue of those who constantly think about Him. He is showing us that these are the people who, in every facet of their lives, in every day, in every portion of their lives — whether they are sleeping, whether they are laying down, whether they are sitting down, whether they are at work — they are constantly thinking about the object of their love, which is Allah.

Another ayah — Allah mentions:

"O believers, O the people who believe, remember Allah constantly, excessively, and glorify Him in the evening and in the morning."

Allah is commanding us to remember Him. Allah is saying: remember Me, remember Me — I am the one who has created you, I am the one who has given you life. And the fact that you are alive at this moment is not anything of your own, is not of your own power — it is from Allah, it is from His mercy, from His ever generosity, that He has given you life in every moment that you are alive.

The Blessings of Dhikr

The concept of dhikr is one that is central to our religion. And Allah and His Prophet ﷺ have praised the blessings of dhikr and have enumerated those blessings in many ayat and hadith. In this short khutbah, we will summarize some of those blessings and some of the privileges that come to those who do the dhikr of Allah, those who remember their Lord at all times.

1. Dhikr is a Manifestation of Iman

One of the blessings that Allah has mentioned regarding dhikr is that the one who engages in dhikr proves to Allah, proves to himself and to Allah, that he has iman. It is a way to make our iman zahir — it is a way to make our iman apparent. We recognize our Lord — that is iman, that is true love of Allah. It must be manifested in a number of ways, and one of those ways will be the dhikr of Allah, the constant remembrance of Allah.

If we remember Allah all the time, if we do dhikr constantly, then we should rejoice, we should be happy, and we take this as a positive sign that Allah is allowing us to remember Him — showing us that we do have iman in Him and that He has given us the blessing of iman.

Conversely, if we find ourselves hardly ever thinking of Allah — days go by, weeks go by — if we find ourselves hardly ever remembering Allah, our routine is the same: we wake up, go to work, come back, go to sleep. Nowhere in that day do we take time out to remember our Lord — then where is our iman? Where is the apparentness of our iman?

Allah has commanded us to show our iman. If we live the same way that the disbelievers live — they live in their routines, they live their lives without ever remembering that there is a Creator, that there is a Lord — then there is no difference between our lives and their lives. The difference is that Allah has given us the gift of iman. And if we are not showing it, if we are not constantly remembering and thanking Allah for that gift, then it is as if it is not there.

2. The Living and the Dead — A Prophetic Parable

The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith — and it is what I recited in the beginning:

The Prophet ﷺ is giving us a parable. He is saying that the likeness of the one who remembers Allah and the one who does not remember is that of a person who is alive and a person who is dead. The difference between life and death is the same difference between the one who does dhikr versus the one who does not.

Because, my dear brothers and sisters, a sign of true life, a sign of spiritual life, is that we need the giver of that life. We need the one who has given us that life — and that is Allah. He is the only one who gives us life in every moment. So how are we truly alive if we do not remember the being that has given us life in that very moment?

If we have true spirituality, if our heart is alive, then the manifestation of this is dhikr. If we remember Allah, we are alive. And if we do not remember Allah, where is that spirituality? Where is that iman? This is what the ulama consider a spiritual death, a hardening of the heart. The one who does not remember Allah is as if he is spiritually dead.

One example to illustrate this idea — something I heard from my teachers — is that the example of dhikr to the heart of a believer is that of fish to water. How can a fish live without water? If the fish does not have water, the fish dies. In the same way, a true believer requires the remembrance of Allah to survive, to be spiritually awake.

When a fish is out of water, it is uncomfortable. It yearns to be back in the water. It yearns to be in a place where it can survive, where it can thrive. In the same way, a believer without the remembrance of Allah should be uncomfortable. He yearns to remember Allah, to build that close connection with his Lord.

Therefore, of the blessings of this dhikr, of remembrance of Allah, is that it purifies the heart and makes it alive. It makes us spiritually alive.

3. Dhikr Protects Us from Our Enemies

Another blessing of the dhikr of Allah is that it protects us from our worst enemies. And our enemies are not some specific person. The worst enemies of us are our nafs and Shaitan — our own desires and Shaitan. And dhikr — the Prophet ﷺ has mentioned that dhikr protects us from these things. Dhikr reminds us that we are not in control of our lives. Shaitan has no control over us. Allah has control, and we are submitting to Him by remembering Him at all times.

The Prophet ﷺ gave an analogy. He said: the one who does dhikr is like a person who has built a fort around himself, a protective fortress. He can then shut himself inside and his enemies cannot harm him — he is protected from whichever side his enemies come. This is the example of dhikr in our daily life. When we do dhikr, it will protect us from all of our enemies, from Shaitan, from the problems and temptations of this world, and from our own desires.

4. Dhikr Removes the Rust from Our Hearts

Another blessing of the dhikr of Allah is that it removes the rust from our hearts. Allah mentioned in Surah al-Mutaffifin:

"No! Rather, the stain has covered their hearts for what they used to earn."

The heart becomes rusted. Rust comes onto our hearts. And the Prophet ﷺ was asked what is one of the ways to remove this rust. And he said that one of the ways to remove it is the dhikr of Allah.

The dhikr of Allah makes the dunya go away. It makes us more spiritual and more conscious of Allah. It shows us that we as human beings are low, and Allah is the greatest. It trivializes the problems of this dunya. Anything that is going on, we remember that Allah is greater than all these things. We remember that our problems are not that significant. We have no reason to worry about our problems because we have Allah.

We as human beings go through scenarios that hurt us, that cause us pain. But the best way to minimize this pain, the best way to get rid of this suffering, is to be constantly engaged in dhikr. Because when we remember Allah and the mercy of Allah, we remember the infinite and we remember that we are finite — while Allah and the hereafter is infinite.

5. Dhikr Opens a Direct Line to Allah

Another blessing of dhikr is that it opens a line of communication between us and Allah. It gives us a direct door to Allah. When we say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, it is not just a saying. We constantly, after every salah, might engage in dhikr — we might do salawat, we might do سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ 33 times, الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ 33 times, and اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ 34 times. But we go through it as if we are trying to rush, trying to finish a race.

We have to reflect on what these words mean. These words are amazing, they are great, and they provide a solace and comfort in any hardship. سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ — glory be to Allah. اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ — Allah is the greatest, nothing is greater, nothing is worthy of worship besides Allah.

6. Dhikr Protects Us on the Day of Judgment

One of the final blessings of dhikr is that it protects us on the Day of Judgment — it protects us from Shaitan and from the hellfire. The Prophet ﷺ mentions that there are seven people who will be sheltered on the Day of Judgment under the arsh of Allah. And one of these people is a man who did dhikr when no one else was looking at him — in the dead of night, in the quiet of his home, he engaged in the remembrance of Allah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 660; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1031)

7. Dhikr Beautifies Our Place in Jannah

Allah has promised so many rewards for the people who do dhikr — their place in Jannah, their reward in Jannah. And one hadith to finally summarize all of these things: it is reported in an authentic hadith that an old man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: there are so many rulings of Islam, it is hard for me to do all these things. Give me one thing that I can do, one thing that I should stick to, and that should suffice me for the rest of it. And the Prophet ﷺ held on to his tongue and said: keep this tongue wet. Keep this tongue wet in the remembrance of Allah.

The Perfection of Dhikr

The perfection of dhikr comes when we realize that dhikr is itself a blessing of Allah. Therefore Allah must give it to us. We must remember Him, we must praise Him, and we must remember that this dhikr is also coming from Allah. The blessing that we have been given to remember Allah is also from Allah. The blessings of Allah are numerous, countless. And us remembering these blessings is also one of the blessings of Allah.

I conclude this khutbah by quoting a very powerful ayah in the Qur'an — an ayah that should give us all food for thought. We should pause and think about this ayah, and make sure that we take heed of it:

"O you who have believed, let not your wealth and your children divert you from remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that — then those are the losers."

Allah is telling us that even these halal things — not anything haram, something that is permissible for us: to earn wealth, to look after our children — even this should not divert us from the remembrance of Allah. We should still take time out of our day to remember Allah.

And I pray that Allah gives us the tawfiq to remember Him at all times, throughout the day, in every single state — standing, sitting, or laying down.

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