Developing our Relationship with Allah Through Dhikr (with Sign Language) - Yousaf Jahangir

Khuṭbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْكَلَامِ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ وَخَيْرَ الْهُدَى هُدَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ، ثُمَّ أَمَّا بَعْدُ.

The Most Important Relationship

In our lives, we have many different relationships — with our spouses, with our children, with our parents, with our relatives, with our colleagues, with our neighbors — many, many different relationships. However, the single most important relationship is that between us and our Lord. This is the most single important relationship that we have in our lives. It is because of this relationship, my brothers and sisters, we have been created. It is because of this single relationship that Shaytan works tirelessly to make us turn away from our Lord.

The purpose of our creation and the purpose that we are here on this planet is to strengthen and develop our relationship with our Lord. It is not merely to collect and gather portions of this dunya, but it is to strengthen our relationship with Allah — and the greatest way to strengthen our relationship with Allah is by fulfilling His servitude, by worshipping Him, and nothing takes priority over this.

I bring to your attention one merit that helps us understand the importance of servitude — of submitting our wills to Allah and fulfilling His servitude — and that merit is this: in the most important times in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, Allah refers to him as His ʿabd — as the one that is fulfilling His servitude.

An example of this is when Allah blessed the Prophet ﷺ by taking him on al-Isrāʾ wal-Miʿrāj, where in one night he was taken from Makkah to Bayt al-Maqdis — may Allah make the affairs easy for the people of Bayt al-Maqdis. In one night, Allah took him from Makkah to Bayt al-Maqdis, and from there he went into Jannah — and not just the lowest part of Jannah, but rather he went through every single level up until he met Allah and he spoke with Allah directly. One of the most important times in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, one of the most honourable times in his life — Allah mentions this in the Qur'an and He says:

All glory is for Allah who blessed His slave — His ʿabd, the one fulfilling His servitude — with the blessing of taking him to Masjid al-Aqsa and from there to the heavens.

Another example of this is when the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ, where Allah says:

All praise is for Allah who has sent down the book to His slave — the one fulfilling His servitude. These are the most honourable times in the Prophet's life, and the Prophet ﷺ is the best of mankind. He is a source of guidance for me and for you. He is the ultimate role model in our lives — and Allah refers to him as the one fulfilling His servitude, as His ʿabd.

In this, my brothers and sisters, is a lesson for me and in it is a lesson for you — and that is: the greatest position and the greatest status we can ever achieve in our lives is to fulfil the servitude of Allah, to have true servitude to our Lord.

In this khutbah, inshallah, I would like to speak about one practical act of worship that every single person here — without any exception — can act upon as soon as they leave this masjid, and this will actively help us strengthen and develop our relationship with our Lord. And that ibādah is the remembrance of Allah — making dhikr.

Two Misconceptions About Dhikr

Before I get into the topic, I would like to clarify two misconceptions about dhikr. The first one is that some people believe that dhikr is merely done with the tongue — but rather, dhikr is done with the heart and the tongue and the soul and our physical actions. Every deed that Allah loves and is pleased with is a form of dhikr.

The second misconception that I bring to your attention and would like to clarify is that there are some people who think making the dhikr of Allah is merely repeating a number of words a number of times. But the dhikr of Allah that the anbiyāʾ and the rusul — the prophets and messengers — taught us was that which penetrated the hearts and penetrated the souls: by knowing that which we are saying, by having the intention of actively working to strengthen and develop our relationship with Allah.

Nine Ways Allah Emphasises the Importance of Dhikr in the Qur'an

When it comes to understanding the importance of dhikr, Allah speaks about it in many different places in the Qur'an — many, many different places. He uses different methods to help us understand the importance of His remembrance. I bring to your attention just nine of these methods.

1. Allah Commands Us to Remember Him Frequently

The first one is that Allah orders us to remember Him frequently. He commands us and He orders us where He says:

O you who believe, remember Allah frequently.

2. Allah Prohibits Heedlessness (Ghafla)

The second method that Allah uses is that He prohibits us from doing the opposite of dhikr, which is the sin of ghafla — to be heedless and forgetful and to turn away — where He says:

And do not be from those people who forgot Allah, so Allah made them to be forgotten — by turning away from them. May Allah protect us all.

3. Dhikr Is a Condition for Success

The third method that I bring to your attention is that Allah tells us one of the conditions to be successful in this life and the next is that we remember Him frequently, where He says:

And remember Allah in abundance and frequently so you may be successful. From this verse we learn: if we want success in this life — in our studies, in our relationships, in our businesses, whatever it may be that you aspire to achieve with your life — then remember Allah and Allah will give you success.

4. Allah Promises Forgiveness and a Great Reward

The fourth method by which Allah helps us understand the importance of His remembrance is that Allah has promised to forgive those who remember Him and He has promised them a great reward, where He says:

And as for those males that remember Allah and as for those females that remember Allah, then Allah has promised to forgive them and He has prepared for them a great reward. SubhanAllah — look at the mercy of Allah. Look at the many shortcomings that we have day and night. Allah is promising us forgiveness if we remember Him frequently.

5. Letting Dhikr Slip Is the Path of the Losers

The fifth method that Allah uses in the Qur'an to help us understand the importance of dhikr and His remembrance is that He informs us that the person who lets something get between him and the remembrance of his Lord has been misguided by the Shaytan and will eventually be from the ones who have lost out, where He says:

O you who believe, do not let your children and your wealth distract you from the remembrance of Allah — and whoever does so, then surely he has been misguided. May Allah make our children and our wealth a means of us getting closer to Him and establishing His dhikr, and not a means for us to be distant from Him.

6. Allah Will Remember You When You Remember Him

The sixth method that I bring to your attention — that Allah uses to help us understand the importance of His dhikr — is that Allah will remember us when we remember Him, where He says:

Remember Me so I may remember you, and give thanks to Me and do not disbelieve. SubhanAllah — if you want to know your status with your Lord, ask yourself a simple question.

7. The Dhikr of Allah Is the Greatest Thing

The seventh method that Allah uses to help us understand the importance of His dhikr is that He clearly explains to us that the dhikr of Allah is the greatest thing in our lives, where He says:

And establish the prayer — because the prayer it prevents and it removes any evil from your life — and know that the greatest activity, the greatest activity in your life, is His remembrance. So if you want to know if your iman is true and how strong it actually is, ask yourself: what role does the remembrance of Allah play in my life? When I wake up in the morning, what is the first thing that comes to my mind — is it the remembrance of Allah or is it other than that? Ask yourself: what is the last thing that comes into my mind before I fall asleep — is it the remembrance of Allah or is it other than that?

8. Those Who Truly Benefit Are Those Who Remember Allah Constantly

The eighth way that Allah helps us understand the importance of His dhikr in the Qur'an is that those people who truly benefit from His āyāt — whether they be His signs in His creation or the āyāt in the Qur'an — they are those people who remember Him frequently. We understand this from where He says:

Surely in Allah's creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the day and the night there are verses for the people of intelligence. Who are these people? Those who remember Allah whilst they are standing, whilst they are sitting, and whilst they are lying down — that they remember Allah in every possible situation. So if we feel that we are not guided aright, then ask yourself: when was the last time I remembered Allah?

9. Allah's Advice to Musa — Establish the Prayer for My Remembrance

The ninth method — before moving on — that I bring to your attention is that the first time Musa عليه السلام spoke to his Lord — and we know from the virtues of Musa عليه السلام that he spoke to Allah directly — the first time that he spoke to his Lord, Allah advises him and says:

O Musa, establish the prayer for My remembrance. Think of all the times that you have been advised, my brothers and sisters — Allah is advising His Prophet, the one He speaks to directly, and He says: establish the prayer for My remembrance.

How Dhikr Develops Our Relationship with Allah

In moving on — how does the remembrance of Allah actually work when it comes to developing and refining our souls and strengthening our relationship with our Lord? This is done in many, many different ways, but because of time I am only going to mention three.

1. Dhikr Purifies the Heart

The first way is that the dhikr of Allah — the remembrance of Allah — has an effect upon our hearts like no other deed. And why is the heart so important? Because you find that the heart is the source of our actions. If our hearts are pure and they are correct and they are filled with Iman and love of Allah, you find our actions will be pure and correct. And the opposite holds true — if our hearts are corrupt and they are evil, then our actions are a mere manifestation of that which is in our hearts; they will be corrupt and evil likewise.

You find that the remembrance of Allah has a strong effect in refining our souls and our hearts, and we learn this from where Allah says:

The believers are those when the remembrance of Allah is made, their hearts fill with love, fear and hope — showing us the effect that the remembrance of Allah has upon our hearts. Also in another part of the Qur'an Allah says:

Has the time not come for the hearts of those who believe to be affected by the remembrance of Allah? When Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, would hear and recite this verse, he would cry profusely up until his beard would become wet and he would say: surely now that time has come for the hearts of those who believe to be affected by the remembrance of Allah.

2. Dhikr Leads to Forgiveness When One Falls Into Sin

The second way that the remembrance of Allah helps us develop our relationship with Him is that when the people of dhikr — those who remember Allah constantly — when they fall into a sin, it is the remembrance of Allah that prevents them from falling into that sin again, and earns them Allah's forgiveness and His mercy. As He says:

And those who fall into sin or they wrong themselves, they remember Allah and they seek His forgiveness — and Allah turns to them in forgiveness. And who is there that can forgive except for Allah?

3. Dhikr Brings Guidance

The third way that the remembrance of Allah helps us develop our relationship with Him is because from the blessings and the fruits of remembering Him in this life, Allah blesses that person with guidance. And in these times of trials and tribulations, we cannot stress enough the importance of being guided to Allah's straight path. We learn this from the āyah where Allah says:

Surely in the Messenger of Allah ﷺ you have the perfect role model and the perfect form of guidance — for he who desires Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah frequently. So from the fruits of us remembering Allah frequently is that He will guide us aright.

So the way dhikr helps us develop our relationship with Allah is that it cleanses our hearts and our souls, and it helps us get our sins forgiven, and it helps us to be guided aright.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.

Second Part of the Khuṭbah: Practical Forms of Dhikr

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ، نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ عَلَيْهِ أَفْضَلُ الصَّلَاةِ وَأَتَمُّ التَّسْلِيمِ.

This last part of the khutbah I would like to go through some practical forms of dhikr that we can all act upon.

1. General Dhikr — Every Deed Allah Loves

The first one is the general form of dhikr. That general form of dhikr, like I mentioned, is every deed we do that Allah loves and is pleased with — whether that be in our hearts, our tongues, our deeds or our actions. Any deed that Allah loves and is pleased with is a form of dhikr.

2. Specific Dhikr of the Heart and Tongue

The second type that I bring to your attention is that type of dhikr which is specific — specific to our hearts and to our tongues — and this comes in many different forms.

The first one I bring to your attention is the greatest form of dhikr and that is reading the book of Allah. That book of Allah which the Prophet ﷺ said: for every letter that you read you are rewarded ten times — so by saying الم you are rewarded thirty times. By the Qur'an, which the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5027)

The best of you are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it to others. This is the greatest form of dhikr. My brothers and sisters, do not let your relationship with the Qur'an be one that only comes in Ramadan or only when you are facing a calamity, but rather have a strong relationship with the book of your Lord, for it is a source of guidance for every single one of you.

The second type of dhikr that we can make with our tongues are those things that the Prophet ﷺ taught us, like saying:

The Prophet ﷺ said about these words that they are the best things that a human being can say. Ponder over the different things that we say day and night and the sins that we commit just by our speech — and the Prophet ﷺ said the best of the things that we can say are these words. And these words every single one of us here knows.

3. Duʿāʾ — Calling Upon Allah

The third type of dhikr that I bring to your attention is duʿāʾ — calling upon Allah — where Allah has promised us that He will respond to us, where He says:

And your Lord has said and He has promised you: call upon Me and I will respond to every single one of you. Ask yourself this question — when was the last time you called upon Allah? When was the last time you begged Him for your needs? When was the last time you asked Him for guidance?

If you are going through a hardship or a calamity, then turn to Allah and call upon Him and be persistent in developing your relationship. The Prophet ﷺ was the best of mankind and he faced many hardships and many calamities. At those times he would further strengthen his relationship with Allah — he would worship Allah even more. He would not start to complain and become weak and implode; rather he became stronger in his faith and took his ibādah to another level. He developed his relationship with Allah and he was patient and he was persistent, and the victory of Allah came to him.

And you have to understand: we may be going through a hardship now, but one day we will look back at this hardship as a blessing and we will thank Allah for this hardship that we went through — whether it be in this life or the next. And we have to understand: Allah is kind and He is merciful, but He is preparing us for greater opportunities and greater blessings and greater rewards. So do not feel like you cannot cope anymore with your hardships, but rather turn to Allah and make duʿāʾ to Him — when you are the most closest to Him, in your sajdah — and ask Him for guidance and ask Him to relieve you from your stress and the difficulties you are facing. May Allah make our affairs easy for us.

One practical duʿāʾ that every single one of us should have in our lives is that the Prophet ﷺ would say:

O Allah, give us goodness in this life and in the next and protect us from the fire of Hell. This is a duʿāʾ the Prophet ﷺ used to frequently make and this should be in every single one of our lives.

4. Istighfār — Seeking Allah's Pardon and Forgiveness

The fourth type of dhikr that I bring to your attention is al-istighfār — where we seek the pardon and forgiveness of Allah. This concept of istighfār is where we fall into a shortcoming. And we learn the methodology and our approach to falling into a sin from the story of Adam عليه السلام, where he ate from the tree that was forbidden for him. How did he react and how did he behave when he had done something wrong? Did he become arrogant and proud like the Shaytan? No — but rather he said:

O Allah, we have wronged ourselves. We acknowledge our mistakes. We put our hands up — and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, it is us who has lost out. SubhanAllah — from this story we learn the methodology and the approach that we should have towards our sins. Do not feel that just because you fall into a sin that Allah's mercy has turned away from you. Allah never turns away from us. And as human beings, none of us are angels — we have many shortcomings and many mistakes — but we have to constantly turn back to Him in repentance and Tawbah.

5. The Prayer — the Direct Connection with Our Lord

From the types of dhikr that I bring to your attention is the Salāh — the prayer — the direct connection that we have with our Lord. And when it comes to remembering Allah, you do not have to be somewhere specific to remember Him. But from the blessings of Allah upon us is that the prayer is part of our lives, and no matter what you are going through, no matter what hardship you are facing, no matter what sin you have fallen into, Allah never turns away from us.

How often do we turn to Him? We cannot just have a subjective relationship where we turn to Allah when we are in need and we forget Him when we are not — or we remember Him just in Ramadan, or just on the days of Eid, or just in the days of Hajj. But we have to remember Allah in times of ease, and Allah will remember us in times of hardship.

The next time you pray, my brothers and sisters, ask and beg Allah for your needs and ask Him to bless you with having a strong relationship and connection to Him — and don't just stop there, but work actively to develop this relationship with your Lord.

Conclusion — Questions to Reflect Upon

In conclusion, I leave with you some questions. Ask yourself firstly: how is my relationship with Allah? How is my relationship with Allah? If I was to die today, am I ready to stand in front of Him and be held accountable for all that I have done?

The next question: how can I make my situation and my relationship with Allah better than what it actually is now? What can I do to make it better? What can I do in my life to actively strengthen and develop my relationship with my Lord?

The next question: how can I make the dhikr of Allah part of my life? And don't just stop there — but then work outwards. Bring it into the lives of your children and your families and have collective activities where you are remembering Allah and establishing His worship together as a family.

Closing Duʿāʾ

O Allah, we beg You to honour us with having a strong relationship with You. O Allah, make us from those people who remember You frequently. O Allah, we sin day and night — in private and in public. O Allah, we acknowledge our sins and return to You for repentance. You alone are the Most Merciful, so forgive us. O Allah, make our children and our wealth a means of us getting closer to You and not a means of being more distant from You. O Allah, cure our sick and aid the oppressed and give to the needy. O Allah, You know the hardships that every single one of us here are facing — if You rectify all of our affairs, this will not diminish any of Your kingdom in any way. O Allah, bring peace and tranquility and stability to the Muslims wherever they may be. Make easy for the people of al-Quds their affairs.

أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ، يَرْحَمْكُمُ اللَّهُ.