Remembrance of Allāh

Everyone should have times when they sit alone, remember their sins, and thus seek [Allāh’s] forgiveness for them.

Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Al-Zuhd article 2038.

Verily, fear (al-khashyah) is that you fear Allāh such that your fear comes between you and your disobedience (of Allāh). That is khashyah. And dhikr (remembrance) is obedience to Allāh: whoever obeys Allāh has remembered Him; and whoever does not obey Him is not a rememberer of Him, even if he says a lot of tasbīḥ and recites a lot of Qurān.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 4:326.

The masājid are the sittings of the Prophets, and a protection from Shayṭān.

Al-Ḵaṭīb, Al-Jāmiʿ li-ʾAḵlāq Al-Rāwī #1200.

We were once in the house of ʿAlqamah b. Qays. Rabīʿ b. Ḵuthaym entered upon us and sat in a corner of the house. Then he said, “Speak only a little except for nine things: subḥānallāh, al-ḥamdulillāh, lā ilāha illallāh, Allāhu ʾakbar, reciting the Qurān, enjoining good, forbidding wrong, asking Allāh for what is good and seeking His protection from harm (evil).”

Hannād b. Al-Sarīy, Al-Zuhd #1108.

It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said: There is no comfort or rest for the believer until he meets Allāh.

Wakīʿ b. Al-Jarrāḥ, Al-Zuhd #86

ʿAbd Al-Raḥmān b. Yazīd reports: Al-Rabīʿ b. Khuthaym used to come to ʿAlqamah on the day of Jumuʿah and they would talk. They would call for me and I would come and talk with them. One day, they sent for me and I came. ʿAlqamah said to me, Have you not heard what Al-Rabīʿ b. Khuthaym has come to us with? I replied, And what is that? He said, [Rabīʿ] said a man from the People of Scripture once said to us, Do you not see how much people supplicate but how seldom their prayers are answered? That is because Allāh does not accept except what is sincere and purely for Him. I said, Well ʿAbdullāh [b. Masʿūd] already said the same. He asked, What did he say? I replied, Haven’t you heard him say, By Him other than whom there is none worthy of worship, Allāh does not accept [the deed] of one who seeks to be heard of, or seen, and nor someone who is playing around, [He only accepts the supplication] of one who calls upon Him from the bottom of his heart. He replied, Indeed, [I have heard him say that].

Hunād b. Al-Sarī, Al-Zuhd #874.

Those before you used to consider idle talk to be anything other than the Book of Allāh, or the enjoining of good, or the forbidding of evil, or speaking for the sake of your basic living needs. Do you deny that there are recording angels appointed over you? Sitting on your right and your left? Never is a word said except there is an observer prepared to record? Are you not afraid (ashamed) that your record of words and deeds be spread open only to discover that there is nothing of the hereafter in it?

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 5:86

This is one of the superb answers given by Sa’īd b. Al-Musayyib – Allāh have mercy on him. It is a strong weapon against heretics (mubtadi’ah) who recommend many different types of religious innovation in the name of them being dhikr and prayer. They then criticize the followers of the Sunnah for criticizing them, and accuse them of censuring dhikr and prayer, when in fact [Ahl Al-Sunnah] are only criticizing the contravention of the Sunnah in matters such as dhikr and prayer.

This is one of the superb answers given by Sa’īd b. Al-Musayyib – Allāh have mercy on him. It is a strong weapon against heretics (mubtadi’ah) who recommend many different types of religious innovation in the name of them being dhikr and prayer. They then criticize the followers of the Sunnah for criticizing them, and accuse them of censuring dhikr and prayer, when in fact [Ahl Al-Sunnah] are only criticizing the contravention of the Sunnah in matters such as dhikr and prayer.

If you fear becoming deluded and impressed by your deeds then remember whose pleasure you are seeking, and the joy (Paradise) in which you want to be, and what punishment you fear. Whoever thinks about these things will diminish his deeds. Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 10:42.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 10:42.

At the time of Fajr, or a while before it, the Salaf would be as if birds were sitting on their heads: (still ) concentrating on themselves [and their worship], so much so that even if one of their closest friends came to them after having been parted from them, they would not notice him. They would remain in this state until just before sunrise. Then, they would meet each other and sit in the circles. The first thing they would discuss is the matter of their afterlife and what would become of them in the hereafter. Then they would begin the circles of Quran and Fiqh study. Ibn ‘Asākir, Tārīkh Dimishq 35:184, 185.

Ibn ‘Asākir, Tārīkh Dimishq 35:184, 185.

The house in which the Qur’ān is not recited is like a derelict house that has no one to maintain it. It is also reported that he said: Verily the emptiest of houses are those that are empty of the Book of Allāh. It is reported that Abū Hurayrah – Allāh be pleased with him – used to say about the house in which the Qur’ān is recited: It becomes spacious for its inhabitants, the good of it becomes plentiful, the angels come to it and the devils leave it. And the house in which the Qur’ān is not recited becomes cramped for its inhabitants, has little good in it, and the devils come to it. Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf articles 30645, 30647 and 30650.

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf articles 30645, 30647 and 30650.

Verily, Allāh has angels who seek out the circles of remembrance [of Allāh], so be careful who you sit with; make sure it is not with an adherent of bid’ah, for Allāh does not look at them. And the sign of nifāq (hypocrisy in faith) is that a man mingles with an adherent of bid’ah. Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā 1:460

Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā 1:460

Those who fear their Lord tremble with fear by it, then their skins and hearts settle to the remembrance of Allah. (Sūrah Al-Zumar: 23) Abū ‘Ubayd Al-Qāsim b. Sallām, Faḍā`il Al-Qur`ān p214. It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. ‘Urwah b. Al-Zubayr said, “I asked my grandmother Asmā` (bint Abī Bakr) – Allāh be pleased with her, ‘How were the Companions of Allāh’s Messenger – Allāh peace and praise be upon him – when they heard the Quran?’ She replied, ‘their eyes would shed tears and they would tremble (with fear), as Allāh described them (in the Quran).’ I said, ‘There are some people here who, when they hear the Quran, fall down unconscious,’ She said, ‘I seek refuge with Allāh from the accursed Shayṭān.’” Al-Bayhaqī, Shu’ab Al-Īmān 3:417; Ibn Al-Mubārak, Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqā`iq 3:54 with a slightly variant wording. It is also reported that Asmā` was asked, “Did any of the Salaf used to faint out of the fear of Allāh?” She replied, “No, but they used to cry.” Al-Qāsim b. Salām, op. cit. p214. It is reported that Ibn ʿUmar – Allāh be pleased with him – once passed by a man from Iraq who had dropped unconscious. He asked, “What is wrong with him?” [People] replied, “When the Quran is recited to him or he hears the remembrance of Allāh he falls unconscious out of his fear of Allāh.” Ibn ʿUmar said, “We fear Allāh and we do not drop unconscious!” Ibid p214; Al-Baghawī in his Tafsīr, Sūrah Al-Zumar: 23 with a slightly variant wording. It is reported that Anas b. Mālik was asked about people who drop unconscious when the Quran is recited to them. He said, “That is the behavior of the Khawārij.” Al-Qāsim b. Salām, op. cit. p215. It is reported that Muḥammad b. Sīrīn said, having been asked about a man who drops unconscious when the Quran is recited to him, “Make an appointment between us and him, we will sit on a wall, and the Quran – from beginning to end – will be recited unto him. If he falls off the wall, he is as he claims.” Ibid., Al-Baghawī, op. cit.

Ibid., Al-Baghawī, op. cit.

Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyatu Al-Awliyā` 1:250. It is related from Al-Rabī’ b. Sulaymān, “Muḥammad b. Idrīs Al-Shāfi’ī used to complete reciting the Quran in the month of Ramadan sixty times, all in the prayer.” Ibid. 4:107 It is reported that Abul-Ash-hab said, “Abū Al-Rajā` [Al-Aṭārudī] would complete with us a recitation of the Quran in the night prayers of Ramadan every ten days.” Ibid. 1:348 It is reported that Qatādah used to complete a recitation of the Quran once every seven nights, and when Ramadan came, once every three nights. During the last ten nights, he would complete a recitation every night. Ibid. 1:364 It is reported that Al-Bukhārī used to complete a recitation [of the Quran] once a day in Ramadan, and would pray after Tarāwīḥ every night, completing another recitation every three nights. Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 12:439 Notes After mentioning some similar examples from the Salaf, Ibn Rajab says in Laṭā`if Al-Ma’ārif p319: The prohibition of reciting the Quran in less than three days [found in some ahadith] refers to doing so regularly [throughout the year]. As for virtuous times, like Ramadan – especially the nights in which it is hoped Laylatu Al-Qadr will occur – or virtuous places, like Makkah – for those who enter it and are not residents there, then it is recommended to increase in reciting the Quran, making the most of the time and the place. This is the position of [Imam] Aḥmad, Isḥāq [ibn Rāhūyah] and other Imams, and the practice of others [from the Salaf] indicates [they held the same position].

The prohibition of reciting the Quran in less than three days [found in some ahadith] refers to doing so regularly [throughout the year]. As for virtuous times, like Ramadan – especially the nights in which it is hoped Laylatu Al-Qadr will occur – or virtuous places, like Makkah – for those who enter it and are not residents there, then it is recommended to increase in reciting the Quran, making the most of the time and the place. This is the position of [Imam] Aḥmad, Isḥāq [ibn Rāhūyah] and other Imams, and the practice of others [from the Salaf] indicates [they held the same position].

Those that make me laugh are a person who puts his hopes in this worldly life while death pursues him, a person who is heedless [of his Lord] while [his Lord] is not heedless of him, and a person who always laughs while he does not know whether he has pleased Allāh or angered Him. What makes me cry is being separated from my beloved: Muhammad and his party (the Companions), the horrors of the time of death, and standing in front of Allāh ‘azza wa jall on the Day when the secrets will be revealed and I do not know will I then go to Paradise or Hell?” Ibn Al-Mubārak, Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqā`iq article 250.

Ibn Al-Mubārak, Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqā`iq article 250.

Falling asleep when remembering Allāh is from Shayṭān; if you want you can test this: when you lie down and want to fall asleep, try remembering Allāh ‘azza wa jall. Al-Bukhārī, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad. Graded ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Al-Albānī in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Adab Al-Mufrad Vol. 1 p490.

Al-Bukhārī, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad. Graded ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Al-Albānī in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Adab Al-Mufrad Vol. 1 p490.

Allāh is Greatest, Allāh is Greatest, none deserves worship but Allāh. Allāh is Greatest, Allāh is Greatest, and to Him is all praise. Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf Vol.2 p74. Shaykh Al-Albānī said its chain of narration is Ṣaḥīḥ. ‘Alī – Allāh be pleased with him – used to say the takbīr following the Fajr prayer on the Day of ‘Arafah until the ‘Aṣr prayer of the last day of Tashrīq – he used to say it after ‘Aṣr prayer (then stop). Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf Vol.2 p72. Shaykh Al-Albānī said its chain of narration is good. See Irwā Al-Ghalīl Vol.3 p125.

See Irwā Al-Ghalīl Vol.3 p125.

Remember Allāh in good times and He will mention you in hard times. When you remember those who have passed away, consider yourself like one of them. And when you think of involving yourself in some worldly matter, consider first what it will lead to in the end.

Al-Dhahabī in Siyar Aʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ, under the biography of Abū Al-Dardāʾ.